It is no doubt one of the most common tropes to follow any new manager in the door, that the new regime is improving the fitness of the squad, and indeed the discipline. It’s a feeling that has been articulated on several occasions about Barcelona’s new era under Hansi Flick though.
On several occasions it has been reported that the attention to detail when it comes to fitness has not been seen for a decade, since Luis Enrique was in the job. In addition to plenty of attention given to dental health, Flick has also ensured timekeeping is a key issue. Diario AS say there are no fines for arriving late to training or team meetings, but has told the squad that being even 60 seconds late is a lack of respect to their colleagues.
The other area, and perhaps the more stringent one, is weight. Before and after training sessions, all players are required to get on the scales, and the data is then recorded so that the new head of fitness Julio Tous can extract the data, and work out the optimal conditions for each player. Being outwith the ‘ideal weight’ parameters given to them means the player is in the dog house, and pushed to recover.
Whether this pays dividends will evidently only be seen in the months to come, but certainly one of the main narratives that has been pushed to the media is that the Barcelona squad struggled last season due to poor conditioning. Given the lack of signings, it is a useful narrative for the Barcelona board that changes are being seen somewhere, but if they do manage to make a significant difference, then it would naturally be a major boost on the pitch too.