Flick’s plan to utilise Barcelona summer arrival to boost La Masia gem’s development

Flick’s plan to utilise Barcelona summer arrival to boost La Masia gem’s development Marc Bernal has long been seen as La Masia’s next big defensive midfielder, and his talent, quality and even physical frame have seen him likened to the club great Sergio Busquets. While an ACL injury hindered his development and progression for a while, the player made a gradual and strong return to the first team last season and began this season as a solid contender for the defensive midfield spot. Rodri’s arrival in the summer, however, led to doubts around his situation for the former Manchester City star arrived as the best pivot in the world. That seemed to indicate a massive blow for Bernal, but the reality has been very different. Flick’s innovative idea As reported by SPORT in a recent update, Hansi Flick has handled the situation extremely well by coming up with an unconventional solution that nobody saw coming. Flick has handed Bernal solid prominence. (Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images) Instead of the narrative being one centred around Rodri ‘or’ Bernal as a pivot, he has slowly opened the doors to Rodri ‘and’ Bernal featuring together. The shift has been more conspicuous in recent games. In the first four games of the season, in which both players played a part, they did not share the field for even a single minute. In the last three games before the hiatus, however, they shared 48 minutes, all of which arrived towards the end of the games. Not a traditional double pivot While the clear idea of featuring Bernal and Rodri together would be to deploy them in a double pivot, Flick has not opted for that dynamic so far. Rodri’s arrival has made Barcelona more solid. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) Instead, the manager has prioritised Rodri’s comfort as a single pivot and asked Bernal to step up and move higher up the pitch, just like Pedri has done alongside Rodri. The La Masia graduate, thus, has been pushing forward and playing with more attacking freedom than before. Needless to say, Flick has completely managed to change the narrative of Rodri’s arrival inhibiting Bernal’s growth. With Frenkie de Jong set to return from injury after the break, however, matters will begin to get more interesting. After all, the captain will also compete directly with Bernal.