Xavi Hernández

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

We don't know Xavi's level as a coach, and will only discover it once he manages Barca. He could go to Europe and have mediocre seasons like Luis Enrique did at Roma, and it would not be any indication of how he would fare as Barca's manager in the future.

I thought Enrique was good at celta, wasnt he ?

Xavi could collect exxperience in europe therewith he doesnt make beginner mistakes when he coaches barca

 

[serghei]

So Xavi thinks he is a Ferrari but is in fact Toyota. What makes everyone believe he is the next wunderkind?? It's so weird. He needs more experience or pay the price before coaching Barca.

No, we don't know if he'll be a Ferrari or a Toyota. He is a top candidate for a great manager because he was one of the most cerebral and organized players of all time. He certainly has a lot going for him.

So, more likely Ferrari. But he's obviously not as sure of a thing as the guys from the 1st echelon of managers. Even there you have some names that are not exactly sure bets as well. Only Pep, Klopp, and possibly Tuchel are sure bets right now.

 

[te amo barca]

So Xavi thinks he is a Ferrari but is in fact Toyota. What makes everyone believe he is the next wunderkind?? It's so weird. He needs more experience or pay the price before coaching Barca.

What makes you believe he is a Toyota? We have no means of knowing.

 

[The Observer]

So, you want us to repeat those mistakes? Get a coach whose team in Qatar was hesitant to renew after another underachieving season in Asian cup?

It means little what Xavi does in Qatar, whether he wins everything possible there or ends up midtable - meaningless.

Barca appointed "South American coach of the year" and "Copa America finalist". He went down as the worst Barca coach in decades who bunkered down at Camp Nou against Ajax with prime Iniesta, Messi, Alves, Neymar, Mascherano, Busquets.

Barca appointed someone who failed at Roma, lost Europa League play-offs against Slovakian team. He ended up winning treble and double with Barca.

It's always a question of "fit" and not CV. More so for Barca than any other club.

If Barca was in a stable condition or proven world class managers were available - sure, go ahead and question the possibility of appointing Xavi instead.

As it stands Barca is already in deep shit with the current failure coach halfway out the door sooner than later and no obvious proven candidate available - if the prospect of Xavi doesn't get you excited and people even talk smack about him because he talks well about ex teammates in interviews - why do they even follow Barca?

 

[serghei]

Xavi being an unknown quantity is a powerful asset. If he joined a mid tier European club and does the expected (staying mid tier, not winning titles) nothing is gained but prejudices.

Exactly.

You need at least some team like Dortmund or Leipzig to create an impression playing progressive offensive football. Basically a B level club at least. Xavi gains nothing if he joins a weak team and tries to play fancy football with that team. Might look like a fool actually.

We all remember Rayo attempting to play total football and losing 6-2 every other round a few years back.

 

[Porque]

Maybe it has been taken out of context, but I don't like the quote where he seemingly says coaching in the Qatari league is a higher testing ground than coaching Barcelona B in Segunda B, new Segunda RFEF or the Spanish Smartbank.

It is a development team, yes, but the opposition are not.

I personally see more value and am more impressed in what Xabi Alonso achieved last year testing his ideas in Spanish Segunda B and getting promoted than Xavi testing his ideas in Al Sadd.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Barca appointed "South American coach of the year" and "Copa America finalist". He went down as the worst Barca coach in decades who bunkered down at Camp Nou against Ajax with prime Iniesta, Messi, Alves, Neymar, Mascherano, Busquets.

Barca appointed someone who failed at Roma, lost Europa League play-offs against Slovakian team. He ended up winning treble and double with Barca.

Again, giving examples of bad appointment when talking about Xavi, it is against your argument.
Hi, we appointed bad coaches, why do you complain about Xavi?!
It is far from a positive argument, and you are repeating it again.

And Lucho had a good track record within the club and with Liga, Xavi has neither btw.

It means little what Xavi does in Qatar, whether he wins everything possible there or ends up midtable - meaningless.

And this is something we can all agree.
It is worthless, and he needs to add something to his CV beyond being former great player almost a decade ago.

It's always a question of "fit" and not CV. More so for Barca than any other club.

This is very subjective statement.
What qualifies as fit? Having prior Barca experience? Playing our style?
When it comes to fit, there is even huge question marks, Xavi is an idealistic coach rather than a progressive one, unlike both Crujif and Pep who developed their coaching abilities beyond what they learned from former greats.
Barca has seen that internally with Pep, Crujif gave his "go for it" for Laporta after witnessing it in B team.

There is also a question of his former teammates, if he can move away from the Pique/Busquets/Alba era?
And there is also a question about coming into a rebuilding project, and far from perfect conditions.
Those are all "fit" questions, that he doesn't have a real counter argument past being a great player, which is a weak argument in itself.

if the prospect of Xavi doesn't get you excited and people even talk smack about him because he talks well about ex teammates in interviews - why do they even follow Barca?

I follow Barca for their attacking football, when very rarely we appointed Barca related manager.
We hired LVG, Rijkaard who had no prior ties.

Arrogant statements like "why do they even follow Barca?" when I have been following it before Xavi is 1st team player is weird, and really add nothing to the discussion.
If I don't see him as a proper coach, then it has nothing to do with following Barca, a club that was generally flexible with the way they played and hired their own manager, long before Xavi

 

[FCBarca]

Not just this forum, see it all over Twitter too. The lack of respect for Xavi in general is quite staggering.

Really a symptom of cancel culture but in defense of some cules, Bartomeu & Rosell began their mandate more than a decade ago by binning one of the pillars of the club - wasn't long before Pep was chased out and chronically hounded by local press.

Xavi hopefully has considered what Bielsa asked Pep when he told him he wanted to coach at this level, do you need blood that much?

 

[Rory]

If offered a binary choice of Koeman or Xavi I think most would say Xavi. People don't want to see Xavi hired right now because half of the core that he played with are still here. Why don't people want him due to being relatively unknown? Because we've overdone that as a club and it's resulted in some painfully bad managers here.

Not sure how that is suddenly disrespectful to someone who hasn't really achieved much as a manager yet. In fact results-wise he's been poor.

 

[Birdy]

Great strawman but no one said every good midfielder will make a good coach. Have another try.

I predicted Pirlo to fail as a coach when he was appointed. A carefree personality who was having fun playing FIFA before a World Cup final and moaned about hard training session. All talent, no work. It was easy to predict he wouldn't make a good coach.

He has nothing in common with Xavi regarding Barca. Nor does Lampard who grew up in the huff and puff "rainy night at Stoke" environment of English football where he learned to shoot from 40 yards and how to "get stuck in".

So club should trust your prediction talent instead of a proven track-record in regards to the coaching qualities we are looking for?
Fantastic argument.

While other retired legends like Xabi Alonso are not afraid to start at Real Sociedad B, our entitled and arrogant legend does not want to get his hands dirty.
No thanks

When it comes to fit, there is even huge question marks, Xavi is an idealistic coach rather than a progressive one, unlike both Crujif and Pep who developed their coaching abilities beyond what they learned from former greats.

Pin this at the top of this thread please!!

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

What makes you believe he is a Toyota? We have no means of knowing.

Exactly, he is a mystery box. Probably not Ferrari or Toyota. Right now his achievements are closer to Toyota than Ferrari, that's what I meant with Toyota.

 

[serghei]

Exactly, he is a mystery box. Probably not Ferrari or Toyota. Right now his achievements are closer to Toyota than Ferrari, that's what I meant with Toyota.

Every low-experience manager's achievements are Toyotas by default. This is why experience is not even one of the top 3 parameters we should look for. Experience like in winning CLs and leagues, well... that's already gunning for the top 3-4 managers... and a whole different ball game.
nable to attract the big boys, and

[MENTION=11668]khaled_a_d[/MENTION], your proposed approach has been the one Bartomeu used this whole time. It has worked rather poorly long term. Sincerely, your line of argumentation would have made it very hard to ever get in a position to get someone like Guardiola, simply because he wasn't experienced at the time, and didn't have credentials. You put far too much emphasis on that.

 

[vegitot]

It is Xavi who denied Barca in the first place. Not the other way around. Now he may wait till Laporta leaves.

 

[serghei]

Laporta better be very careful what he does, because he is in danger of fucking it up royally. It should be either Xavi, or the creme de la creme of managers. If he comes up with some crap name, someone with experience but bland as fuck, his tenure is gonna fail big time.

Xavi makes sense. Even if he fails, you can't really moan that you gave him a chance, he's the brain of the best team ever ffs. Sometimes I get the feeling we're talking about somebody else.

 

[Bobo32]

Maybe it has been taken out of context, but I don't like the quote where he seemingly says coaching in the Qatari league is a higher testing ground than coaching Barcelona B in Segunda B, new Segunda RFEF or the Spanish Smartbank.

It is a development team, yes, but the opposition are not.

I personally see more value and am more impressed in what Xabi Alonso achieved last year testing his ideas in Spanish Segunda B and getting promoted than Xavi testing his ideas in Al Sadd.

Maybe Xabi did something more valuable and impressive than Xavi, there is an argument for either maybe I don't know, but either way there are many managers that did more valuable and impressive things than Xavi.

Question shouldn't be who already did the most impressive things though, but who could do the best job for Barcelona. Obvious, but needs to be said.
I, and others, have listed reasons why Xavi could be great - as with any manager arriving at a new club there are risks, there are never guarantees.
Laporta and the club should know what type of person they want long term and give him the trust and help he needs, not just blindly go for the first "world class manager" available to get.