Barcelona star’s difficult situation under Hansi Flick deepens despite defensive injury crisis

Barcelona star’s difficult situation under Hansi Flick deepens despite defensive injury crisis Barcelona are dealing with a number of defensive injuries ahead of the game against Deportivo Alaves tonight. Eric Garcia, Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen and Xavi Espart are all ruled out of tonight’s game, and only the Frenchman has a chance of returning soon. Barcelona’s defensive injury crisis should have presented Alejandro Balde with an opportunity to get his career back on track. However, the 23-year-old remains on the fringes of the first team. His relationship with the coaching staff is becoming increasingly complicated. According to El Pais , Balde’s situation has become difficult to witness at Barcelona’s training facilities. Flick remains dissatisfied with his attitude and performances in training, and his exclusion continues to frustrate the Spaniard. Balde struggling to regain Hansi Flick’s confidence The report reveals that Balde rarely trains in his natural left-back position. Instead, he is frequently played as a winger or a centre-back. Balde has gone from being a starter to not getting a minute at Barcelona. (Photo by Judit Cartiel/Getty Images) Depending on whether the team needs a player to complete an exercise, Balde finds himself shoehorned into an unfamiliar role. More importantly, he consistently trains with the substitutes rather than the expected starters, showing how far he has fallen in Flick’s plans. The situation has been developing since the summer. Balde rejected opportunities to leave Barcelona and has played just 88 minutes across the last 12 matches. Flick made no attempt to hide the problem ahead of the Alaves encounter, explaining why he doesn’t pick Balde . “ Balde doesn’t have the confidence he needs to play, the conviction to attack and press high. The full-backs are very important for us, in our style of play. He needs confidence to reach his best level ,” he said. Barcelona must find a solution for Balde in January If Balde cannot buy a minute despite being one of only four fit defenders in the first-team squad, serious decisions will have to be made. Ahead of the Alaves game, Flick is said to have experimented with Frenkie de Jong at centre-back and Brian Farinas at right-back. Hansi Flick is being brutal in his treatment of Balde. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images) That is two midfielders the German manager feels comfortable playing in defence ahead of the 23-year-old Spaniard. Flick is a demanding manager and is right to ask for greater intensity and commitment, but Balde has not done much to cover himself in glory either. However, repeatedly using a player who lacks confidence outside his natural position in training is unlikely to help the situation. It seems unlikely that Balde’s fortunes will turn around by January, and the club have a very difficult decision to make. Barcelona’s willingness to sell the Spaniard has been obvious for some time now, but if Balde doesn’t want to leave permanently, a loan move will have to be explored. Once touted for greatness at the Catalan club, Balde’s career seems to be going nowhere. He looks unlikely to start tonight against Alaves, and it remains to be seen how Flick handles his future.