Xavi Hernández

[ajnotkeith]

View attachment 9395
https://fbref.com/en/squads/206d90db/Barcelona-Stats

xG-wise, Barcelona have been looking nice lately. 2-3 there about forward and mostly under 1 backward. The absolute majority of games they should outperform their xG compared to opponents, too, since their players are of better quality. 60-70 possession is OK.
I think you are too harsh here, any team will struggle in a lot of games, every game can't be 4-0. Since the unnecessary loss of points against Granada 8th of January, they only lost points in the league in the derby though - that is part luck, part mentality and part skill.

I guess Barcelona under Xavi must have been the best Spanish team, based both on points taken, h2h, and how the games looked.

I guess the key takeaway here is that we are significantly outperforming our xG in almost every game. And xG usually regresses to the mean.

Particular attention to the Levante game where we lost on xG 1-3 but somehow won 3-2.

4-2 vs Atletico, they actually had higher xG than us... 4-2 vs Napoli, the xG is about the same, etc...

If our finishing was bad we lose a lot more of these games.

 

[Bobo32]

I guess the key takeaway here is that we are significantly outperforming our xG in almost every game. And xG usually regresses to the mean.

Particular attention to the Levante game where we lost on xG 1-3 but somehow won 3-2.

4-2 vs Atletico, they actually had higher xG than us... 4-2 vs Napoli, the xG is about the same, etc...

If our finishing was bad we lose a lot more of these games.

It is expected for FC Barcelona to outperform their xG. I don't think these numbers look significant though, and it is not by much.
I am pretty sure there is actually a lot more to be taken from both Torres and Aubameyang in terms of finishing, with better form on these players, the numbers will look even better. My main takeaway is the large xG and small xGA over the last months.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

View attachment 9395
https://fbref.com/en/squads/206d90db/Barcelona-Stats

xG-wise, Barcelona have been looking nice lately. 2-3 there about forward and mostly under 1 backward. The absolute majority of games they should outperform their xG compared to opponents, too, since their players are of better quality. 60-70 possession is OK.
I think you are too harsh here, any team will struggle in a lot of games, every game can't be 4-0. Since the unnecessary loss of points against Granada 8th of January, they only lost points in the league in the derby though - that is part luck, part mentality and part skill.

I guess Barcelona under Xavi must have been the best Spanish team, based both on points taken, h2h, and how the games looked.

Interesting stats. Sometimes numbers look better or vice versa. Second Napoli game Barca played way better imo. Yet numbers were better for the first.

Based on numbers, Frankfurt deserved their win. Kudos to them.

 

[Iniesta Ultra]

As you, I am disappointed by the relative lack of play through the middle. I am a bit worried that Xavi doesn't seem to recognize when especially Pedri has a bad game. He has rarely gotten his midfield to work very well together, it has usually been after subs that they connect better.

FDJ goes in the box a lot more than Pedri. I wonder if Xavi thinks using Burnley tactics, not concerned with midfield, is from him thinking our current squad needs to rely on long crosses or if he wants to build the future around it. I really hope it's former.

Unlike others I've been mentioning this problem over the past month while others were just happy we were winning, however marginally/luckily.

 

[Bobo32]

FDJ goes in the box a lot more than Pedri. I wonder if Xavi thinks using Burnley tactics, not concerned with midfield, is from him thinking our current squad needs to rely on long crosses or if he wants to build the future around it. I really hope it's former.

Unlike others I've been mentioning this problem over the past month while others were just happy we were winning, however marginally/luckily.

It is clear that Frenkie, like Pedri and even Gavi, struggle a bit with their positioning. Xavi has made his midfielders more stationary with clearer roles, but he has also clearly told them to arrive in the box, like Keita used to do and even Xavi himself. This is one area where Frenkie is actually very talented, he has good timing there.

I would want the midfielders to be more involved and more creative, but I still see them improving a bit, Pedris constant jogging out of position was very tiring to see, as was Frenkies constant dropping to recieve with his back towards the goal. It is better to have them in the gap, but they need to time their movements better and be more courageous and intense while near the ball, as well as know when they need to drop to help buildup. The defense also needs to bring the ball up a bit better.

A joy to watch Thiago today, would be perfect for Barcelona of course.

 

[malvolio]

https://twitter.com/BarcaTimes/status/1515424222117568512?t=qHslGfzmkPO0i51JxzBJZA&s=19

 

[Gari]

Xavi: "What cannot be lost is the DNA of the club, we have to believe in it."I hope these are just ritual words. I also didn’t like the hints of failure with the fans. This is not the main reason for the defeat and not the responsibility of the coach.In fact, we still have the same problems: no one to score, no one to defend and problems in the center of the field. DNA cannot solve this.

 

[El Gato]

This dude never stop talking about DNA lol
I hope he's aware how much a meme he is when says it

 

[KingLeo10]

This dude never stop talking about DNA lol
I hope he's aware how much a meme he is when says it

Relax, he was chief of the Spanish division of the Human Genome Project.

 

[serghei]

The way of playing is the biggest asset this club has. It's the only big advantage over all other clubs and what makes Barca special. Madrid's CL success and winning mentality no matter what is what makes them special. Bayern's utter and complete domination of all the Germanic clubs is what makes them special. For Barcelona, it's the way we play, the aesthetics of it coupled with having legends implementing it.

When we keep that aesthetic and we add world-class quality to implement it, the teams that result from this combination are far more memorable than just "normal" winning teams. It's sort of like the Oscars. They are awarded every year. But people always remember Marlon Brando's performance in The Godfather more than the guy who won the oscar in some random year.

Other big clubs are overall more successful than us, like Madrid (for sure) and Bayern arguably, but Barcelona has the best collection of legends to have played for the club, the most interesting and complex playing style of all teams, and the most massive stadium in Europe.

The aura of Camp Nou is starting to decay big time, used to be a fortress until not long ago. If we also lose our brand of football we're gonna become generic. That's bad news.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Yeah, but when Barca DNA needs to develop. Can't stay the same forever.

 

[JohnN]

We were destined for a dump year,.with no improvement, further regression, middle of the table and no future and we currently challenge for second place, had a decent run in Europa, have a great win against real and against most top la Liga sides and some youngsters who develop nicely. Things are moving faster than I could expect but the road is gonna be bumpy.
We surely lack some elements that would put us on the top again but we are competitive. We were Total rollovers for every team just a couple of months ago. Some gratitude and patience should be granted to the players and the manager for their effort.

 

[soul24rage]

We were destined for a dump year,.with no improvement, further regression, middle of the table and no future and we currently challenge for second place, had a decent run in Europa, have a great win against real and against most top la Liga sides and some youngsters who develop nicely. Things are moving faster than I could expect but the road is gonna be bumpy.
We surely lack some elements that would put us on the top again but we are competitive. We were Total rollovers for every team just a couple of months ago. Some gratitude and patience should be granted to the players and the manager for their effort.

Great post John. A couple of good signings this summer should leave us in a competitive state in all 3 competitions next season.

 

[serghei]

We were destined for a dump year,.with no improvement, further regression, middle of the table and no future and we currently challenge for second place, had a decent run in Europa, have a great win against real and against most top la Liga sides and some youngsters who develop nicely. Things are moving faster than I could expect but the road is gonna be bumpy.
We surely lack some elements that would put us on the top again but we are competitive. We were Total rollovers for every team just a couple of months ago. Some gratitude and patience should be granted to the players and the manager for their effort.

Well said.

 

[Barcilliant]

We were destined for a dump year,.with no improvement, further regression, middle of the table and no future and we currently challenge for second place, had a decent run in Europa, have a great win against real and against most top la Liga sides and some youngsters who develop nicely. Things are moving faster than I could expect but the road is gonna be bumpy.
We surely lack some elements that would put us on the top again but we are competitive. We were Total rollovers for every team just a couple of months ago. Some gratitude and patience should be granted to the players and the manager for their effort.

This is Barcelona,not Celta Vigo. We've had more star players than any club in history, especially recent history.We should have ten CL,not five. Our expectations every season should be Liga or cl. No compromise or excuse.
My expectations are a cl and two ligas every five years. Minimum.