Flick refuses to compromise on fitness director tous, who has left the first team

According to the latest report by Javier Miguel, a journalist for Diario AS, Flick's relationship with Julio Tous, the head of fitness coaching, deteriorated due to Raphinha's injury in October last year, leading to Tous's departure from the first team.

Reportedly, Flick has adopted a tougher stance, at least within the club, and his decision to dismiss Julio Tous, the head of first-team fitness training, a few weeks ago, is a clear example of this shift in attitude.

He demanded a replacement be found as soon as possible, even setting a deadline, stating in his last meeting with the sports committee led by Deco before the holidays: "I want this issue resolved before pre-season begins."

Apparently, the club was unhappy with his firm stance on the issue of the team's fitness coach, especially because Julio Tous had the backing of one of the club's heavyweights, Echevarria, Laporta's former brother-in-law and right-hand man.

However, Flick refused to accept the various proposals put forward by the club to de-escalate the situation, forcing the club to reassign Tous. The Barcelona radio program "Què t'hi jugues!" revealed that Tous will be in charge of a fitness training group for the youth academy and various youth teams.

As usual, the club tried to deflect attention, assuring that this was not a painful decision, but one agreed upon by all parties, and strictly speaking, it cannot be called a dismissal, but rather a reassignment.

It was Flick's insistence that ultimately led to Tous's exclusion from the first team. The relationship between the two gradually deteriorated, especially after Raphinha suffered two consecutive relapses of his injury in an attempt to be fit for the Clasico at the Bernabéu in October.

This led Flick to change the injury recovery methods, demoting the fitness coaches to a secondary role, thereby rendering Tous's previous work in vain. This situation became increasingly serious throughout the season.

Flick also made it clear that the team had problems with physical training, which prevented them from competing with elite teams in the Champions League. It is currently unclear who will replace Tous as the head of first-team fitness training.

Initially, Holger Broich, Flick's trusted assistant during his time at Bayern, was considered a potential candidate, but the club quickly denied this possibility, stating that the final candidate would be more familiar with the situation.