Barcelona captains rally behind out-of-favor goalkeeper in light of Hansi Flick’s change of plans | OneFootball

In many ways, Hansi Flick has been the driving force behind FC Barcelona and their improvements this season. After finally hiring a head coach with European pedigree, the Catalan club has enjoyed the consequences. Currently, Barcelona can stand proud as one of Europe’s finest teams.

However, that does not mean that changes and tweaks have not been made either. After all, for any coach to build a team that can challenge for titles, it is important for them to find the best working system. Fortunately for Barcelona, Flick seems to have found the system he was looking for.

Still, there are some decisions made by the German coach that have reportedly not gone down well with everyone. For instance, his decision to change who the team’s first-choice goalkeeper is seems to have divided opinions within the locker room to a certain degree.

Now, according to SPORT, it has even lead to the team captains and leaders rallying behind the out-of-favor Inaki Pena. Instead of letting him feel abandoned or neglected, they have pushed him to continue working hard for the sake of the group and the team’s unity.

The leading figures of the locker room have reportedly approached Pena themselves and have tried to talk to him about the matter. After all, they understand that this opportunity is one that Pena has worked his entire life for, and he feels that he has been stripped off his starting place rather unfairly.

Despite feeling that way, however, the player has continuously treated Hansi Flick and his decisions with respect. Moreover, instead of confronting him about it, he has only asked for the possible reasonings for it. In reality, beyond the one mishap that cost him a starting position in one game, the player has hardly made any major errors.

Following Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s untimely injury, the Spaniard stepped up and put up a good fight as well. His performances were solid and he even helped the team out in some of their most dominant displays. However, it seems that Flick trusts Wojciech Szczesny more, and there are reasons for it as well.

With the Polish goalkeeper starting, Barça are yet to taste defeat this year. However, that has not stopped some of the players with a bigger say in the locker room to talk to Flick about the goalkeeping situation. While everyone in the dressing room may not exactly be best friends with one another, they remain committed to standing up for each other and trying to stay united through thick and thin.