Xavi Hernández

Iniesta Ultra

Senior Member
Postecoglu. That's right, the guy that put Tottenham exactly where they've always been in EPL 80% of the time. On 4-6th. Let's see him take this team to fight for the title and then we can talk.

Where would Tott be today if Xavi managed them this season. Worse than Chelsea, more Luton Town level.

And Tott lost Kane plus injuries to Van de Ven, Madison, Udogie, etc.
 

serghei

Senior Member
Thing to remember is that no manager can make miracles without proper funds. Klopp at Liverpool struggled a bit until they invested the proper sums in the right players. Dunked by Sevilla in Europa League, then barely made top 4 in the next season.

Then in 2017/18, heavy spending followed. 170m in summer of 2017 + 180m in summer of 2018. And continued to spend after covid pandemic also. Top teams aren't built like some delusional fans think. Yes, there is work on developing players and on tactics and other aspects of a team, but the fundamental part is being backed financially to shape the squad the way you want.

What did Liverpool do when the defense cost them dearly early on? Went and bought Van Dijk. What did they do when Karius cost them vs Madrid in 2018? Fixed the keeper problem by signing Alisson. That's what we need also.
 

serghei

Senior Member
In short: get money, go on the market, and bring top players for the 2-3 positions that cost us vs PSG. Ditch Cancelo since he is a bum, sign a top fullback, sign a proper DM, sign a top left winger and send Felix back to Atletico. Do that and you can put far more pressure on the manager. The effects on the squad if we do these moves would be tremendous probably.

And forget about the idea that top players who can improve the squad instantly are gonna be cheap. They are gonna cost money, a lot of money. The biggest mission of the club is not to sack Xavi and appoint Marquez or whoever lol, but to work on the finances, and allow us to compete with the other clubs for actual top players. We all know what we need to start with. 1 fullback, 1 defensive midfielder and 1 winger.
 

Loki

Well-known member
Thing to remember is that no manager can make miracles without proper funds. Klopp at Liverpool struggled a bit until they invested the proper sums in the right players. Dunked by Sevilla in Europa League, then barely made top 4 in the next season.

Then in 2017/18, heavy spending followed. 170m in summer of 2017 + 180m in summer of 2018. And continue to spend after covid pandemic also.
Exactly. We gonna be a difficult job for any coach out there, as the club has only a very limited amount to spend. So each coach needs to work with mostly what is available right now. Xavi's advantage is, that it's his squad already. He doesn't need to adjust and that's a big plus. Also, the club can invest the money they save for a new coach into the squad.
I also don't like many things about Xavi's leadership, but I see many upsides of him staying. Last but not least the young players are definitely in good hands with him and will continue to develop.
If the full squad is behind him, then I'm okay in trying one more season. He just needs to relax and stop embarrass himself during the games. His jungle behaviour hurts the club and the team if he's getting booked and send off.
 

Windhook

Well-known member
If we hype English Premier League so much why just not go with Unai Emery? :lol:

He's performing better than Postecoglu with largely unknown players, both in England and Europe.
 

Loki

Well-known member
And forget about the idea that top players who can improve the squad instantly are gonna be cheap. They are gonna cost money, a lot of money.
Pretty sure Silva can improve the squad instantly as Gundo did and he'll cost €50m
 

serghei

Senior Member
Pretty sure Silva can improve the squad instantly as Gundo did and he'll cost €50m

Doubt he is gonna cost only 50. Bernardo is OK if not too old to make a lasting impact past 2-3 seasons, but then a top LW and a replacement for Lewandowski are gonna cost a substantial amount of money. And a DM also... costs add up quickly.

The funds the club needs are overall quite serious unfortunately. On par with those 350m spent in Liverpool in 2 consecutive summers.

But of course, in the grand scheme of things, there's not much rush. The club is in the fortunate position to have won a big title as recent as 10 months ago. The pressure is artificial and is generated by the delusion of the fanbase, media, and club itself.
 

serghei

Senior Member
If we hype English Premier League so much why just not go with Unai Emery? :lol:

He's performing better than Postecoglu with largely unknown players, both in England and Europe.

Completely valid question. Aston Villa is the only team in EPL atm vastly over-performing their reasonable expectations. Arsenal if they win it. Most other teams are either perfectly in-line with their usual stuff or well under.
 

FC B

Senior Member
The good part is that almost all players except Lamal and Cubarsi at this point can be sold and replaced. The main reason players are too relaxed is also mainly tied to financial situation.

They know the club is struggling to sign players so they have no pressure to deliver every week. If they had strong competition and could be benched, then it's a totally different proposition.

Say you are a CM at this team and your competition is fucking Romeu. Then it's basically zero pressure on you to keep your starting place. Romeu as competition, Gavi out for the season, Pedri almost always injured or struggling physically, then of course you will play all the time, collect your big pay-check courtesy of Bartomeu, and life is beautiful.
Good point but hey are, supposedly, highly payed professional athletes/footballers. Thus the motivation to perform should come from within not only from the competition. I bet that sooner or later a dip in form/play similar to what has been prior to Xavi's announcement of leaving will occur.
 
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FC B

Senior Member
Thing to remember is that no manager can make miracles without proper funds. Klopp at Liverpool struggled a bit until they invested the proper sums in the right players. Dunked by Sevilla in Europa League, then barely made top 4 in the next season.

Then in 2017/18, heavy spending followed. 170m in summer of 2017 + 180m in summer of 2018. And continued to spend after covid pandemic also. Top teams aren't built like some delusional fans think. Yes, there is work on developing players and on tactics and other aspects of a team, but the fundamental part is being backed financially to shape the squad the way you want.

What did Liverpool do when the defense cost them dearly early on? Went and bought Van Dijk. What did they do when Karius cost them vs Madrid in 2018? Fixed the keeper problem by signing Alisson. That's what we need also.
It's just we need to fix not only the entire squad, keeper, defence, midfield ,attack but also the entire club starting with the finances, the president, the board and the coach.
 

serghei

Senior Member
It's just we need to fix not only the entire squad, keeper, defence, midfield ,attack but also the entire club starting with the finances, the president, the board and the coach.

I don't think so. These guys delivered a league title against a superior rival last season. There's zero credible proof that we need big changes at management level.

If we get the finances back on track, and then we fuck it up, then yes, totally. That's a totally different scenario. But blaming the management for not doing miracles when we basically can afford to sign only rejects or cheap players... doesn't make much sense to me.
 

Porque

Senior Member
It's just we need to fix not only the entire squad, keeper, defence, midfield ,attack but also the entire club starting with the finances, the president, the board and the coach.

There's clubs rumoured to be willing to pay 25m for the Las Palmas goalkeeper which shocked me.

Surely Stegen could get more than that. He is much better.
 

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