Midfielder claims the squad “would have laughed” if the manager tried to drop them for lateness
Toni Kroos has said that Barcelona and Real Madrid have “different philosophies”, claiming that Hansi Flick’s strict disciplinary approach, while successful in Catalonia, would have failed in Madrid.
The recently retired Madrid legend said that if the manager had dropped players for arriving mere minutes late to meetings, it would have been laughed off in Madrid.
“Under Hansi, several players have been dropped from the squad because they were three minutes late to a meeting. That happened a few times too,” Kroos said on his Einfach mal Luppen podcast.
“They’re different philosophies. Here, at Real, we would have laughed at it. Often, we didn’t even know who was late – the player or the coach. It’s simply a completely different mentality to not let someone play because they’re five minutes late to the team meeting.
“Both are fine, they’re just different philosophies. You could also say it’s typically German.”
Flick’s no-nonsense regime has seen the likes of Jules Kounde and Inaki Pena disciplined for tardiness. The German coach emphasises qualities like punctuality, professionalism and collectiveness, with several players binned for flouting the rules.
This includes captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who is now linked with a move away from Catalonia.
