Flick: Happy with our level, but we must maintain focus

Hans Flick, the head coach of FC Barcelona, spoke about the number of issues concerning the team before facing Levante, starting with the strong level the team has shown at the beginning of the season, moving on to opportunities for improvement, rotation, and physical readiness, and culminating in the competition for La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.

Regarding the joy of the start, Flick said: "We are very happy to reach this level, but we know we have to show it in every match. We have great quality, and we maintain strength and focus. If we lose any of these things, it won't be good."

Regarding the strong start, Raphinha added: "This is how we want to play football, I like that we are enjoying the current situation, but we are still focused. If we change something, we will go in the wrong direction."

Regarding the margin for improvement, he continued: "Our goal and what we want is to be better every day, and for everyone to have the desire to develop."

Regarding rotation, he said: "This is part of the game, players must accept it, we have two or three players in each position who can play, and this must be accepted. I was very pleased with the recent match against Feyenoord, we are in a good period and we must continue that."

Regarding Cesc Fàbregas' praise, Flick clarified: "We focus on what we have in our hands, and I am also impressed with Como, which is coached by Cesc. I watched the match against Leipzig, and they performed very well. We are only thinking about the next match; it is important to have the mentality of taking one game at a time. We are on a good path, but the journey is long until the end of the season."

Regarding Raphinha and the number 9 striker position, he said: "We have three players with different characteristics, but Gordon, Adeyemi, and Olmo can also play, as well as Firmin, we have many options. Raphinha is delivering an amazing level, it's incredible. If he continues to play like this, he is for me among the best in the world."

Speaking about Levante, he added: "Asking questions about that is your job, Levante put in a great performance against Real Betis, they are a very organized team, and they know how to play in attack, and it will be a good match to compete."

Regarding Hamza Abdel Karim, he said: "The club has done very well, he is a player who performed well in the preparation period, and he competes with other players, he has different characteristics, and he is a big project for the future for the club, he should have been kept at the club."

Speaking about the FC Barcelona squad, he clarified: "The squad is better than last year. We talk a lot about the attack because it scores a lot of goals, but the defense is very important to me as well. I see that everyone is performing at a great level."

He added: "After the World Cup, Koubassi has been playing at a different level, I am very happy with him, he has confidence and focuses on his body, and he has improved physically, especially for his position. With the ball, he delivers a wonderful performance, whether he plays alongside Christensen or Gerard, we have done a great job."

Regarding physical preparation, he said: "It's a new philosophy, we take into account the movements that players make on the pitch, new coaches have arrived, but the quality of the team and the work are good, the energy is very positive, and all the players can feel that, we are at a high level."

Regarding the support from the members, he added: "I don't usually talk about myself much, because I'm just the coach, the players are the ones doing the work, I have a great team full of professionals and experts, and that's amazing. Right now, everything is going well and I'm very happy with the situation, I'm enjoying it, but I know I'm not the most important person in the club, I really appreciate the work of the players."

Regarding the difficulty of motivation in La Liga, he concluded his statements by saying: "Nothing changes compared to the past two years, we want to win the UEFA Champions League this year, that is our goal, but it is also important to win La Liga, winning it three times in a row would be amazing."