Hansi Flick is weighing how to manage a crowded Barcelona midfield now that Frenkie de Jong has rejoined his plans, according to Goal.com. The Dutch international has trained normally with the group in recent days and is expected to begin Saturday's LaLiga match against Real Betis among the substitutes. His comeback leaves the German coach with eight midfielders competing for three starting positions.
Goal.com, citing the Spanish newspaper Sport, names Rodri, de Jong, Bernal, Gavi, Pedri, Fermin Lopez, Dani Olmo and Farinas as the players in contention. That depth gives Flick options but also creates the kind of selection problem he has publicly acknowledged as one of the hardest parts of coaching: keeping players who see limited minutes in the right frame of mind.
Why it matters
Barcelona's schedule spans LaLiga and the Champions League, and Flick has said more than once that managing the mentality of squad members who play less than they want is among a coach's toughest tasks. The midfield, per Goal.com, is the most delicate area of his squad in that respect.
The numbers alone explain the pressure. Eight contenders for three shirts means five players miss out in every important fixture, and the margins between them are narrow. Flick appears to have settled on Rodri, Pedri and Fermin Lopez as his preferred trio for the most demanding matches, with Olmo pushing hard for inclusion alongside Fermin.
De Jong's situation is the most sensitive. Before Rodri's arrival, the Dutchman was a fixture in the line-up under every coach who took charge of the side, according to Goal.com. He now has to adapt to a reduced role and compete for his place, a challenge the report describes as difficult given the quality around him.
Olmo's positioning and the false nine experiment
Flick also seems intent on dispelling the idea that Olmo and Fermin cannot be fielded together, and both featured against Galatasaray. Olmo operated as a false nine in that match and again showed his ability to create chances and ease the workload on his team-mates, though converting those opportunities remains a separate question: Goal.com notes his most recent goal came in March.
How Flick uses Olmo against Betis will be worth watching, although the indications reported by Goal.com point to the Spain international beginning the game on the bench.
De Jong, meanwhile, is described as certain to come on as a substitute rather than start. Flick said on Friday that he had tested the midfielder at centre-back during some five-against-five training drills. That looks unlikely to become a lasting solution. De Jong has said more than once that he is not especially comfortable in central defence, noting that he filled in there at Ajax only in emergencies.
The flexibility within the group does work in Flick's favour. Many of the eight can cover more than one role, and several have been deployed further forward in certain matches, which gives the coach room to rotate without losing shape.
What to watch
The Betis match should offer the first concrete signal of how Flick intends to balance his midfield, with Olmo's minutes and de Jong's introduction from the bench the clearest indicators of the pecking order.
