Xavi Hernández

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

20m is nothing in the current market if Aleix current level ends up being his consistent level.

After Romeu though I'd put a leash on Xavi and his scouted options.

true, he is only 26 while romeu is 32 so i have more hope in Garca, did you see him play? Is he good?

 

[Porque]

true, he is only 26 while romeu is 32 so i have more hope in Garca, did you see him play? Is he good?

Yeah, I have watched Girona a number of times because they are entertaining. He is playing at a high level but then again so is the whole team, so there is no guarantee that if you move him from that environment that he could be the same here.

If you could relate his trajectory to someone, it would be Luis Alberto of Lazio who is a similar(ish) midfielder with a similar career path. At a point in his career, he could have too made the jump to a tier 1 side for 1-2 seasons.

Normal financial situation then 20m+Tax is nothing for the LaLiga level Aleix has shown. Maybe Eric Garcia could lower the price by being included.

Last point on Girona is that I would personally go for Yan Couto. World class prospect that we narrowly missed out on signing back in the day, and someone who has finally got his whole game together after a few years of loan failures and being squad rotation. He is not technically playing fullback, but wingback, so there a still a few question marks. But for how Barcelona want to play their fullbacks then he is the closest thing to a Dani Alves light.

 

[serghei]

20m is nothing in the current market if Aleix current level ends up being his consistent level.

There are articles on Sport and MD that we can't afford to pay his release clause. So, 20m is not nothing for current Barcelona.

Barcelona | Aleix García gusta, no es el único, pero falta el dinero

Aleix García (26 años) volvió a ser vinculado al Barça. Un nombre desvelado por el periodista Gerard Romero, que apuntó que las negociaciones estarían ya avanzadas.

www.mundodeportivo.com

 

[Windhook]

Playing good for Girona in La Liga is not good enough. Barca is a pressure cooker. You remeber Firpo? Last night I watched him play for Leeds in Championship, came in as substitute. That's his level after the pressure cooker.

 

[serghei]

20m is more than ok money even for a squad player.

 

[Porque]

There are articles on Sport and MD that we can't afford to pay his release clause. So, 20m is not nothing for current Barcelona.

Barcelona | Aleix García gusta, no es el único, pero falta el dinero

Aleix García (26 años) volvió a ser vinculado al Barça. Un nombre desvelado por el periodista Gerard Romero, que apuntó que las negociaciones estarían ya avanzadas.

www.mundodeportivo.com

That's true, our salary margin is a tight rope currently after bringing Vitor.

I haven't read the article admittedly, but I'd assume the big issue is the upfront fee of 20m+tax to be paid with a buyout clause payment and how that effects our financials.

Maybe we could make it work with a structured plan or a player (like Eric or Faye) rolled in. But imo someone like Aleix Garcia is someone you go with in the Summer, with a bit more title contender experience under his belt, and see how he performs with the incoming expectations shift.

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Yeah, I have watched Girona a number of times because they are entertaining. He is playing at a high level but then again so is the whole team, so there is no guarantee that if you move him from that environment that he could be the same here.

If you could relate his trajectory to someone, it would be Luis Alberto of Lazio who is a similar(ish) midfielder with a similar career path. At a point in his career, he could have too made the jump to a tier 1 side for 1-2 seasons.

Normal financial situation then 20m+Tax is nothing for the LaLiga level Aleix has shown. Maybe Eric Garcia could lower the price by being included.

Last point on Girona is that I would personally go for Yan Couto. World class prospect that we narrowly missed out on signing back in the day, and someone who has finally got his whole game together after a few years of loan failures and being squad rotation. He is not technically playing fullback, but wingback, so there a still a few question marks. But for how Barcelona want to play their fullbacks then he is the closest thing to a Dani Alves light.

That sounds promising! I was a big fan from Luiz Alberto, guy should have left lazio to go to a big club.

Think Xavi is planning with Cancelo so small hopes for Couto

 

[JohnN]

it's a simple question you need to ask yourself. Does xavi (after 3 years) look like the manager that will get us to (or any team) playing beautiful coherent football, competing for a CL title, be a top 5 team in the world again? Does he show any potential at all towards that goal? that would be my goal if I was head of Barca. And in my opinion Xavi doesn't show the potential. Sad, I know, I wish he did. Its the same with footballers, you can pretty much evaluate their current status and potential after 3 seasons.
So, towards that goal, Xavi will offer nothing if kept until the end of the season. Might as well replace him now and save time.
Even if he does end up staying, there is nit much to prove for a next season, we need a new manager, one that will at least show potential

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

it's a simple question you need to ask yourself. Does xavi (after 3 years) look like the manager that will get us to (or any team) playing beautiful coherent football, competing for a CL title, be a top 5 team in the world again? Does he show any potential at all towards that goal? that would be my goal if I was head of Barca. And in my opinion Xavi doesn't show the potential. Sad, I know, I wish he did. Its the same with footballers, you can pretty much evaluate their current status and potential after 3 seasons.
So, towards that goal, Xavi will offer nothing if kept until the end of the season. Might as well replace him now and save time.
Even if he does end up staying, there is nit much to prove for a next season, we need a new manager, one that will at least show potential

Spoken like a liohn (lion + John) 🐮

 

[serghei]

Yeah, I have watched Girona a number of times because they are entertaining. He is playing at a high level but then again so is the whole team, so there is no guarantee that if you move him from that environment that he could be the same here.

Even if you keep him in the same environment he is not gonna mantain this level. You think next season Girona is gonna have the same run? Surprises sometimes happen, but they don't last. Greece in 2004, Leicester, Monaco in CL, Morrocco in the semifinals of the World Cup, and so on. The examples are too may to count.

Girona is probably gonna finish top 4 this season (don't think they pull off a Leicester), and drop down back to 6-10 places next season, which would be their normal level.

 

[serghei]

it's a simple question you need to ask yourself. Does xavi (after 3 years) look like the manager that will get us to (or any team) playing beautiful coherent football, competing for a CL title, be a top 5 team in the world again? Does he show any potential at all towards that goal? that would be my goal if I was head of Barca. And in my opinion Xavi doesn't show the potential. Sad, I know, I wish he did. Its the same with footballers, you can pretty much evaluate their current status and potential after 3 seasons.
So, towards that goal, Xavi will offer nothing if kept until the end of the season. Might as well replace him now and save time.
Even if he does end up staying, there is nit much to prove for a next season, we need a new manager, one that will at least show potential

It is very difficult to say if Xavi has it or not for the level you're talking about. Possibly yes, possibly no. But this is also valid for most managers not named Guardiola, Klopp, or Ancelotti. That's about the top 3 in the game by a clear margin to the rest, each with a different approach obviously.

I don't think there's much of a difference between Xavi and let's say Luis Enrique. Other than one having a stellar team full of elite players to work with, and other having a much much inferior Barca by comparison. There are many similarities between Xavi and Lucho, style-wise and even character-wise.

Both are rather conservative possession managers. More similar to LVG than Pep Guardiola. Unsurprisingly, both were formed as players around early to mid 00s, so LVG is probably where they got their main influence from. This carried over to their managing style.

 

[serghei]

The biggest difference between Lucho, Xavi, and someone like Pep is the concept of "trusting your teammate". Most possession managers start with the old school concept of trusting your teammate and keep position, which sounds great in theory, but in practice it doesn't quite work as planned in the modern era of football.

These managers have to realize that they need to adapt and implement in their game-plan some variant of "helping your teammate". In some ways this is next level tactics. Necessary to unlock things and make then run smoother and less depended on player-quality, especially in midfield. Meaning you alternate your movements, in such way as to help the passer, thus reducing the degree in which you rely on his individual ability to evade pressure and make the pass. Managers like Xavi and Lucho rely more on individual quality of players, Xavi the most because he's also the one with the least experience.

Lucho had the major luck that he worked with a stellar team at Barcelona, and now works with a billionaire team at PSG. At Spain, he failed because the player quality was not as good.

 

[Horatio]

ok, i finally figured out why iniestagoat so absent lately. its pretty obvious i guess.

 

[delancey]

2. The argument was about sums paid for players as transfer fees. Top players of a good age are almost never out of contract. Old players, sure, they can be out of contract (especially if they want a 3-year contract extension, and they are 33-35 already). But good players, that play at a good level and have a good age, you need to pay big money to sign them. In this key area, Barcelona is at the level of Nottingham Forrest. There's nothing to agree and disagree with. Just accept, and consider it, or continue to be ignorant about it.

3. EPL is a stronger league than La Liga. But the teams in EPL are far stronger financially. They are not more competitive just like that, by being better managed, as some posters around here think. In football, miracles are super-rare. EPL teams are richer, afford better players than some Almeria or Getafe. This doesn't make La Liga shit. It's the 2nd best league easily. In fact, it's the opposite. Judging by the money available for EPL teams comparative to La Liga sides, it's super-impressive a team like Sevilla humiliated Manchester United in Europa League.

4. The sofascore stat that has us 1st in big chances created probably has a mechanism for considering what is a big chance. You can take a look at xG stats in our games this season if you want. There's no doubt that Barcelona creates many chances to score in almost every game. Sure, there are some bad games here and there, like vs Alaves, where the team plays poorly. But in most games, the team has created many chances. It is visible with the naked eye even. Vs Valencia and Girona, the team created enough chances to score about 8-9 goals. They scored 3. Instead of 6 points, they got 1. That's the main issue this season.

2. Point here is that you’re using our low ridiculous transfer budget to justify our atrocious football under Xavi. This metric, however, doesn’t reflect the quality of our squad. Does Nohtingham Forrest have top players at its disposal? TS, Christensen, Kounde, Canceló, Pedri, Gavi, De Jong, ,Gündogan, Lewa, Felix, and Raphinha? Hence why it’s a silly comparison!

I am countering your argument by highlighting that the club found other ways of bringing in top players despite La Liga’s ridiculous FFP restrictions. This has resulted in us having a damn good squad!

Besides, clubs like Girona spent 27,240,000 euro on wages in 2023. We spent 204,710,000 euro in 2023. Yet Girona play a hell of a lot better than us! Why is that, Serghei? Why is AV playing better football than Man U, consistently?

So no… I don’t feel sorry for us, and our current squad is certainly not to blame.

3. Nothing to argue about here. I mostly agree, although a club cannot spend its way out of poor management. Manchester United is an excellent example of this. Chelsea too!

Similarly, a club shouldn’t even try to spend its way out of poor management! One can dress a turd in an expensive tuxedo. He is still a turd in a tuxedo. Hence, Xavi (Oscar) do not need better players! They need better management skills. This is obvious from how we play. Jeez!

Leadership > players. But it’s a combination of the two, of course.

Shot out to Unai Emery. Shot out to Michel. Very average squads. Beautiful results. I respect that.

4. I don’t trust stats generated by AI. More specifically, stats may indicate one thing when my eyes tell a completely different story. Wasteful, disorganized, unattractive style, slow, predictable…. And if management isn’t responsible for how we play, then who is? It all falls back on Xavi!

His vision is on display every week for everyone to see. All I see is nepotism! We cannot just throw money at a problem when the leadership and vision is inferior.

My point from point 4 above still stands.

 

[delancey]

ok, i finally figured out why iniestagoat so absent lately. its pretty obvious i guess.

He received a warning for shit posting; therefore he is involved in less shit posting? 🤭🤭