FC Barcelona Coach Flick Slams Players That Arrive Late: ‘It’s Disrespectful’

FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick gave his opinion about players that arrive late to meetings or training in a prematch press conference, and called the acct "disrespectful".

During an appearance on Spanish television this week, midfielder Pedri confirmed a SPORT report that Jules Kounde had been dropped from the starting line up against Alaves as punishment for arriving late to a meeting.

Flick was asked about such disciplinary measures ahead of Sunday's trip to Real Sociedad in La Liga, and said: "It's a rule, a norm."

"I'm not talking about what happened before. It's about respecting the team ... The others have to wait for you and it's disrespectful."

Flick is currently the Man of the Hour after resurrecting a trophyless team last term and putting it top of the Spanish flight through landmark wins such as the 4-0 thrashing of second-place Real Madrid in El Clasico a fortnight ago.

Barca is nine points clear at the summit, and has also beaten Flick's former club Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League.

Some pundits such as Arsenal legend Thierry Henry have insisted that Flick's predecessor Xavi Hernandez put the wheels in motion by promoting the likes of Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi from the academy.

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Above all, though, Flick voiced his belief in how "I think that always comparing my work with Xavi's is not fair".

"They are two different situations and I have a lot of respect [for him], he was a great player and a great coach. But now I'm here. Of course, he gave the academy the opportunity to play and it is also his merit. We could say that I continue in this [way]."

As for the task at hand, Flick didn't want to accept that La Real being perceived as weaker at home could mean easy work for the Blaugrana.

"Every game is different, the counter is always set to zero," Flick said.

"And even more so against Barca. The whole stadium is going to support them, they know how to press. For us it is important to have confidence and possession of the ball, to continue with our idea of playing with and without the ball. It's important to have more possession and create chances and take advantage of them," he concluded on this.