Barcelona coach Hansi Flick opened up on giving a different role to Marcus Rashford in their 5-0 friendly win over Daegu on August 4. Rashford signed for Barcelona on a season-long loan this summer, with a reported option to buy for €30 million.
Hansi Flick on Marcu Rashford's new role
On July 27, Marcus Rashford made his debut for Barcelona coming off the bench in their 3-1 win against Vissel Kobe in a pre-season friendly. In their 5-0 win against Deagu tonight, The English winger replaced Robert Lewandowski on the pitch, coming on as a striker. Rashford produced his first goal for Barca (65') in the match, sealing their victory while adapting well in the role of a striker for a short period of time.
In the post-match conference, Hansi Flick gave an explanation regarding experimenting with Marcus Rashford as a striker. Usually, the Englishman plays as a winger, making it a new role for him ahead of the next season.
"He can play at number 9 or number 11. We changed it because we had to be careful with Ferrán. We wanted to see how he adapted to the position."
With Robert Lewandowski's age, Hansi Flick wants to make sure that he has enough depth with other attackers. Ferran usually replaces Lewandowski , but Rashford adapting to the new role could be a positive sight for the side. Moreover, it could help Rashford get some more game time as Raphinha plays on the left.
Hansi Flick on Gerard Martin's centre-back role
Hansi Flick also reflected on defender Gerard Martin adapting to the centre-back position. The German coach has been trying out players in different positions, speaking of Martin, Flick said:
“He can play centre-back, and that gives us more options. He can also play at full-back. It’s good to have more options because he can help us throughout the season.”
Gerard Martin played fairly regularly for Barca last season, especially when left-back Alejandro was unavailable due to injury issues. Martin faced significant amount of criticism last season. Although, Martin showed more openness to adapt to the centre-back role during the pre-season tour.
Although, Barcelona have multiple centre-backs in their squad, including Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi. Usually, Hansi Flick, preferred a central pairing of Cubarsi and Martinez, but could be looking to give others a chance.