How Flick turned Barca's 'young musketeers' into La Liga champions

When former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen declared at the start of the 1995-96 Premier League season "You can't win anything with kids", Alex Ferguson's young Manchester United stars went on to prove him wrong.

The Class of '92 won the Premier League and FA Cup Double that season before establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the world - and many are now tipping Barcelona's 'young musketeers' to have a similar impact.

Hansi Flick's - predominantly - young braves were confirmed as La Liga champions with a 2-0 win at Espanyol on Thursday, having already won the Copa del Rey in April.

And the sheer bravado, fearlessness and almost reckless abandon that has taken Flick's side to the Double and within a heartbeat of the Champions League final has brought the smiles back - not just to Barcelona but to lovers of the beautiful game.

As football fans marvel at the impudent brilliance of Flick's talented youngsters, including 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, 18-year-old Pau Cubarsi and 22-year-old Pedri, some believe they could have a similar impact to Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Barca side from 2008 to 2011. Too much to ask? Only time will tell.

But, with their average age of 25 significantly the lowest in La Liga, financial issues at the club undoubtedly helped create the necessary platform for the club's youth to shine.

It is easy to forget Barcelona were in dire financial straits. Forget signing big-money players - the club, for a long while, were not even able to register the ones they had.

But it is more than just the harnessing of youthful genius that has brought the good times back to Barcelona.

When former Bayern Munich and Germany boss Flick arrived at Barcelona, he found a number of players were performing well below expectations.

Experienced stars like Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong were low in confidence, simply because of the lack of trust they felt they had from their previous coach, Xavi.

Raphinha would rarely play more than 60 minutes before being replaced, while Lewandowski was made to play with his back to goal in a style alien to him.

In addition, none of the three felt particularly welcome at the club with De Jong rightly convinced that Barcelona wanted to sell him to help alleviate their financial plight.

One of the first things Flick did was to tell the three of them how important they were to his plans. This season Lewandowski is top scorer with 25 goals, while Raphinha has a league tally of 18.

Flick also sensed an established culture where the club's irrepressible youth was not at the heart of the team, and not given the prominence they believed they merited.

Youngsters had been given their debuts because of financial constraints - and Xavi deserves praise for working under such restrictions - but they wanted more. They wanted to take over the team.

Flick's approach allowed the likes of Gavi, Yamal, Alejandro Balde (21), and Marc Casado (also 21) to do just that. He helped them find their voices, even going as far as allowing them to pick the dressing-room music.

That trust was repaid a hundred times over and reflected on the pitch with a youthful and carefree - some might even say naive - style of play.

He also always remained very close to those who didn't play regularly, stressing that with the inevitable injuries all clubs have to face, their time would come.

Flick has asked the club for very little so far, paying money for just Dani Olmo and Pau Victor in the summer and adding no-one in the winter transfer window.

The 60-year-old German also strongly believes no-one knows their fitness better than the players themselves. So, any plans to rest the likes of Yamal or Raphinha are not taken without asking them - again building the trust and his popularity among the team.

He also never allows himself to be influenced by the very powerful and demanding Barcelona media, and has remained honest to his players - an approach severely tested when they lost four games and collected just five points out of a possible 21 before the Christmas break.

Flick has had to learn along the way.

With De Jong and Olmo starting, he discovered what he believes is his best XI in that heart-stopping 5-4 win in January against Benfica in the Champions League first phase.

On a crazy night in Lisbon, Flick really discovered the importance of Raphinha who showed how much of a leader he could be to everyone at the club once he had been given his regular place in the side.

He also very soon identified his need for a leader at the back, and saw what he was looking for in Inigo Martinez.

Flick knew he was going to have to ask him to do what he hadn't ever done before in a defensive context, namely marshal an extremely high line.

The 33-year-old Martinez would be the first to admit he is not the quickest player, and has previously always played from a much deeper position.

He knew the high press would expose him, but the Spain centre-back has done his bit by being super-demanding of everyone under his charge and playing to his coach's instructions - as alien as it seemed to him at first.

Flick's treatment of the brilliant Yamal is done with the most care.

The teenager wants to play in everything and wants every ball to go via him. He wants to win every man of the match and to be the focus of attention.

Every now and again, Flick reminds him who is in charge and that, if he doesn't do what he has to - mostly without the ball - he will be benched.

So far so good, with Yamal recovering more balls than the Barcelona centre-backs and even Pedri - the best midfielder recovering the ball in Spain - in this month's Clasico win against Real Madrid.

Perhaps the single most important factor to Barcelona's success is that through the leadership of players like Yamal, Raphinha and De Jong, everyone in the side thinks as one.

Flick produces the plan, but it is this highly motivated Barcelona side that provide the passion. The manager may well be the general, but they are all his soldiers.

The manager is not without his obsessions, the most notable being punctuality. Three times this season defender Jules Kounde has been left on the bench for being late for meetings.

Goalkeeper Inaki Pena also found himself benched for Barcelona's Supercopa de Espana semi-final victory over Athletic Club when he arrived late for a team meeting.

The designer clothes much loved by footballing superstars are also a thing of the past under Flick. Now everyone, directors included, turns up to away matches in club attire.

On a personal note, Flick arrived at Barcelona pain-free for the first time in years after having a hip replacement.

He felt liberated, less moody, and able to focus totally on the job in hand. He was finally able to enjoy his life without having to negotiate the constant nagging pain that he had been enduring for so long.

He knows better than anyone, though, that this Barcelona side are still a long way from being the finished article.

Twenty-four goals conceded over 14 games in the Champions League, and ultimately a failure to make it to the final, is proof of that.

He knows the game they play is a risky one, although they have shown time and again this season they are usually capable of coming back.

The target for next season is to add control of games to the blisteringly exciting attacking prowess that has seen them snatch victory from the jaws of defeat so many times.

And that, needless to say, will come with Flick at the helm.

At the end of this campaign he will have just one year left on his contract, and while he will certainly have no problems in renewing it, he will not be interested in signing any kind of long-term deal.