Xavi Hernández

[Richard.H]

This is Barcelona,not Celta Vigo. We've had more star players than any club in history, especially recent history.We should have ten CL,not five. Our expectations every season should be Liga or cl. No compromise or excuse.
My expectations are a cl and two ligas every five years. Minimum.

Sorry mate it doesn't work that way. Every club has a bad period. We have only been in a bad period for 3 years since we reached CL semi's in 2019 and won La Liga. Between 2000 and 2004 the club wasn't good either. Even a club with unlimited resources like Real Madrid has downtimes. Whether we should have more CL's is a different argument. You could make the same arguments for teams like Bayern Munich and Man City.

I have to agree with [MENTION=15353]JohnN[/MENTION] . We looked horrible at the start of this season and Xavi managed to make lots of things better. We should be grateful. His only real hiccup has been vs Frankfurt.

 

[KingLeo10]

I understand legitimate criticism like starting or continuing to shield players who are past it/not cut out for it.

But to act entitled and think just because we're Barcelona, the CL and LL should roll into our cabinet is peak clownery. Chill out and have some perspective.

 

[Barcilliant]

Sorry mate it doesn't work that way. Every club has a bad period. We have only been in a bad period for 3 years since we reached CL semi's in 2019 and won La Liga. Between 2000 and 2004 the club wasn't good either. Even a club with unlimited resources like Real Madrid has downtimes. Whether we should have more CL's is a different argument. You could make the same arguments for teams like Bayern Munich and Man City.

I have to agree with [MENTION=15353]JohnN[/MENTION] . We looked horrible at the start of this season and Xavi managed to make lots of things better. We should be grateful. His only real hiccup has been vs Frankfurt.

Yeah, everybody has a bad period but we have been clowned in Europe for six seasons now. We don't get beat in Europe, we get humiliated. HUGE DIFFERENCE. If our losdes had been regulation or narrow losses people would grumble but not be this alarmed.

 

[KingLeo10]

Yeah, everybody has a bad period but we have been clowned in Europe for six seasons now. We don't get beat in Europe, we get humiliated. HUGE DIFFERENCE. If our losdes had been regulation or narrow losses people would grumble but not be this alarmed.

RM got eliminated in R of 16 6 times in a row in 00s after already being 9 time CL winners. And had plenty of humiliations in CL between 1966 and 1998 - no CL for 32 years.

Relax.

 

[Barcilliant]

Xavi: "What cannot be lost is the DNA of the club, we have to believe in it."I hope these are just ritual words. I also didn?t like the hints of failure with the fans. This is not the main reason for the defeat and not the responsibility of the coach.In fact, we still have the same problems: no one to score, no one to defend and problems in the center of the field. DNA cannot solve this.

This is the sort of bullshit that made me wary of Xavi. This whole cult like devotion to Cruyff and La Masia. Playing midgets like Pedri and Gavi was probably the biggest mistake he made against Eintracht. You simply do not play those two together in a European tie unless you're playing 3-4-3 with De Jong and a physical midfielder who covers alot of ground.
He also made excuses about the fans and of course our pussy as ass players couldn't handle adversity once again. We need a manager who instills a winning mentality not a whining one. The pitch is bad, ref sucks, they have too many fans etc are all excuses. You are paid big bucks to win at the highest level. If our manager and players can't hack it they should move to MLS or Qatar.

 

[Iniesta Ultra]

The irony is Pedri and Gavi aren't preserving dna. I see the the inverse happening, passing and dribbling in isolation.

 

[Messigician]

Shittest press conference ever

 

[MTL_Barca]

At least Xavi is said to be pushing for more signings, so that should mean he's aware we can't solve every problem with more passes between CMs.

Overall i'd say things are still going better than expected, rewind a few months and it was a serious concern to not even finish top 4 and the mood here was pure depression. Still close but now we're at 2nd place with 2 games less that shouldn't be too difficult to win, and more fans here are actually looking forward to see the team play each week again.

From the starting point that is already a big improvement, but of course that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of work left to be done. Hopefully we can further improve the squad in summer and then we should be able to compete for La Liga again. Considering that it already felt like our FC Titanic was on the bottom of the ocean that wouldn't be too shabby of a recovery. To actually make a huge jump back to the top we'd need a lot of things going our way, like Fati coming back injury free and playing on a world class level, all transfers being successful etc something out of the ordinary.

 

[malvolio]

Great post John. A couple of good signings this summer should leave us in a competitive state in all 3 competitions next season.

We need to start getting some players that can turn things around. A Dani Alves or Yaya Toure kind of signing. What we got until now are just squad players or starter material just because others we have are shit or not ready yet.

If we don't get at least 2 players that can be worldclass in the future, we won't really compete for anything else than Copa.

Madrid with Mbappe leading the line and signings like Tchouameni or others, will be a major force. They might even replace Ancelotti.

That's why just getting players to fill gaps in squad will not cut it. We need players that can transform the defense or attack.

 

[mc_lovin]

I agree that we need one or two elite signings. But we are flexible in choice (DM, CB, forward), which is a big advantage. The first 11 would look very good if we got just one top CB, DM or forward. Kounde would be a nice parallel to Alves' transfer back then.

Hope we make enough money with outgoing transfers to finance at least one. Plus the Dembele replacement. Not too optimistic though:
- Coutinho 0-40m (I believe it when we sold him )
- Lenglet 10-20m
- Braithwaite 0-10m
- Puig 0-5m
- Umtiti 0m
- Neto 0-10m
- Mingueza 5-10m
- Memphis 10-20m

Looks very underwhelming and we heavily depend on a Coutinho masterpiece from Alemany.

 

[malvolio]

I agree that we need one or two elite signings. But we are flexible in choice (DM, CB, forward), which is a big advantage. The first 11 would look very good if we got just one top CB, DM or forward. Kounde would be a nice parallel to Alves' transfer back then.

Hope we make enough money with outgoing transfers to finance at least one. Plus the Dembele replacement. Not too optimistic though:
- Coutinho 0-40m (I believe it when we sold him )
- Lenglet 10-20m
- Braithwaite 0-10m
- Puig 0-5m
- Umtiti 0m
- Neto 0-10m
- Mingueza 5-10m
- Memphis 10-20m

Looks very underwhelming and we heavily depend on a Coutinho masterpiece from Alemany.

We need:
- a good starter RB
- a squad option at LB
- a top CB(that Christensen fella is not it)
- midfield we're covered for now, maybe replacement for Busi but that will have to wait
- a right winger
- a top ST

There were rumors that we'll let Depay go for free, in order to repay him coming on lower wages. So 0 money on that one. The rest on that list will be hard to move for money.

 

[serghei]

I understand legitimate criticism like starting or continuing to shield players who are past it/not cut out for it.

But to act entitled and think just because we're Barcelona, the CL and LL should roll into our cabinet is peak clownery. Chill out and have some perspective.

Yeah, pretty much. Some are still in denial.

We still look for bargains and free agents because our finances suck. Until that gets better, you can't fight for the big titles, period.

Xavi winning the league with this squad next season is gonna take some absolutely massive coaching performance. Madrid is better in nearly every position.

 

[ajnotkeith]

Yeah, pretty much. Some are still in denial.

We still look for bargains and free agents because our finances suck. Until that gets better, you can't fight for the big titles, period.

Xavi winning the league with this squad next season is gonna take some absolutely massive coaching performance. Madrid is better in nearly every position.

Is it?

Full strength our squads are of very similar strength,if we aren't better. The only problem is we started without signings and many injuries.

They only have a clear advantage at ST with Benzema and perhaps FB with Mendy?

 

[Bobo32]

Yeah, pretty much. Some are still in denial.

We still look for bargains and free agents because our finances suck. Until that gets better, you can't fight for the big titles, period.

Xavi winning the league with this squad next season is gonna take some absolutely massive coaching performance. Madrid is better in nearly every position.

He is currently doing an absolutely massive coaching performance then, because he is on a better point per game than Real Madrid and probably every other club as well since taking over. I expect and predict that things will look better rather than worse next season, with some signings and some time, while both Madrid clubs for example might very well be worse rather than better next season.

 

[malvolio]

Is it?

Full strength our squads are of very similar strength,if we aren't better. The only problem is we started without signings and many injuries.

They only have a clear advantage at ST with Benzema and perhaps FB with Mendy?

They have better GK, better fullbacks(overall), CBs maybe we're even, midfield we have a bit of an edge on the starters(but their starters have experience in the biggest games) but they currently have likes of Camavinga and Valverde on bench, they have the better attack and a realiable match winner in Benzema.

So they are better right now. Imagine if they get Mbappe on a free and still have 100-200m to splash on other players. They might even get Pogba on a free.

Many in here are sold on the story that if we started the season with current squad and manager we would have been top of the table. Which is not true considering Real walked at their own pace without being pushed by anyone in the league.