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New Barcelona head coach Xavi will have to tackle a plethora of issues in his first few months in charge. The new era begins with a Barcelona derby against Espanyol at the Camp Nou this weekend.
As the dust starts to settle on the instant euphoria and adrenaline rush following Xavi’s appointment as manager of Barcelona, the seemingly endless problems at the club start becoming clearer. With the international break now behind us, football lovers all over the globe will have their eyes glued to the screen when Barcelona take on Espanyol.
Barcelona have suffered one of their worst starts in recent memory and are ninth in La Liga. They are level on points with their cross-town neighbors Espanyol despite having played a game less. Even in the Champions League, they are second in the group and qualification cannot be taken for granted.
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Xavi appointed as new head coach of Barcelona
On November 6, 2021, Barcelona appointed club legend Xavi to replace Ronald Koeman as the new head coach. In many ways, the World Cup winner’s appointment feels pre-ordained. Many had tipped him to take over the managerial reins at the club even in the twilight years of his playing career.
Xavi enjoyed tremendous success domestically as manager of Qatari club Al Sadd since 2019. Under him, the side won everything they could but that is to be expected given their star-studded squad as well as their repertoire. However, under him, there were clear signs of progress made at Al Sadd as a unit along with the improvement of several players.
While it’s true that Xavi will get more time than his predecessors to fix things at Barcelona, once the honeymoon period is over, the demands will sky-rocket again.
What are some of these short-term issues that he will need to address quickly? We discuss below:
#5 Getting the best out of Frenkie de Jong
During the last couple of years at Ajax, Frenkie de Jong was among the best midfielders in the world. Although he has been influential in the Barcelona squad as well, his greatness has shone through in bits and pieces instead of a consistent pattern.
Former managers Quique Setien and Ronald Koeman failed to unlock De Jong’s true potential. The failure to achieve consistency under Koeman was critical since the duo have worked together successfully with the Dutch national team.
In Xavi, De Jong will not only find a strong reference point but a great mentor as well. Who better to get the best out of him at Barcelona than one of the greatest midfielders in the history of football? One can surely hope
#4 Revamping the fitness of his players
This is one of the areas where work has already begun although it might take some time to reflect on the results. Over the past few years, the Barcelona squad has suffered a lot of muscular injuries and relapses. The careers of Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati and even quite recently, Pedri have been affected by it. The same has also deprived the team of resources during key moments in the season.
Following Xavi’s appointment, Barcelona have already sacked several members of the fitness and medical team. The Catalan has brought along his own set of fitness gurus and medical experts from Al Sadd. It remains to be seen how quickly changes will be visible but fans can expect more attention to be paid to players’ fitness under Xavi
#3 Xavi must revive the careers of Barcelona's star signings
Three managers have failed at it so far, and the onus is now on Xavi to revive the stagnated careers of Barcelona’s once-blockbuster signings – Phillippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele. The Catalan club spent lavishly on bringing these two players to the Camp Nou and it has been nothing but a massive let down since then.
While Dembele has been consistently plagued by injury issues, Coutinho has become a shadow of the player who once dominated the Premier League with Liverpool.
Dembele’s importance was one of the points Xavi had touched upon in his first official press conference as Barcelona coach. Improving the fitness of the French winger will be key and work has already begun in that direction.
Meanwhile, Coutinho’s case is rather odd, where the club is caught between a rock and a hard place. No club is willing to pay for his exorbitant services but at the same time, the Brazilian adds virtually nothing to the team. If Xavi can get Coutinho going at Barcelona, it will be nothing short of a miracle.
#2 Imposing order and meritocracy at the club
It has become quite clear over the last few years that the traits of order and discipline have almost disappeared from the Barcelona dressing room. The current senior leadership group isn’t the most influential, and several of those players – Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto and Marc-Andre ter Stegen – have been Xavi’s teammates.
Many of them haven’t been performing at a top level consistently and at some point in the near future, Xavi will need to have tough conversations with them. In one of his first moves as Barcelona coach, the former player re-installed a system of fines to improve the punctuality of the squad. He has also stressed the need to foster harmony and team spirit.
Xavi must also rein in on his former team-mates, imposing additional authority when it comes to selections and lineups. Playing time must be given out purely on the basis of merit and performance rather than stature and reputation.
#1 Plugging the holes in defence
If Barcelona want to get back on track in the league this season, Xavi will have to find a way to plug holes in their leaky defense. The Catalan side has conceded 15 goals in 12 games this season already and the absence of Ronald Araujo has only made matters worse.
Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti have severely regressed as footballers and Barcelona will be looking for an exodus for them soon. Eric Garcia has taken time to settle in but he continues to hold promise. Oscar Mingueza has had his moments but cannot be trusted in big games consistently. At his worst, Gerard Pique has looked like a second-division player, at his best he has been erratic.
While ideally the club should look for cheap defensive solutions in the winter market, Xavi must get the best out of his players over the next month and a half. One of the ideas he wants to instill at the club is defending with the ball – something that his idols Pep Guardiola, Frank Rijkaard and Johan Cruyff also believe in.
However, it remains to be seen if Xavi can emulate the same level of success at Barcelona.
