Xavi Hernández

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serghei

Senior Member
Say you spend 400m with proper scouting, the squad could join the big clubs and then you could go back to just spending 100m per summer or something like that to keep it in shape. Sell and buy keeping some low-ish net spend.

Something similar to how Bayern, Pool, and Madrid roll.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
Say you spend 400m with proper scouting, the squad could join the big clubs and then you could go back to just spending 100m per summer or something like that to keep it in shape. Sell and buy keeping some low-ish net spend.
yes but we are saying dont have that and cant spend 150m a summer.

You tell us cant compete like that so what is maximum we should expect this season and next?

Who are the 'big clubs' Barca need 400m to compete with?
 

serghei

Senior Member
yes but we are saying dont have that and cant spend 150m a summer.

You tell us cant compete like that so what is maximum we should expect this season and next?

Oh, if you put on hold the expectation of matching the top 4-5 teams... then the situation of the club is good.

Minimum expectation for a good season in terms of results would be to compete for the title vs Madrid (a top 4-5 team) and get out of CL group. Then depending on the draw getting to a CL quarterfinal.

Say the team wins the group and draws Galatasaray in last 16 in CL, then QF has to be achieved.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
So who are the top teams Barca need 400m to match?

Never will a 'good season' be getting out the CL groups.

Nor is a 'good season' just competing with Real. That is mimum expectation.

Even getting to QF that doesnt just make a good season.. Need to try and win that QF and if dont v a top team at very least look can compete at that level even v very top sides.

Getting through and 'easy' CL run to QF and getting cunted by first decent team and looking miles off it would be a failure.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
And challenging for the title. That's a key objective. If Madrid have a shite season, then I expect a title win.
Agreed on that and said it before can lose to a good Real if compete and that is 'acceptable' but not good,

If lose league to a poor Real or any other side that is a failure.

CL is not a success if cruise through v Europa league level teams then get battered by first top team meet in semis either. That would also be a failure.
 

BJJ

Well-known member
Unai Emery has Villa in 4th in the best league in the world. Its early days and Villa could still finish outside of the EL spots. Still, that is highly impressive. Consider Xavi having us 4th in a poor la liga with Girona ahead of us.

Barring some crazy turnaround this will be his last season with us. Barring one three month period the quality of football has been atrocious. Xavi is poor tactically but his whole persona is one of excuses. It was the same when he was a player. That rubs off on the players.
Him saying Barca are too big for the EL was comical. We're so big we can't even make the semis of that small fry competition.
Instead of paying his dues he felt he was ready for the first team. Laportas instincts were right. He should have asked Xavi to manage Barca B first.
 

BJJ

Well-known member
Serghei considers getting out of group stage and finishing third a success. This should be automatic, given our status and the money we've spent.
We should have higher expectations. The club and its fans seem to be stuck in a rut. The right manager will pull us out of the rut. The right manager is NOT Xavi.
 
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Birdy

Senior Member
True. Even Nagelsmann is a good example. A big club is simply a different job compared to a smaller club. The patience is much shorter, you deal with big players, big egos to handle, and so on. So many things can go badly before tactics even come into play.

People underrate how important things such as charisma, leadership qualities, winning mentality matter in a big club.

Zidane built a legacy based on those things. Someone like Benitez had no clue how to handle it. Not to mention guys like Lopetegui.

Bad example, but not a surprise coming from you.
Nagelsmann NEVER lost the dressing room. Players themselves admitted so after his sacking
It was the most weird sacking in the history of football and only the Bayern bosses are to blame for their bad judgment. They paid the price, but not entirely thanks to Dortmund's inability to do simple things

Xavi commands respect no doubt. That's not the problem.
The problem is that respect alone does shit, if you don't have the tactical expertise

PS: I am coming to the conclusion that @serghei is masochist surely.
He is getting roasted day in day out by different posters, and he keeps insisting embarrassing himself in new ways every day by adding new (even more ridiculous) digressions on his poor arguments
 

JohnN

Senior Member
I believe this season is done for the liga title. It would take some massive flops from all our opponents and a great switch of form from us to compete.
Copa win and a good CL campaign are the only realistic goals.
We can't bet on the team switching it up for the following reasons:
1. Lewa. looks and moves like a veteran. he kills attacks and provides no actual press despite not providing any goal threat either. He is undropable thus we start with 10 every game. Will probably not improve at 35.
2. No wingers. Yamal is a kid. apart from him we have NO pure winger. We keep buying inside forwards and second strikers and sticking them to the side of the pitch. The only player in the team that can consistently challenge markers and create danger is a 16 yo. ferran, raphinia and felix won't improve in that aspect.
3. Midfield chaos. we haven't got a fixed Midfield lineup. every game a different set of players play a different position and role. no continuity means lack of understanding of game plan and bad performances. could improve but no such intent has been displayed from xavi in 2 years.
4. Defense chaos. same as Midfield.
5. Romeu: he will continue to fuck up as he does regularly and cost us in critical games. no reason to improve. a total flop signing and important money wasted.

Xavi is the common link in all of those problems. it's his decisions that lead to the wrong profile transfers to the weird squad utilisation and to the inconsistent lineups.

My take is that he will remain for the rest of the season and its OK, since massive improvement shouldn't be expected mid season by a change of manager. but he needs to go, if we finish below second on LL or get battered in CL by a big or mid team.
 

Raketa10

Senior Member
I agree with this theory. It's the practice that is tougher to implement in our case.

150m in 3 seasons is not nearly enough. You don't build a new team with that amount. Not even close.

I agree serghei, but if just one of those 3 was a good signing situation would be much better. Lewa was undoubtedly a world class. However he is 35y old and he is clearly finished. In contrast, Raphinha and Ferran are far from world class wingers. Considering the financial situation whe are in we can't afford to make 3 questionable signings for 150 mil. Furthermore, after spending 100 mil on Ferran and Raphinha we are in situation where our starting wingers are 16y old kid and loaned player. You have to admit that Xavi, together with our sporting director is the one to blame for this situation.

Just for comparison, City have spent 23 mil EUR on Julian Alvarez who is by far better player than Ferran or Raphinha. However, the question remains if he would develop as good under Xavi as he did under Pep. In the end, we can only hope that Roque will be the real deal or we are completely fucked.
 
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ajnotkeith

Senior Member
I'd say the team needs about 400m in players in the next 2 transfer windows.

About 3 clear starters and some 2 solid back-ups. But not rejects from other teams or oldies obviously. Signings like De Jong was.
Easy. We can sell the "average" players like Gavi, Pedri, Yamal etc that are very over hyped and average and get that together over the next two windows.

Why doesn't Xavi do that if thats all that's needed? He can get rid of these average players instantly for huge money if he wants.
 

Messigician

Senior Member
I’d be surprised if Barca play good football under Xavi again. Rarely in football does a team play so underwhelming for such a large period and then turn it around with the same manager but with a different approach.

Once a culture is set in under a regime it generally stays that way for the majority of the time.

It isn’t really a personnel or availability issue either because you basically have an entire squad not performing to their best abilities.
IT'S TIME TO GO
 

behindbrowneyes

Well-known member
The next few weeks will define if this season still can become a successful one or not. Games in La Liga against direct competitors Atletico and Girona as well as the always tough away game in Mestalla will show the direction in La Liga.

Winning the group in CL is a must if Barca wants to reach quarter finals. Always relative because group seconds have won CL, but risk of getting a tough opponent gets reduced massively as group winner.

Xavi had his fair share of bad luck with injuries and bad refereeing. Also has won La Liga last season. I give him that. However, he is already 2 years coach of the club now and I fail to see a clear structure in his tactics which is not a good sign.
 

serghei

Senior Member
Easy. We can sell the "average" players like Gavi, Pedri, Yamal etc that are very over hyped and average and get that together over the next two windows.

Why doesn't Xavi do that if thats all that's needed? He can get rid of these average players instantly for huge money if he wants.

Don't want to sell them.

That money have to be invested on top of what we have.

But this discussion is pointless, my opinion is that the club is doing a good job. It's not a tragedy if the club can't compete vs the best teams for 3-4 seasons until the finances hopefully get sorted.

If we can snatch some titles like the club did last season, we're solid, even if the quality of football is not that high.
 
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