‘I'm not far’ — New Barcelona manager hoping to emulate Guardiola and Cruyff

Hans-Dieter Flick, recently appointed as Barcelona's head coach, has expressed his ambition to return the club to its former glory as a European football powerhouse.

Drawing inspiration from legendary figures Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola, Flick says he now aims to instil a familiar and successful style of play at Camp Nou.

During his first press conference since taking the managerial role in June, Flick outlined his vision for the team, saying he hoped to return to a style of play reminiscent of Barcelona's golden eras under Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola.

Speaking with reporters, Flick said, "I'm not far from the style of play that Barcelona teams have played before, when they achieved success with Cruyff or Pep. "My idea is to have a team on the pitch that wants to show what they can do with the ball, and without.

“That they can decide what they want to do, the initiative is important. It doesn’t matter if we play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, what I want is for us to play a nice, technical, good game, and for everyone who watches the game to see that the team gives everything."

Flick also highlighted the importance of integrating youth talent from Barcelona's famed La Masia academy into the first team just as Cruyff and Guardiola did in their spells with the club.

The German manager praised the quality of the academy's players and expressed his intention to evaluate them during the team's pre-season tour in America saying, "At the moment we have a lot of players in each position and we can choose. There are 30 or 31 players that we will take to America, we want to see them all

"Of course, we can aim to bring players from La Masia to the first team. Fantastic work is done with the youth players. I’ve been able to see it, how they play, how they work – they have great quality."

Despite his trust in the academy talents, Flick still acknowledged that while these young players possess great potential, they still need development to reach the highest level.