Xavi Hernández

[malvolio]

I will agree with you here, I like that Xavi showed some pragmatism. We need to see this 'winning ugly' in Europe though and with a full squad available. Example: if we play Bayern in the CL, I don't want to watch us attempt to go toe-to-toe and get bummed because muh philosophy.

We shall see, I hope he is actually learning though.

I'm pretty sure that you didn't start following this club because they were bus parkers.

Shit like being "pragmatic" don't get you nowhere as a big club. Yes, we can talk about getting out of this rebuilding phase and pulling off a result like last night, but that's not what you do in the long run.

And yes, we play Bayern toe to toe. That's what Madrid did all the time. Madrid tried parking the bus in the Mourinho era and all they got was hate from everyone. You're a big club, ask big money for tickets, then you offer a spectacle, you play top football.

 

[Zidane82]

I'm pretty sure that you didn't start following this club because they were bus parkers.

Shit like being "pragmatic" don't get you nowhere as a big club. Yes, we can talk about getting out of this rebuilding phase and pulling off a result like last night, but that's not what you do in the long run.

And yes, we play Bayern toe to toe. That's what Madrid did all the time. Madrid tried parking the bus in the Mourinho era and all they got was hate from everyone. You're a big club, ask big money for tickets, then you offer a spectacle, you play top football.

If we want to play champagne football then it means somehow getting Arteta here as Arsenal play absolute beaut football

 

[Andresito]

he's oout. Ferran and Ansu are the only available first-team forwards

Raphinha is not suspended.

https://www.laliga.com/en-SE/stats/laliga-santander/yellow-cards/team/fc-barcelona

 

[Messi983]

There are no "ugly" wins in El Clasico.

Did his job and so did the team.

 

[ajnotkeith]

We got lucky they didn't score otherwise we would have went into panic mode and we would be talking about Xavi getting the sack in the morning.

Good result considering the circumstances, but otherwise we just looked like a small team parking a Mourinho style bus. We were toothless and had zero ideas in attack, as per usual.

As long as we are looking to play positively most of the time it's fine. Our approach was conditioned by missing the good creative players we have, to be fair.

 

[Barcilliant]

He had us playing like Inter 2010

Fascinating to see

If the team is going to play like a Mourinho team we may as well hire the real deal.

Personally I dont mind some pragmatism ESPECIALLY in European ko ties. Xavi got the result but the football was pretty damn awful. It doesnt change the fact that he sucks in Europe though. If we go out early in CL or EL next season we need to dump him. We cant afford to be the laughing stock of Europe for much longer.

 

[Messi983]

 

[Porque]

If the team is going to play like a Mourinho team we may as well hire the real deal.

Personally I dont mind some pragmatism ESPECIALLY in European ko ties. Xavi got the result but the football was pretty damn awful. It doesnt change the fact that he sucks in Europe though. If we go out early in CL or EL next season we need to dump him. We cant afford to be the laughing stock of Europe for much longer.

I'm quoting you to continue the discussion, so this is not necessarily disagreeing with you.

Lucho beat Bayern through a similar tactic. Sit back, absorb and counter the F out of Bayern with quick transition and speed.

Xavi approach was similar but we lacked the quality for the latter part of that.

Xavi game really relies on pacy forwards. No Dembele, no party. And in hindsight makes Raphinha and Ferran terrible signings.

He needs a rightfooted Dembele, or a fast(ish) right footed forward who can dribble and is decisive at worse and a forward like Osimhen or Rashford.

So I guess that adds Lewandowski to the list of guys we probably shouldn't have attached to this project.

But a domestic double is a step in the right direction. Shame we can't develop on it signing wise.

 

[Horatio]

Xavi: "I'm satisfied with the result, but not with our match. We can't let our rival take the ball away from us."



He coached a great defensive game, why does this guy love lying. He parked the bus and it worked, why act like you didn't want to do that?

Weird statement indeed. Should?ve owned it. ?This is unlike barca but it was the most viable gameplan for me?

 

[Porque]

Weird statement indeed. Should?ve owned it. ?This is unlike barca but it was the most viable gameplan for me?

I think he meant that we should have had more control of the ball (sterile possession).

It was effective but too many times we didn't alleviate pressure through possession, instead just clearing. Do this in Europe and our goalkeeper will suffer alot.

 

[iniestaGOAT]

"I may lose the Europa League, but never custody of my son" - Xavi

He owns MAdrid

 

[Horatio]

"I may lose the Europa League, but never custody of my son" - Xavi

He owns MAdrid

lol

 

[Total-Football]

"I may lose the Europa League, but never custody of my son" - Xavi

He owns MAdrid

Xavi should be more diplomatic with his statements. This was a bad look

 

[Iniesta Ultra]

Ungoatgician

 

[serghei]

I will agree with you here, I like that Xavi showed some pragmatism. We need to see this 'winning ugly' in Europe though and with a full squad available. Example: if we play Bayern in the CL, I don't want to watch us attempt to go toe-to-toe and get bummed because muh philosophy.

We shall see, I hope he is actually learning though.

We will have to wait until one of 2 things happen. If both things happen then we can even challenge for CL imo in 2 years.

a) we will have few injuries and we will get to play our best 11 vs teams like Bayern, United etc.

b) we will improve financially a lot to make sure we have a squad with bench players of real quality, not filler type like we have now.

I think we have shown away to Bayern that with the best 11 (sort of, since that game, Balde grew a lot and became a starter at LB) we can take on any team and make it a competitive game. In that first half on Allianz if we receive that clear pen and score the chances, we probably win the game.