Xavi Hernández

[mc_lovin]

Luis Diaz with 4 and 3 League goals respectively in the last two seasons? The grass is not always greener.

And for me we nailed the exit of Auba. Would have turned into a bum for us as well, I am sure of it

 

[fergus90]

Luis Diaz with 4 and 3 League goals respectively in the last two seasons? The grass is not always greener.

And for me we nailed the exit of Auba. Would have turned into a bum for us as well, I am sure of it

Nah Auba was a great signing for Barca, deserved to stay.

 

[fergus90]

To be honest funds available or not, Barca will have serious competition to attract top, top players in their peak currently. The reputational damage Barca has accrued in the last 6 years means its standing in the European game is the lowest its been since 2000-2002.

Might be the case that the club would end up with no better players than it pulled the levers for anyway.

 

[DonAK]

Luis Diaz with 4 and 3 League goals respectively in the last two seasons? The grass is not always greener.

And for me we nailed the exit of Auba. Would have turned into a bum for us as well, I am sure of it

That's issue with fandom nowadays. Always the stats, never the context behind it.

Luis Diaz is a far better dribbler and a bigger threat out wide than Ferran Torres is. He's far more suited for that role and in all likelihood would adapt far better than Ferran have. For the role Xavi puts Ferran is, Luis Diaz is far more suitable. Ferran played his best football in a role at City that does not exist for him at Barca, and never will.

Auba adapted and was happy at Barca, and we played quicker and more penetrating football with him on the pitch.

Now Ferran and Lewandowski might have superior stats due to playing vs. more fodder in La Liga because let's be honest the level of this league haven't been lower than since the late 80s probably, but that doesn't mean they have been better for us than the alternatives were or would/could have been.

More importantly could have spent some of those extra wages/transfer fees on other positions we need like a CDM.

 

[mc_lovin]

You realize he also has massive injury problems? Back to playing B timers I guess. But at least we would have had funds for a DM! Who though???

Edit: No affront, maybe Diaz, Auba, Ansu and Lamine would have been better+100m into a DM/RB whatever. But it's just not amazing or clear cut either.

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

I miss Auba, he was fantastic during the time here

but he is now 34 i doubt he would be better than Lewa now

best option would have been to buy a young hungry striker after Auba, for example Lautaro

 

[serghei]

I miss Auba, he was fantastic during the time here

but he is now 34 i doubt he would be better than Lewa now

best option would have been to buy a young hungry striker after Auba, for example Lautaro

Lewa is better player than Auba.

 

[serghei]

We have to be relative.

What other top teams under other top managers are we comparing Xavi's play to?

The reality is that in the current market, our spending is big relative to the rest of LaLiga which is where we play both the majority of our games and where the majority of our poor play is spent.

So after two years, that is why the goodwill has finally run out. Because we have spent millions on transfers, and in the seasons without transfers, spent millions on wage to lure players that the majority of LaLiga teams can only dream of. And yet we play worse than many.

So what City or an EPL spends doesn't factor into the equation. Because if it did, then we would also have to factor in City's spend relative to the rest of the EPL spend where the quality and competition is higher across the board. And that won't help Herb's argument by any means.

I'll add that we haven't hit the winter break yet so things can turn around. I'm not entirely against Xavi but I'm not looking at this blindly either. Pep is also a notorious slow starter in season first halves. So there is a benefit of doubt there for Xavi. In the end of the day it is better to peak in the right moments, though there are not really many signs of us progressing to that peak at the moment.

Listen, Xavi is not some incredible hero. He is a young, committed manager that surpassed expectations so far by winning a La Liga title against a superior team in Madrid. This is the reason he gets credit, for a just cause. Don't even get me to justify the many areas in which Madrid are superior to current Barca. It's fecking obvious.

Xavi did plenty so far. Plenty.

Only team that did an impressive job other than Barca at the top level is Arsenal in recent season by mounting a title challenge vs City late in the season. And Napoli, but they declined fast this season. Other teams, including Liverpool with mighty Klopp at the helm and their 7th place finish, have dropped their level in the last year or so by a serious degree.

There is no great example to be looked at and admired. Even mighty Bayern should have had a shite season if not for the usual Dortmund bottlejob vs Mainz at home in the last round last season. PSG crap too compared to their funds and the players they have.

All of that taken into context, Barca fans have have little to really moan about. The only reason they moan a lot is that they reminice about previous golden Barca eras. Compared to those days, they can't accept that they have to settle for less.

 

[delancey]

Lewa is better player than Auba.

Yeah but

Listen, Xavi is not some incredible hero. He is a young, committed manager that surpassed expectations so far by winning a La Liga title against a superior team in Madrid. This is the reason he gets credit, for a just cause. Don't even get me to justify the many areas in which Madrid are superior to current Barca. It's fecking obvious.

Xavi did plenty so far. Plenty.

Only team that did an impressive job other than Barca at the top level is Arsenal in recent season by mounting a title challenge vs City late in the season. And Napoli, but they declined fast this season. Other teams, including Liverpool with mighty Klopp at the helm and their 7th place finish, have dropped their level in the last year or so by a serious degree.

There is no great example to be looked at and admired. Even mighty Bayern should have had a shite season if not for the usual Dortmund bottlejob vs Mainz at home in the last round last season. PSG crap too compared to their funds and the players they have.

All of that taken into context, Barca fans have have little to really moan about. The only reason they moan a lot is that they reminice about previous golden Barca eras. Compared to those days, they can't accept that they have to settle for less.

We mosn about nepotism. Xavi is the face of that nepotism. How anyone can be as confident as him, while everyone realizes utter inferiority, is beyond me. Kudos. 🤣

 

[serghei]

No, you moan because you look at the way City play and you think that should be Barca, even though the situations of City and Barca are 180 degrees apart.

Other than City and maybe Madrid for their consistency in CL, not many teams to be jealous of, if any currently. Almost all are struggling in their own way.

 

[serghei]

I am jealous of teams that have Pep as manager because he is the most elite level possible, or Klopp to some extent, and teams that can spend hundreds of millions in a summer to improve their teams.

Xavi doesn't even factor in, except if Pep could be tempted to come back. But to slam Xavi and simp for some managers that achieved even less than him is some kind of joke .

 

[serghei]

That's issue with fandom nowadays. Always the stats, never the context behind it.

Luis Diaz is a far better dribbler and a bigger threat out wide than Ferran Torres is. He's far more suited for that role and in all likelihood would adapt far better than Ferran have. For the role Xavi puts Ferran is, Luis Diaz is far more suitable. Ferran played his best football in a role at City that does not exist for him at Barca, and never will.

Auba adapted and was happy at Barca, and we played quicker and more penetrating football with him on the pitch.

Now Ferran and Lewandowski might have superior stats due to playing vs. more fodder in La Liga because let's be honest the level of this league haven't been lower than since the late 80s probably, but that doesn't mean they have been better for us than the alternatives were or would/could have been.

More importantly could have spent some of those extra wages/transfer fees on other positions we need like a CDM.

Even then, you can't pick and choose players like that in hindsight. Many of Liverpool's signings got them 7th place last season. And they spent a lot last summer to correct that again. 172m to be exact.

Liverpool spent 400m in the last 3 seasons on new players. That's the money spent by a team that was top 3 in Europe at the time, fresh off a CL title in 2019. Barca can't even get near that, when they should actually be spending more to close the gap.

You hit some top signings, and hit some not so good ones. But you don't stop spending until you get the job done and get the team you need. That's how the top clubs roll in 2020s.

If you can't cope, then change your bussiness model, or settle for less. Or hope the management of the club is amazing.

 

[delancey]

Even then, you can't pick and choose players like that in hindsight. Many of Liverpool's signings got them 7th place last season. And they spent a lot last summer to correct that again. 172m to be exact.

Liverpool spent 400m in the last 3 seasons on new players. That's the money spent by a team that was top 3 in Europe at the time, fresh off a CL title in 2019. Barca can't even get near that, when they should actually be spending more to close the gap.

You hit some top signings, and hit some not so good ones. But you don't stop spending until you get the job done and get the team you need. That's how the top clubs roll in 2020s.

If you can't cope, then change your bussiness model, or settle for less. Or hope the management of the club is amazing.

What will you say when we finish second in our CL group, the shittiest group ever? 😏😁

 

[fergus90]

City getting relegated about five leagues soon. Surely 1 of their 112 breaches will have to stick at least.

 

[soul24rage]

I hope Xavi is already trying to convince Julian "International and Club Treble Winner" Alvarez to join Barca