Xavi Hernández

[Iniesta Ultra]

Missed the game due to travel but saw the highlights.
Same old fucking shit from Xavi.
Two seasons down the drain,all because of our obsession with ' Barca DNA ".

When did Golden Barca play no-faith tactics avoiding "midfield closed due to defense" pitch everything wide to Ferret or Demb to hope someone can head as well as Luuk? You're taking the piss every time you post this troll which has to be the most hyperbolic inversion of reality, only ahead of the meathead posters who continue to shit on Puig.

I usually don't fall for this bait but would be nice if you didn't post such retarded shit.

 

[Iniesta Ultra]

I fear we still have serious mental issues. We have seen the talent our players possess individually. But somehow they cannot deliver a collective performance for long stretches. Either everyone is bad, or some shine and others decide not to show up, and next time vice versa.

I've posted this before but needs posted again. The team knows Xavi's one of the goats so when their mentor coach has no faith in them to carry on DNA and go with this below desperate tactics, how the hell is anyone especially Pedri to gain confidence. Longer Xavi stays here the weaker the team's mentality will continue to become.

Since we're levered unlike United this shitshow at some point can seriously hinder any foreseeable future prospects. Things are very dark right now.

 

[Jaguar]

Eric Garcia: "Xavi is a mixture of Guardiola and Luis Enrique. The idea of the game that the three have is practically identical. Each one has nuances, but it's about pressing after loss and ball output."

I'm positive Xavi knows what he's doing and is giving his all to make the players play the best possible. I get a little annoyed with line ups and how the team is playing but it frustrates how some "fans" make Xavi out to be clueless and should be sacked. Makes me sick really. There will always be problems for any managers to find the solutions and I'm sure Xavi will do just that

 

[JohnN]

This video of Henry explaining how in the last third at Pep's Barca the attackers had freedom to exploit the channels they wanted is showing the big difference between Pep and Xavi in the last 3d of the field. You don't micromanage offensive players because that is limiting their impact. That is why you pay big money for these players, to trust their instincts in attack and their vision of the game.

Xavi does some things good, like Pep, but in other areas he is unlike Guardiola, sadly in a negative way.

One thing to note is pep's attackers did indeed have the freedom to express them selfs, but they were also world class players. Rafinha, dembele, Ferran and fati aren't. That's why they need to stick to the plan and follow it. Some micromanagement is justified.
On the other hand lewa, busi, Pedri all seem to have that freedom.
Fans are overestimating our squad.
Xavi for me, except some squad selections is doing a decent job with what he is given.
But my issues with him are with squad selection at certain positions.
No. 1: Busi is not able to cope any more.
No. 2. Alonso is crap.
No. 3. Sergi Roberto is not a RB, but an average squad level midfielder.
No. 4. Raphinia on the left is useless.
No. 5. Gavi is a teenager not suited for every game when you have fdj and kessie.

Apart from all that, the international break really messed us up. We look bad not only against parked busses but against any level of opposition.
Hope we regain out pre break form.

Also, lewa is really underwhelming. He should be the one pushing the squad. He has the experience and the quality but goes missing far too often.

 

[serghei]

Raphinha is playing at a high level as starting RW in the most stacked Brazil side since 2002.

I would wait some more time before questioning wether he has enough quality.

 

[BusiTheKing]

my feeling is that any top winger would struggle in our current setup. and that most of them wouldn't go near our team if they knew how they'd be played.

 

[BusiTheKing]

I have no clue why people are pointing to our defense as the significant issue either. If you leave the game open into the final 30 minutes, then you're going to invite attacks against you and we'd need to defend like prime Simeone Atleti to avert conceding dangerous chances, which we will never be able to.

All things considered I actually think we've defended quite well in these Mallorca, Inter and Celta games.

By far the main issue is not being able to create chances. If we're up by 3 or even 2 against Celta -- which honestly we should have been -- Celta are never going to create those chances. They'd be demoralized.

 

[serghei]

my feeling is that any top winger would struggle in our current setup. and that most of them wouldn't go near our team if they knew how they'd be played.

Probably.

I understand wingers keeping width in early build-up phases, but when the ball is in midfield they should he making various runs in all sorts of directions.

I am going to give Xavi some time to sort it out, but I am not willing to see him dying on that hill, with his fixed ideas being detrimental to the team.

He has to improve and the sooner the better.

 

[Birdy]

Probably.

I understand wingers keeping width in early build-up phases, but when the ball is in midfield they should he making various runs in all sorts of directions.

I am going to give Xavi some time to sort it out, but I am not willing to see him dying on that hill, with his fixed ideas being detrimental to the team.

He has to improve and the sooner the better.

Are you watching City at all?
Pep's wingers like Mahrez, Grealish, Foden (when he plays there), etc never make 'various runs in all sorts of directions'
They hold the width in early, middle, and late phases of the attack, this means pretty much all the time
They are waiting for the ball to come to their feet, and from that moment on they:
i) dribble
ii) combine with others via 1-2s
iii) cross (not blindly but always targeting) in the box
iv) shoot if they have a favorable angle

The only run off the ball they might make is in clear and obvious situations where they are on the shoulder of the last defender, and a through ball can put them 1v1 with the keeper.
But even in these cases, they AGAIN start from out wide.

That's what Pep's wingers do. And btw that's the reason Pep played Ferran CF, because at the wing he was bad at i), iii), and iv) from the list to say the least.


Holding the width is no1 factor for a team to be able to stretch horizontally the pitch and manage to create spaces.
The two players holding the width on either side should NEVER EVER forget that, or else you get the ugly mess that Barca was with Messi as a 'winger' (sic)

Xavi fixed that pathogeny that devastated our tactics for ages.
The problem with Xavi's tactics doesn't lie in having wingers holding the width, it lies in what he does with the rest who don't simply populate all the areas that the stretching creates for them, and that means wingers have less options in passing, crossing. And even worse teams just double up them and they can't even dribble as well.


PS: I don't know what the agenda is in order to support Raphinia, but this one won't cut it
Holding the width is not the problem

 

[serghei]

Lol, they alternate between different positions. Just the other round Grealish scored vs Wolves from the 6m box like a poacher, he wasn't somewhere on the left near the flag keeping width was he?

You need to watch some videos of Henry who explained well that in the last third Pep gave his wingers the freedom to make runs. Of course keeping width was a main focus in many moments, depending on many other factors, but they didn't do that blindly.

Where did Villa score the 3-1 goal vs United in the CL final from? CAM position, more typical for Messi or Iniesta than a LW. In many moments fullbacks were the ones tasked with exploiting wider areas more.

Goals are typically scored by players from central or semicentral positions. If you don't constantly make runs into space in those areas as a winger, you will very rarely have shots towards goal. This is not FIFA game where you receive the ball wide, dribble 3-4 opponents and curl it in the far corner. If that is what you need to do to score a goal, you'll end up with 3 goals a season.

 

[Barcilliant]

I am predicting a frustrating night and probably the beginning of the end for Xavi. I'm jetlagged and I'm not sure I can stay awake for such a late match.

 

[BusiTheKing]

I think we'll do them tonight because there's something 'extra' at stake. I think we'll be pumped, sharper and more aggressive than usual. Actually excited for the Clasico as well.

But I am worried about our performances when the occasion isn't there to give us an edge. We haven't got the cynicism.

 

[Porque]

These pumped games usually get really frustrating unless you score in the first half.

Don't forget the "?" Factor too. CL VAR has been established as inconsistent (a feat in itself) this year. This means that Uefa can mix in bad decisions with fix decisions. A huge worry for the breakaway clubs.

So we have to probably win all our crunch games by more than one goal as we will be suspectable to influential decisions against.

Saying all that, I reckon we get it all together and have a easy victory. 3 goals or so. Inter are not that good and our ceiling is both much higher than theirs and how we played these past games.

 

[kollegah]

Luchos exit back then implanted a huge loser DNA in FC Barcelona.
It was not super visible because of individual talent (mainly Neymar, Messi).
Now, no matter what players we buy, we still look like losers. Bring in bernardo Silva, Haaland, Mbappe whatever, we will still play without urgency and look toothless.

Also the international image of Barca is destroyed, basically every club hates or laughs at barca.

Camp Nou used to be a castle where teams (no matter what level) shit their pants.

 

[Kul_z]

Luchos exit back then implanted a huge loser DNA in FC Barcelona.
It was not super visible because of individual talent (mainly Neymar, Messi).
Now, no matter what players we buy, we still look like losers. Bring in bernardo Silva, Haaland, Mbappe whatever, we will still play without urgency and look toothless.

Also the international image of Barca is destroyed, basically every club hates or laughs at barca.

Camp Nou used to be a castle where teams (no matter what level) shit their pants.

We'll see this evening. This is xavi's biggest test, unfortunately we were much stronger side with araujo and kounde, but there should be no excuses. Win is a must, it would be hard because they would park the bus and play heavy catenaccio. Early goal should unlock them, but we shouldnt lose our head if the score is 0-0 at 80' minute. Try to get the ball in 16m area as frequent as possible, penalty could be our way out