#flickout

I really think Fermín performs at his best the closer he is positioned to the right side. The more involved he is in combinations with Lamine, switching positions with him and supporting him with underlapping and overlapping runs, the more effective he becomes and the greater his impact on the system. Against PSG and Real Madrid, I feel like he was deployed in a role much closer to Olmo's, sitting behind the striker, operating between the lines and receiving the ball in tight spaces. As a result, we barely saw him provide the kind of support to Lamine that we're used to seeing from him. I believe that's the wrong way to use Fermín, and it's had a clear impact on his performances. He underperformed in both of those games, whereas last night and against Alavés, when he was positioned closer to Lamine and allowed to play to his strengths, he delivered two brilliant performances. I don't think that's a coincidence.

This Rodri injury is 100% on Flick. From the very moment we signed him, everyone knew he had physical issues and that his minutes needed to be carefully managed. Flick had more than enough options to do that, especially in smaller games where we had another controller like Pedri on the pitch, with Bernal and Gavi also available on the bench. Yet we kept seeing Rodri unnecessarily playing full 90 minutes, again and again, in games we could have easily won without him. We didn't sign Rodri for Alavés or Betis. This signing was made for the Champions League and the biggest games, and that should have been the priority when managing his minutes. Terrible management so far. Hopefully this injury serves as a wake-up call.