Xavi Hernández

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

The club competes for securing the 2nd place. Madrid is much better. Club is nearly missing half the starting 11.

It is a smart move. Draw at Bilbao is good for current situation. I can see us finishing 2nd, which would be ok.

It would have been only 6 points if Barca would have won, dude this club will always play for title if possible. If the gap between us and Real would be more than 12 points i would understand what you mean but why giving up when the title is still realistic (before bilbao match) ?

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Overachivement that the club didn't fully understand.

If the league title last season was overachievement how can expect from the coach next season to win it if he has also to play agisnt ham + Mbappe??

 

[serghei]

If the league title last season was overachievement how can expect from the coach next season to win it if he has also to play agisnt ham + Mbappe??

I don't. You lot should if you're not hypocrites.

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

I don't. You lot should if you're not hypocrites.

Because you said next coach needs to win ll to be on Xavi's level or a worthy replacement but next season it will be against ham + Mbappe so if last season was already overachievment it will be impossible next season 🤔

 

[serghei]

Because you said next coach needs to win ll to be on Xavi's level or a worth replacement but next season it will be against ham + Mbappe so if last season was already overachievment it will be impossible next season 🤔

Of course. To be on Xavi's level in one of the most important areas, the next manager will have to provide a very high points season in La Liga. And I mean very very high. In the 90-95 points range. This is to match some of Xavi's best work in his time here: very high league consistency over an entire domestic season against smaller sides compared to Barcelona. This summarizes Xavi's best work at the club.

The next guy doesn't have to necessarily win the league title, because Madrid could be capable of providing the same consistency as Barcelona, and beat us twice in h2h games. There were (rare) situations in big leagues where one team got the title, but the 2nd finished on 93-95 points. It wouldn't be fair to expect an inferior Barcelona to outmatch a full-firing Madrid with Mbappe in their attack. Xavi did not face such a domestic force, a la Pep's City.

I don't expect the next manager to provide a 90+ points season. But he can do it. Winning league titles vs a much higher-rated rival is never easy. It is achievable with hard work if you are a good manager (see Leverkusen).

Also, I don't dispute that the next manager might fail domestically to match Xavi's first season but still improve the team in other aspects. Maybe the team will perform better in CL vs higher-level teams. This is no doubt an area where Xavi failed to produce notable results.

There are many areas where a team could improve, while you could also lose some things in other areas. Xavi made many of these youngsters Champions of Spain for the first time in their careers. That's not something to belittle.

However the next manager might or might not do, there are still going to be many of the same problems. Lack of funds, injuries to young players, having to compete vs richer teams compared to us, and so on. These aren't situations that appear now all of a sudden. So it's not like "Poor next guy, he is gonna get so much worse than Xavi". These are problems that Xavi himself had to deal with in his time at the club. They contributed a great deal to the pressure that got the best of him in the end.

Having to compete at the top and keep winning (or at least competing until the end) titles with all those challenges is anything but easy. Especially in such demanding clubs like Barcelona (with a predisposition for delusion and a penchant for over-romanticizing I might add) that refuse to accept that the club is simply not the same it was 5-10 years ago.

 

[DonAK]

Wild mental gymnastics.

This is not a CL-winning squad, but very good managers can elevate a squad like this to compete better and play better.

Xavi is a not a good manager.

 

[ajnotkeith]

Of course. To be on Xavi's level in one of the most important areas, the next manager will have to provide a very high points season in La Liga. And I mean very very high. In the 90-95 points range. This is to match some of Xavi's best work in his time here: very high league consistency over an entire domestic season against smaller sides compared to Barcelona. This summarizes Xavi's best work at the club.

The next guy doesn't have to necessarily win the league title, because Madrid could be capable of providing the same consistency as Barcelona, and beat us twice in h2h games. There were (rare) situations in big leagues where one team got the title, but the 2nd finished on 93-95 points. It wouldn't be fair to expect an inferior Barcelona to outmatch a full-firing Madrid with Mbappe in their attack. Xavi did not face such a domestic force, a la Pep's City.

I don't expect the next manager to provide a 90+ points season. But he can do it. Winning league titles vs a much higher-rated rival is never easy. It is achievable with hard work if you are a good manager (see Leverkusen).

Also, I don't dispute that the next manager might fail domestically to match Xavi's first season but still improve the team in other aspects. Maybe the team will perform better in CL vs higher-level teams. This is no doubt an area where Xavi failed to produce notable results.

There are many areas where a team could improve, while you could also lose some things in other areas. Xavi made many of these youngsters Champions of Spain for the first time in their careers. That's not something to belittle.

However the next manager might or might not do, there are still going to be many of the same problems. Lack of funds, injuries to young players, having to compete vs richer teams compared to us, and so on. These aren't situations that appear now all of a sudden. So it's not like "Poor next guy, he is gonna get so much worse than Xavi". These are problems that Xavi himself had to deal with in his time at the club. They contributed a great deal to the pressure that got the best of him in the end.

Having to compete at the top and keep winning (or at least competing until the end) titles with all those challenges is anything but easy. Especially in such demanding clubs like Barcelona (with a predisposition for delusion and a penchant for over-romanticizing I might add) that refuse to accept that the club is simply not the same it was 5-10 years ago.

Mostly reasonable except Xavi didn't really have financial issues to deal with and the future managers will have a far worse financial situation.

 

[serghei]

Mostly reasonable except Xavi didn't really have financial issues to deal with and the future managers will have a far worse financial situation.

Next guy will probably get fewer signings compared to summer of 2022.

But on the other hand, when Xavi came he found a squad with huge issues. An attack made of Ilias, Demir, Jutgla and other names like that. Next manager will inherit the good players that the club signed, plus the more experienced version of the youngsters, all of which already won a title with the team. Kounde, Christensen, Raphinha, Araujo, Gavi, and the others will probably still be here. Most of these players formed the core that won the league title a year ago. If the club will sell some of them, new players are gonna come that the manager will have a say on.

On the plus side, Yamal seems to be a top talent, and the next manager will get much more of him than Xavi did. Will get more out of Roque too, who didn't have time to properly settle under Xavi.

Next season new stadium also. Also a big boost.

 

[serghei]

Wild mental gymnastics.

This is not a CL-winning squad, but very good managers can elevate a squad like this to compete better and play better.

Xavi is a not a good manager.

We'll see.

A huge part of competing better means finishing the league table with the highest amount of points possible. This is how it's done in the real, practical world.

That's how it's done in most sports even, not just football. You get points for winning games in the championship, and the more games you win the more points you get. There isn't some parallel universe where a team plays great but doesn't win games.

If the next guy is gonna win games at a very good rate, chances are fans are gonna be happy. Sort of... You can also get fans that bitch non-stop and undermine even great seasons saying the league is shit, we got lucky, or some bollocks like that.

If the next guy is gonna win games at a very good rate, and on top of that the team is gonna play fun and entertaining football, then that's even better. It means we've found ourselves a great manager.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Don't really care about sergays mental gymnastics on who should or shouldn't win the league, but the quality of football under Xavi is below pub team. Anyone, who can improve on that is automatically shitting on whatever Xavi done.

 

[ZenI]

Don't really care about sergays mental gymnastics on who should or shouldn't win the league, but the quality of football under Xavi is below pub team. Anyone, who can improve on that is automatically shitting on whatever Xavi done.

At least we mostly agree on the football-side of things

 

[JohnN]

We don't need to argue about the league last season and whether the next manager should repeat that or get 90 points or anything of that sort.
Focus on this:
1. is the football currently and for the past year unwatchable? Yes
2. Has the team repressed since last year? Yes
3. Have Xavi's in game decisions been constantly from mind-boggling to disastrous? Yes
4. Have we conceded goals from every team we played in any league category they might be? Yes
5. Has Xavi acted like a whiney spoilt brat during and after games? Yes

These are the reasons every one wants him out. not because we believe the next one will be the second coming of Pep.

 

[Joan]

Don't really care about sergays mental gymnastics on who should or shouldn't win the league, but the quality of football under Xavi is below pub team. Anyone, who can improve on that is automatically shitting on whatever Xavi done.

That’s the short of it. It’s just awful. Not only it’s unwatchable, I didn’t enjoy Cholo’s peak either but at least there was quality there. With Xavi there’s nada.

 

[TacticsTim]

Many people seem to focus on the dreadful football that is being played and rightfully blaming Xavi. What many people dont seem to talk about is Barcelona's inability to play physically. This is seen against literally every team that will non stop foul barca players usually small fouls shoves etc. Barcelona simply does not know how to deal with this and they themselves don't know how to respond.

This clearly at least to me indicates that the level of training is low and that in training there is very little if any physicality and aggression. If anyone listened to any good coaches or legendary ex-players they always say that the training was harder and tougher than the games they played and that the trainings were aggressive intense and ultra competitive. Barcelona for a long time instead always comes unprepared to match other teams' physicality and always plays scared.

They clearly need an experienced manager to really up the intensity and level of training. And I am not even talking about Xavi's lack of tactical preparation in terms of patterns of play, positioning.

 

[BJJ]

Many people seem to focus on the dreadful football that is being played and rightfully blaming Xavi. What many people dont seem to talk about is Barcelona's inability to play physically. This is seen against literally every team that will non stop foul barca players usually small fouls shoves etc. Barcelona simply does not know how to deal with this and they themselves don't know how to respond.

This clearly at least to me indicates that the level of training is low and that in training there is very little if any physicality and aggression. If anyone listened to any good coaches or legendary ex-players they always say that the training was harder and tougher than the games they played and that the trainings were aggressive intense and ultra competitive. Barcelona for a long time instead always comes unprepared to match other teams' physicality and always plays scared.

They clearly need an experienced manager to really up the intensity and level of training. And I am not even talking about Xavi's lack of tactical preparation in terms of patterns of play, positioning.

For this, there needs to be a cultural change within the club. At Barca physicality and intensity seemed to be looked down upon while at other clubs its part of their DNA.
We were so spoilt in buying players and getting natural talent from la Maria that we've overlooked so many other facets of modern football.