At long last, everybody at Barcelona has finally been put out of their misery.
The long-suffering, success-starved Blaugrana fans can have reason for optimism once more, as can the players, who in the post-Lionel Messi era have been reduced to playing a type of football more in common with Pulis than Pep.
Ronald Koeman has also been liberated after seeing his dream job descend into a nightmare during 14 months in charge. The Dutchman’s position has been under threat from the moment his biggest cheerleader Josep Maria Bartomeu was ousted from his position last October. Koeman’s sacking after Barcelona’s 1-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday came a year to the day after Bartomeu announced his resignation. The timing would almost be spooky if it hadn’t all been so grimly inevitable.
Sergi Barjuan, a stalwart of the Barcelona side during the 1990s has been given a temporary promotion, stepping up from his job as B-team manager to take charge of first-team affairs. He is set to be in the dugout for Saturday’s game against Alaves, but is thought to be merely keeping the seat warm for Xavi Hernandez ahead of his much-anticipated return.
It’s being widely reported that Barcelona and Xavi have an agreement in place, but terms need to be thrashed out with his current employers, Al Sadd. Xavi’s contract with the Qatari club spans until the end of the 2022 World Cup in the Gulf state.
Barcelona, like other super clubs, hope that by hiring an iconic former player synonymous with a golden age of success, the feelgood factor will return to the Nou Camp. Arguably only Lionel Messi has a more complete legacy at Barca than Xavi, who won 25 honours in 17 years and is second to the Argentine in the list of all-time appearances.
Xavi’s final act as a Barcelona player was to lift the club’s fifth and most recent Champions League trophy after a 3-1 win against Juventus in Berlin. Clearly, Barcelona’s interest in the 41-year-old is driven by nostalgia, but Xavi does at least have managerial experience behind him, unlike his generation’s other great regista, Andrea Pirlo, who was underqualified when taking the Juventus job last year.
Xavi has enjoyed a smooth transition from playing to coaching, winning seven trophies including a league title in two years in charge of Al Sadd, where he saw out a glittering playing career. The club finished 13 points clear at the top of the league in 2020-21, scoring 77 goals, conceding 14 and losing none of their 22 matches.
With expectations low, Barcelona are after a manager that can implement a style of play that fits the club’s ethos. More tiki-taka than hit-and-hope. Laporta struck gold by replacing an underperforming Dutchman with an up-and-coming native in 2008 when hiring Pep Guardiola to succeed Frank Rijkaard and is looking to repeat the trick once more.
Xavi certainly talks a good game. “The most important, the most beautiful thing and the most precious thing in football is to have the ball and to attack and dominate the game with the ball,” he told The Coaches Voice YouTube channel. “I’m obsessed with possession and not just to have the ball for the sake of having it but to attack and to create chances and hurt the opposition.”
In the video, Xavi meticulously slides magnets masquerading as footballers into their correct positions on a tactics board, talking up the importance of a “high press” and achieving “numerical superiority” across the pitch. It is like receiving tuition from Guardiola himself, albeit one with a full head of jet black hair. He also lauds former Spain colleague Santi Cazorla for helping to instigate a change in mindset among the squad.
Clearly, managing Al Sadd is a world away from the test of managing Barcelona, especially this version, but gloss over some of the club’s well-documented issues and there are some positives to be found. Namely, in the nucleus of young talent breaking through in Ronald Araujo, Pedri, Gavi, Nico Gonzalez and Messi’s heir apparent, Ansu Fati.
Having been an integral part of Barcelona’s last golden generation, Xavi now has the chance to oversee the emergence of the next one. At least, that’s the plan.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2XRtiZA
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