Xavi Hernández

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Boris

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Xavi's time is up. That doesn't mean he will leave, he's club's legend and will stay and play. But that isn't good for a team that wants to continue winning titles.
He should play less simply because he's not agile and fast like before. Thiago could fit his shoes if he wanted. Just needs some experience, but can't get it while Xavi is playing all the time.
 

Garrus

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Many false/incorrect assumptions you're making there. First off Messi's injury problems were fixed by a combination of dietary changes as well as exercise regimen and a daily plan. He has a medical trainer with him at all times (even during Argentina games) and has an extensive stretching and warmup session 30 minutes before and after training. He (like all of the players) takes multivitamins and various other nutritional supplements to promote muscular endurance and healthy blood flow. He also has a necessary daily and sleeping schedule that he follows religiously. You can write off all these medicinal and physical regimens/diets all you want but the fact is that athletes need them to stay fit and they are among the most important aspects of the game. The most disciplined athletes with the most detailed and helpful systems are often the ones with the least injuries.

Messi's distance coverage is lower because of conserving energy in my opinion. It seems stupid but he does play up to 70 games in a season and he can't afford to run like a dog every single game otherwise he risks burning out. Also, he saves that energy for in game situations. It's quite clever actually. What's the point of running around crazily trying to set up an attack when the opposition defenders are watching you like hawks and closely marking you, while they have high levels of energy, and when there are barely any openings from which to set up a decent scoring chance. He saves his energy for when he sees them divert their attention elsewhere momentarily or when they are too tired to keep up with his trademark bursts of acceleration or when he sees a gap in space and can create a chance for his teammates. It's a smart thing to do and shows that he is always 3-4 steps ahead of the opposition. He can't just be lucky enough to score 70 goals in a season. He has the intelligence and instinct to always be making those opportunities.

Lastly, I don't know where you got that point where you said that he's closer to the opposition goal. Messi plays much deeper than he ever has with each coming season and rarely stays glued to the opponents defensive line waiting to make a run. He is the center of the mass of attacking players and as they pass around and link up they all move forward with Messi still in the middle. Then as the team is surrounding the opposition box it only takes a few seconds of finding a chance and exploiting it for Messi to make his move and play a one two or anything else for a goal to be scored.
My bad, I should have added the word 'just' after 'not' in "Not because of oil fish or diet.
You attributed the low distance coverage due to energy conserving, And avoiding long term fatigue, Yet somehow forgot to add the injury risk, Which was my exact point, Players who exert themselves over many games have a higher risk of injury.
Messi doesn't play deeper than last season, It's the opposite, , When he used to help in 'pressuring' in previous seasons, He ended up recovering the ball deeper in the field, With his defensive duties gone now, He can stick around farther up the pitch and receives the ball the ball there, Making him more dangerous, This lead to the reoccurring theme this season of messi just 'walking' high up while his teams mates are fighting for the ball, Some members were puzzled by this and ended up criticizing him.
This holds true for most games, But in CL games it can be different since opposition doesn't make it easy for the others to pass him the ball, And he gets forced to drop deep to receive it, Of course this is just one of multiple advantages of dropping his defensive duties, It can also help keeping him more fresh within a match, And concentrate his energy on his runs and finishing.
 

Michael

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Xavi's time is up. That doesn't mean he will leave, he's club's legend and will stay and play. But that isn't good for a team that wants to continue winning titles.
He should play less simply because he's not agile and fast like before. Thiago could fit his shoes if he wanted. Just needs some experience, but can't get it while Xavi is playing all the time.

Yep, this is the biggest problem besides the obvious (Tito). I can't see us challenging for the CL with him as a fixed starter anymore. That doesn't mean I hate Xavi or don't appreciate what he has done for the club, though.

I fear the Raul comparison is an accurate one.
 

Theconomist

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Yep, this is the biggest problem besides the obvious (Tito). I can't see us challenging for the CL with him as a fixed starter anymore. That doesn't mean I hate Xavi or don't appreciate what he has done for the club, though.

I fear the Raul comparison is an accurate one.

should simply be used more sparingly, Zanetti is still playing no reason why Xavi should play 2nd fiddle but for his own sake and for the sake of the team he needs to stop playing 40+ games a season.
 

Garrus

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What he should do is stop playing for spain, If he actually cares that much about his club.
Oh wait second, He also plays for catalunya!, The anti-spain, My god...
 

oz187

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Xavi isn't anymore our present IMO. He leads our team to victory in the past, same for Spain but I think that many midfielders are better than him actually.
Gundogan, Carrick, David Silva, Schweinsteiger...

None of those players are near the level of Xavi. If they had to play against defenses organised the way they are against Barca they would all struggle. There's reasons why Spain won the Euros with Xavi arguably man of the match in the final, there's reasons why Barca are winning La Liga so easily. What has Silva done with Man City this year? What has Carrick done in Champions League these past two seasons or for England? Why hasn't Gundogan gotten Dortmund within 20 points of Bayern in Bundesliga? I suppose you could make a case for Schweinsteiger, but again, if he was up against parked buses would he really be the player to break them?

In the last 10 months Xavi is a key to Spain to winning the Euros and is a key to Barca winning La Liga, I don't see how you can say his time is up. The 4-0 against Milan shows he can perform at a very high level. Hopefully with a less stressful summer he can recuperate and come with renewed motivation next year. Add in better rotation with Thiago and Cesc being more integrated into the first team and I think Xavi can once again be a key player for the next couple of seasons.
 

spark

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Xavi: "¿Futuro?, no hay que ser drásticos. El equipo ha competido muy bien hasta ahora. Este equipo tiene ganas"

raul-gonzalez-740235l.jpg

:shakeshead: Why stop at Raul, put a picture of the devil himself.
 
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Antimadridista1

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None of those players are near the level of Xavi. If they had to play against defenses organised the way they are against Barca they would all struggle. There's reasons why Spain won the Euros with Xavi arguably man of the match in the final, there's reasons why Barca are winning La Liga so easily. What has Silva done with Man City this year? What has Carrick done in Champions League these past two seasons or for England? Why hasn't Gundogan gotten Dortmund within 20 points of Bayern in Bundesliga? I suppose you could make a case for Schweinsteiger, but again, if he was up against parked buses would he really be the player to break them?

In the last 10 months Xavi is a key to Spain to winning the Euros and is a key to Barca winning La Liga, I don't see how you can say his time is up. The 4-0 against Milan shows he can perform at a very high level. Hopefully with a less stressful summer he can recuperate and come with renewed motivation next year. Add in better rotation with Thiago and Cesc being more integrated into the first team and I think Xavi can once again be a key player for the next couple of seasons.


Less stressful summer ? He will play Confederation Cup against Brazil and other teams... He will come back tired once again.
 

frostdude1

Member
I'm watching some old games and wow is Xavi a whole different player. It has to be said, if we want to keep playing the pressing style, Xavi will have to be featured less and less going forward.

He was so important to our style before and the fact that he doesn't move around like he used to is a huge factor. A new coach will have to readjust our approach next season.
 

mobster_1930

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Xavi :

La Liga (7) : 1998–99, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13
Uefa CL (3) : 2005-06, 2008-09, 2010-11
Uefa Euro (2) : 2008, 2012
Fifa World Cup (1) : 2010

I'm pretty sure he is the one of the most trophy-decorated players of all time. And yeah, these are the MAJOR trophies.
 
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