Bobo32
Senior Member
Ok, just more than 2 minutes video. Here are my takes:
In summary, mostly passes to the foot of the closest team mate, or a cross of some kind (crosses are by nature a high risk pass, and Xavi did do them sometimes)
I am not saying Xavi ever did something wrong, I am saying he played to the right player at the right time, always, and when he wasn't sure, he wouldn't attempt it.
Please point to the great passes that I've missed and argue a bit. Point out where I am clueless.
I say 13 and 19 were great, but he was probably 90% sure to succeed with them. Some of the other assists were a bit speculative to be honest, but not that many.
In summary, mostly passes to the foot of the closest team mate, or a cross of some kind (crosses are by nature a high risk pass, and Xavi did do them sometimes)
I am not saying Xavi ever did something wrong, I am saying he played to the right player at the right time, always, and when he wasn't sure, he wouldn't attempt it.
Please point to the great passes that I've missed and argue a bit. Point out where I am clueless.
I say 13 and 19 were great, but he was probably 90% sure to succeed with them. Some of the other assists were a bit speculative to be honest, but not that many.
Bobo32
Senior Member
The match against Manu in cl final was a master piece from Xavi
I analyzed the video of his touches in the -11 final before on this forum.
Yes he was great, but he played very conservatively for the most part.
Fati_Future_BallonDor
Well-known member
Im speaking of 09 final. In 11 he was great too but Messi was the showman in that final
Gnidrologist
Senior Member
To add to my previous post. Xavi made a lot of those laser sharp passes of the same quality that didn't end with goal. He also made a lot of "pre assists" and "key passes" that aren't or at least weren't in those times considered. But also he was all around almost perfect not only as a passer of the ball, but being a link up guy in every situation, where further progression seemed hard, but he always found a way. Think Bobo hinself agreed that his assists isn't all be end all quality of Xavi. It's his general play, which is inconceivably great, that made Barca of that time period great and assists are only cherry on top of it. Anyone, who saw Barca or Spain during the period of his peak would mostly agree. This is why he wasn't considered as a mega superstar playar until he had already made so much contribution to his teams. He was never flashy apart of some moments that get included in youtubes, but he was so immaculate and almost flawless in his ball distribution, which was fueled by his perfect vision of the field (the scanning Xavi, chameleon eyes) that many of those, who have watched him live understands that his perfect assists are just a cherry on top of this mans sublime play making talent.
Btw, there is much better video of Xavis final assists than includes the ones that were most "not easy to make":
and that is just best of his END product. How much great opportunities with similar passes he has created by his "key passes" or "pre assists" is uncountable for those, who saw. I, myself only got access to La Liga matches around mid 00s, when Xavi was already established player and even then didn't watch ALL the matches, but even from amount that i saw, i was astonished by his proves. He became especially established as a legend of football, when after his demise and retirement i finally saw how bad and insufficient is playmaking without him. There are lot of guys, who can make occasional great through ball or diagonal pass and all, but there are no one in modern football, who make them in every match and make it look "easy". Even some commentators of that time often uttered phrases like "these guys make it look so easy". Of course, there were other all time greats at their peak, who contributed to this perfect flow of passing game, but Xavi was indeed the octopus chameleon eyes, who was always in the center of it all, who made everyone, including Messi and Iniesta and Busquets and Alves and etc. better players that what they would be without him. Incredibly influential player.
Btw, there is much better video of Xavis final assists than includes the ones that were most "not easy to make":
and that is just best of his END product. How much great opportunities with similar passes he has created by his "key passes" or "pre assists" is uncountable for those, who saw. I, myself only got access to La Liga matches around mid 00s, when Xavi was already established player and even then didn't watch ALL the matches, but even from amount that i saw, i was astonished by his proves. He became especially established as a legend of football, when after his demise and retirement i finally saw how bad and insufficient is playmaking without him. There are lot of guys, who can make occasional great through ball or diagonal pass and all, but there are no one in modern football, who make them in every match and make it look "easy". Even some commentators of that time often uttered phrases like "these guys make it look so easy". Of course, there were other all time greats at their peak, who contributed to this perfect flow of passing game, but Xavi was indeed the octopus chameleon eyes, who was always in the center of it all, who made everyone, including Messi and Iniesta and Busquets and Alves and etc. better players that what they would be without him. Incredibly influential player.
Bobo32
Senior Member
Didn't see this post before.
I have never said a bad word about Xavi. I said that he never looked manically for the final ball, in fact he stood out in not looking specifically for it at all. I say that was part of what made him great, and that people who say that Arthur is a pussy have misunderstood Xavi.
I will look through this "top 50" assists of Xavi later, I skimmed through a bit, saw that pass for Eto'o at #50, which was not intended as an assist, then I saw #10 and #9 which were both great, then came #8 which was just an ordinary pass!? Is this video intended to be in order?
Anyway, when I have more time I will look through the 50 passes, and I will be surprised if I find anything as great as this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjFSuAYZVI0
-the length of the pass (from behind the circle to inside the box)
-the small space in behind the defence (they were only 10m outside the box, and the keeper was not still on his line)
-through 2 lines, in between the defenders, finding Pedro on the other side
-delivered on the second touch, almost immediately after recieving it
Xavis greatness is better seen when watching a whole game, or watching all his touches from a game, than seeing a compilation of passes.
Gnidrologist
Senior Member
Well thank you, sensei. How could i know that.
That's the thing with Xavi. He was the whole package. He did everything great, when he needed. He did the same kind of incredibly long and difficult through ball assist as one from Busquets. And many other things. Xavi, Ini, Busi trio is one of the all time best so comparing them with each other is kind lame as they were all brilliant in their own way, but Xavi could pretty much do all things that others did when circumstance arise, while being the octopus controller, because that was asked from him. His final ball was as good as it gets.
Bobo32
Senior Member
I do not know what you know. You seem to have a pretty correct view on Xavi, but you didn't seem to know much about my view based on your previous post. So I explained my point of view.
I have been ridiculed for saying Xavi didn't make difficult passes. Could he make them if he tried? Probably as well as anybody, but he didnt attempt them so often, and that was why Barcelona and Spain could be so dominant. Xavi arrived in a better space before he attempted an assist, and then they were pretty easy to spot and to make. He could play 70 simple passes sideways (always the correct one, with his head up, of course) before attempting a threatening ball, neglecting a lot of powerful runs from the forwards. Is it difficult to keep possession, to cycle the ball to the correct space in the correct moment, to always be aware of the surroundings etc? Yes of course, it's what's most difficult, and most important in my opinion!
Here is my list of the passes that I could describe as great, out of that top 50 video. Many of the remaining passes are what I'd expect Sergi Roberto to do in the same situation...
That's 19 out of his "50 best", maybe I missed some, and maybe the video maker missed some... But that is largely one 'spectacular' assist per season, playing pretty much as a regular in a dominant team most of the time.
Of course he made a lot of brilliant passes that didn't lead to a goal, too. But he made 100 passes per game, maybe 2 per game were of a similar character to those in the video, or let's say 5 tops.
And I say, the one Busquets pass I linked in the post above is more impressive than any pass in that video. Same with Busquets assist in the last game against Sociedad.
Many argued in favour of Fabregas for a long time, based on him having more assists and being more threatening. Maybe it was first after he arrived at Barcelona that they started to understand. Now I see the same type of arguments, for example in regards to Arthur, and they use Xavi in their arguments in a way that is completely wrong. I've seen people write things like "Dembele would score a lot more if only he had a midfielder like Xavi to make assists" as well...
Messi983
Senior Member
Great find...
La Masia's coaches report on 14-year-old Xavi:
speed: average
ball control: excellent
coordination: good
passing: very good
crossing: good
shot: acceptable
skills: good
crossing: good
running with the ball: very good
dribbling: good
positioning: excellent
aggression: average
https://twitter.com/FTalentScout/status/1377233457357668354
La Masia's coaches report on 14-year-old Xavi:
speed: average
ball control: excellent
coordination: good
passing: very good
crossing: good
shot: acceptable
skills: good
crossing: good
running with the ball: very good
dribbling: good
positioning: excellent
aggression: average
https://twitter.com/FTalentScout/status/1377233457357668354
Great find...
La Masia's coaches report on 14-year-old Xavi:
speed: average
ball control: excellent
coordination: good
passing: very good
crossing: good
shot: acceptable
skills: good
crossing: good
running with the ball: very good
dribbling: good
positioning: excellent
aggression: average
https://twitter.com/FTalentScout/status/1377233457357668354
Yeah it's been posted here before. I think we had some other players as well.
Edit: Here's the post with full translation: https://www.barcaforum.com/showthread.php/33-Xavi-Hernandez?p=2123792&viewfull=1#post2123792
Last edited:
BarcaOG
Banned
damn--that's the level of scrutiny at la masia? imagine the pressure...the highly involved parents obsessing over advancement and progress....i understand its a professional academy but christ, that can't be good for the kids...
at a first glance, anyway. i hope they offer a lot of other kinds of supports. kids should just be allowed to play and enjoy
at a first glance, anyway. i hope they offer a lot of other kinds of supports. kids should just be allowed to play and enjoy
Vilarrubi
New member
Great find...
La Masia's coaches report on 14-year-old Xavi:
speed: average
ball control: excellent
coordination: good
passing: very good
crossing: good
shot: acceptable
skills: good
crossing: good
running with the ball: very good
dribbling: good
positioning: excellent
aggression: average
https://twitter.com/FTalentScout/status/1377233457357668354
Pretty much spot on for older Xavi too.
Just watched Athlete A on Netflix, thats some depressing stuff. Sport at a certain level sucks. Football seems relatively tame (in comparison) though.
BarcaOG
Banned
yeah. here in north america there are some absolutely batshit crazy parents obsessing over soccer, yelling at coaches, yelling at their kids, losing their mind at referees, having them practice 5 times a week (i know because i played at a fairly competitive level when i was younger so i saw a lot of this) and this is in canada, lol, where the level, comparatively, is really very low...
now imagine what its like at academies of elite clubs, not only with potential stardom, but also the quantities of money involved... it could become very toxic indeed...and now with brands like Nike signing ever younger athletes etc (ie xavi simons)
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