“In the end, it’s Cruyff’s idea. My first defender is the striker and the first attacker is the goalkeeper. You have to work tactically, know what to do on the field in different situations,” these words from Xavi during his press conference bring back hopes in Barcelona fan who have suffered a lot in the past couple of years with the team’s performance. The new era has begun at Barcelona as the prodigal son returns home after six years in order to get things right at the Camp Nou. Barcelona have lost their authority in European football in the past few seasons after back-to-back failures in UEFA Champions League. The Catalan giants won their last UCL title back in 2014/15 which was also Xavi’s last season at Camp Nou.
RECAP OF WHAT HAPPENED AFTER XAVI LEFT BARCELONA AS PLAYER
Things have only gone worse for Barcelona each passing year after Xavi left the club. In 2017 Neymar Jr. left the club to join Paris Saint-Germain for a record 222 million euro transfer fees. The management under Josep Maria Bartomeu financially ruined the club by making some big-money signings to replace Neymar. Barcelona signed Ousamane Dembele, Phillipe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann all above 100 million euro each. The financial condition crashed with Bartomeu in charge and the pressure was mounting on Lionel Messi to deliver on his own every season.
The Argentine kept Barcelona at the highest level on his own for a couple of seasons but soon a below-average defensive unit and managerial blunders started costing the club at the big stage as they started losing their charm in the league.
Luis Enrique was the last manager who brought happiness at Camp Nou but after his departure, things kept crumbling. Ernesto Valverde kept Barcelona on top in LaLiga but in the Champions League the club suffered heartbreaks after heartbreaks from Rome to Liverpool. In January 2020, Bartomeu’s board sacked Valverde after pressure from the fans and a low-profile Quique Setien was hired to bring back Johan Cruyff’s philosophy but things only went worse for the club.
Under Setien, Barcelona suffered their most humiliating defeat ever: 2-8 against Bayern Munich in the 2019-2020 Champions League quarter-final. The defeat was more than enough to rock Camp Nou. Setien was fired after the match as Barcelona also ended their season trophyless.
Ahead of the 2020/21 season, Messi asked the board to leave the club on a free transfer via a special clause in his contract. Bartomeu’s board forcefully stopped the Argentine as he decided not to drag the club of his life to the court.
After all the drama, club veteran Ronald Koeman was hired as a manager to put things back on track. However, the financial condition didn’t allow him to make any major signing as Barcelona also offloaded their legendary striker Luis Suarez to rivals Atletico Madrid for just 6 million euros.
Koeman failed to bring back the glory days as Barcelona only won Copa del Rey during his first season and finished third on the league after getting eliminated from UCL in the round of 16. The management also faced major shake-up during that season as Bartomeu and his board resigned after constant pressure from fans.
After Bartomeu’s departure, Joan Laporta returned to head Football Club Barcelona after winning the presidential election in March 2021. Laporta has been one of the most successful presidents in the Catalan club’s history with his earlier tenure resulting in a sextuple at the 2009-10 season with Pep Guardiola as the manager. Additionally, he made some serious business during that time bringing home some of the biggest players in world football viz. Ronaldinho, Deco, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but the situation will not be the same this time for the veteran.
The expectations were high from Laporta to bring major changes in the club but the financial condition made things difficult for them. Barcelona were forced to offload their greatest player ever Lionel Messi after failing to extend his contract. The financial condition was so bad that Messi agreed to play with a 50 per cent pay cut but Barcelona were still not able to register him with La Liga. Messi’s exit cost Barcelona around 137 million euros in brand value. A brutal cost the club had to pay for losing Messi.
The new era has begun at Camp Nou and despite a 1.35 billion euro (approx) debt.
In the second half of the past decade, it was Messi who carried Barcelona on his shoulders and was instrumental in the club winning so many trophies but now with him gone, the Camp Nou needs something special.
It’s almost impossible to fill Messi’s shoes but football is not an individual sport and so Barcelona, more than ever would need to play like a team now, without depending on any individual brilliance.
However, Barcelona were not prepared to play without Messi as Koeman’s problems increased game after game and in the end, Laporta had to sack him. The Dutch left the club when Barcelona were at the ninth spot in the LaLiga points table and were on the cusp of getting eliminated from the UCL group stage.
THE RETURN OF PRODIGAL SON
Laporta made the bold move to bring back Xavi to the club as the Spanish legend was unveiled as Barcelona manager on November 8 after triggering his release clause to Qatar’s Al Sadd. It’s the perfect time for Xavi to take over their reigns at Camp Nou as he will get some breathing space. He will not be under massive pressure to win some trophies in his first season as Barcelona are already far behind in La Liga and they don’t have the best of the squad to compete in UCL.
Xavi is the perfect person to bring the Cryuff’s philosophy at the club which Pep Guardiola mastered during his tenure. He managed the club for four seasons and took them to various heights with a historic 2009-10 year where they won the sextuple (six trophies in a single season). He left the club after the 2011-12 season with 14 trophies for Barcelona.
Xavi was one of the main protagonists during Pep’s era at Barcelona where they played the most dominant football in Cryuff style – tiki-taka. And now as a manager, the legendary Spanish midfielder has to bring the glory days back at Camp Nou.
“I come here to help the [youngsters] to perform, to be happy,” said Xavi at his press conference.
The Blaugranas have some exciting young talents of world football with the likes of Ansu Fati, Pedri and Gavi. They have some talented players in the squad like Memphis Depay, Ousmane Dembele and Philipe Coutino. The experience is there with Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Marc Andre Ter Stegen. All Xavi needs to do is bring the winning mentality back in the dressing room. Barcelona needed a change and Xavi can be the breath of fresh air for them.
The 41-year-old has already laid down some rules in the dressing room to increase the discipline and now all he wants is some time and the fans have to put faith in the club legend. There are equal chances that he might fail in the initial matches as things are in turmoil at the club and to get them right any manager would take time. Demanding trophies from Xavi in the first season is too much to ask and the first thing Barcelona need is to get their flair back.
“The plan is the same as for all the players. They all start from scratch. The ones I know, are precisely the ones whom I will push the most. I want them to lead the dressing room and they are very important because they have experienced many situations. I know their strengths and weaknesses. I have no problem. I consider it an advantage,” Xavi said during his first press conference as Barcelona manager.
These words showed that Xavi has come to Barcelona to stay here for a long time. He wants things to move in right way without pressing any panic button.
The former Barcelona number 6 might get some decent transfer budget in next season but he might not be able to sign any big player in the coming Winter Transfer Window.
Xavi left Al Sadd where he was getting more salary for his home Barcelona and now he deserved time to try and make things better at the club.
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