At this stage, the criticism is inevitable and there are certain decisions so far from Xavi himself that I also have not been a fan of:
- Insisting on Busi especially at the expense of Frenkie just absolutely needs to end after today. Lucho made the tough call with him when it wasnt working with him and Iniesta, played Raki and used Xavi as a sub to kill of matches when we had the lead. The time has come to do the same with Busi and especially post-WC if he is still starting and we continue to drop points, my patience with Xavi will run thin as well. It is just too apparent now whenever Busi is absent from the pitch that our football improves, our ball circulation quickens and it is quite baffling how Xavi isnt seeing it. I dont think he is that blind, I think he is giving him a chance to catch form for Spain, all honesty. Only thing that makes sense so if he doesnt phase him after that, by all means then sack away Laporta
- The offensive signings just arent sticking for real. I will give him credit for Auba because that worked better than both Xavi and the player get credit for due to circumstances but outside of that, Lewy, Ferran and Raphinha have all been big and expensive Ls so far. Being pretty broke while losing your carry for the last decade has doubled down on the need to get this right so the problem in general isnt entirely on Xavi. That said, his inability to get the best out of these attackers for the most part and the trust he placed in Dembele blowing up in his face is on him
In terms of criticism around this season, that is what I see as valid to lay on Xavi. What I do not think is valid however is giving up on him, this project and our sporting philosophy due to this month alone. I wont do rounds with anyone over this but he is categorically the best manager we have had since at least Valverde and we are improving.
Bayern alone: last season it was boys against men in the first match in the CL at home. Never even close in that match. This season at the Allianz, we were very unlucky to not come out with a draw at least. Bit more clinical in our finishing and some tighter marking and we come out with the 3 points. New arrivals and young players are going to be a bit inconsistent in a situation like this so I dont see why you blame Xavi when our players make silly mistakes in key moments or underperform.
I just think if you are going to come for Xavis throat right now, you have to acknowledge we have had a particularly bad run of luck here. Especially when it comes to the CL: not only do we get by far the worst pot 2 draw imaginable with two other massive clubs, we get one who we have a horrific recent history with and the other a team tailor made tactically to frustrate us. Then you throw in an injury crisis in there at the beginning of the most important stretch of the start of the season, you can say excuses but whatever, any project like this is going to wobble when you lose two of the most important defensive pieces of your XI, their backup and three class squad players. It really has been a perfect storm of shit at the worst possible time and you cant tell me we looked THAT unconvincing prior to this shit to warrant him getting sacked.
Final thoughts for this season: La Liga is over next May and there is no telling how anyone is going to come back from the World Cup. In the CL, we have been pretty unlucky to be in this situation and if we end up in just about any other group, I think we would be in a far more comfortable situation overall. No manager can fix mental problems like this with a single window so I think the severity of this is being blown out of proportion a bit.
He needs to change tactics. Maybe 4231 formation, without Busquets, maybe 343...
