Xavi Hernández is back home. He has the mission to redirect an unstable and lack of identity team that needs to recover the essence of the winning club they were. This is exactly what the new coach wants to add, a well-recognized style that Barça fans can feel identified with so they can get back the illusion they have lost due to the poor management in the last few years. A new era is about to start.
Xavi has a difficult restructuring task to do ahead of him, but he is the right man for the job. The situation with Koeman was untenable and I honestly believe that more can be done with Barça´s current roster: Ter Stegen, Busquets, Piqué, Jordi Alba, Araujo, De Jong, Gavi, Nico, Pedri, Ansu Fati, Dembélé, Memphis Depay… They are the nucleus of the team and all of them are top class players.
Of course the squad could be better, be more balanced and have a deeper bench (some of the mentioned players above are injured), but Barça have a good team to compete in Spain and practice an attractive football as their fans demand.
No doubt that Barça’s best news are the academy players joining the first team, as they are very talented and have a very promising career ahead of them. These are the cases of Ansu Fati, Pedri, Gavi or Nico, all of them meant to lead the new generation that takes back the club to where it belongs to. Xavi has the raw material to work.
I do not consider relevant his short experience on the bench, just remember how Guardiola started. Xavi has been a key part both in Barça’s and the Spanish National Team´s golden years and one of the most intelligent players on the field. We will obviously have to grade his management capacity and tactical job in the elite football, but I do not think he will disappoint. He was always be meant to be a coach.
“Johan was right: being a coach is the closest position to being a footballer”
Xavi Hernández on an interview to The Coache’s Voice
What I really consider important is the expectations on him, as I believe that we should all stay calm. Barça will improve for sure, basically because it is difficult to make things worst. The style will also change and the ‘Tiki-Taka’ football will return, which does not necessarily mean to win.
Xavi has come with the season already started, with players still under development, the team in mid-table in LaLiga and not yet in the Champions League round of 16. Nobody should expect miracles right away.
The goal of Xavi is to rescue the season, power up the talent of his roster and recover the personality that Frenkie de Jong himself admits they have lost. The realistic objective is to finish in the top four and return the fans to an empty Camp Nou Stadium.
The rest of the demands should come whenever he is able to build his own team, not now with a project that is not his and which is also clearly influenced by the lack of financial muscle in the club. I believe that the return of Xavi is excellent news for any football fan, but do not get too crazy.
Main Image: Edit by Manuel Aguayo.
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