{"id":144879,"date":"2024-01-29T14:31:49","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T14:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/01\/29\/what-went-wrong-for-xavi-at-barcelona\/"},"modified":"2024-01-29T14:31:49","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T14:31:49","slug":"what-went-wrong-for-xavi-at-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/01\/29\/what-went-wrong-for-xavi-at-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"What went wrong for Xavi at Barcelona? \u2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As Xavi Hernandez signed off his glittering playing career at Barcelona with a second European treble in 2015, he had a message for the tearful crowd: \u201cI hope this isn\u2019t a goodbye but a \u2018see you soon\u2019.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Xavi\u2019s shock announcement that he would be stepping down as Barcelona manager at the end of the season carried a sense of relief, from all parties involved, that screamed good riddance rather than goodbye.<\/p>\n

Hours earlier, the Catalan giants had slumped to an extraordinary\u00a05-3 defeat\u00a0at home to relegation-threatened Villarreal. After overturning a two-goal deficit to lead 3-2, Barcelona shipped an 84th-minute equaliser before imploding in stoppage time. Just three days earlier, Xavi\u2019s side were spat out on the wrong side of another bonkers contest, limping out of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals at the hands of Athletic Club.<\/p>\n

However, Xavi\u2019s delayed resignation had been in the post. As the beleaguered manager admitted: \u201cI had my mind made up for days.\u201d But how did the prodigal son\u2019s return sour?<\/p>\n

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Uprooted hierarchy<\/h2>\n
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Mateu Alemany (left) and Jordi Cruyff both left Barcelona last year \/ Angel Martinez\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Catalan derby that sealed the Spanish top-flight title for Barcelona last May, Xavi took a moment to recognise the \u201cfundamental\u201d role played by those behind the scenes, singling out the club\u2019s director of football, Mateu Alemany, and sporting director, Jordi Cruyff. By the start of September, both figures had left Barcelona.<\/p>\n

Deco has assumed full control of the club\u2019s transfers and has been repeatedly accused of having a frosty relationship with\u00a0Xavi\u00a0after the pair supposedly butted heads on some arrivals last summer.<\/p>\n

There have also been growing whispers of Xavi\u2019s run-ins with club president Joan Laporta. Barcelona\u2019s current figurehead appointed Xavi as manager in November 2021 but was reluctant, especially after the former midfielder publicly backed Victor Font in the presidential elections which Laporta ultimately won. Without Alemany and Cruyff, there is not the same friendly buffer for Xavi to fall back upon.<\/p>\n

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The flower is over<\/h2>\n
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Xavi\u2019s side have created plenty of chances this season \/ Alex Caparros\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

The opening weeks of Xavi\u2019s reign were pockmarked by the Spanish press constantly referring to the coach\u2019s\u00a0\u2018flor\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(flower) \u2013 a shortening of the idiom\u00a0\u2018Tener una flor en el culo\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(To have a flower growing out of your backside) which means getting lucky.<\/p>\n

Xavi had some good fortune to beat both Espanyol and Villarreal but after losing 1-0 to Real Betis he joked: \u201cThe flower is over, it\u2019s all over.\u201d With hindsight, the good luck had only really just begun.<\/p>\n

Barcelona\u2019s title winners were not the aesthetic ideal Xavi\u2019s grand philosophy had imagined. A team with more grit than glitz won 11 league games 1-0, chiefly due to the inspired form of goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Not only has the German returned to the realm of terrestrials this term, but he\u2019s been\u00a0injured\u00a0since November.<\/p>\n

There have been no kind flowers at the sharp end of the pitch for Barcelona this season. No team in La Liga has underperformed their expected goals by a larger margin than the Catalans.<\/p>\n

It may have been written off as more winging from Xavi at the time, but he was accurate with his assessment of Barcelona\u2019s wayward finishing after dropping points to Valencia in December. \u201cWe must be one of the worst teams in Europe in terms of effectiveness,\u201d the flowerless coach sighed.<\/p>\n

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Tactical regression<\/h2>\n
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Frenkie de Jong has not been at his best this season \/ Soccrates Images\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Before Xavi arrived at his delayed press conference after the Villarreal debacle, Frenkie de Jong staunchly defended his manager. \u201cThere is full faith in the mister, the coaching staff are doing good work,\u201d the Dutchman insisted, \u201cwe players are to blame, we have the talent. If people cannot see that, then it is our fault.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is all too often the fate of a manager that they are ignored in victory and blamed in defeat. Yet, the overwhelming number of Barcelona players that have endured a collective dip in form this term heavily hints at a misstep from the figure making the personnel and tactical decisions.<\/p>\n

Xavi\u2019s system at Barcelona hasn\u2019t so much developed as devolved into a shapeless mess.<\/p>\n

Ilias Akhomach started Xavi\u2019s first-ever game for Barcelona but put Villarreal 2-0 up on Saturday night. The fleet-footed winger had been brought in as part of the crushing importance Xavi put on width above all else. Yet, during Barcelona\u2019s title-winning campaign last term, Xavi settled on a box midfield with only one wide player in search of central numerical superiority.<\/p>\n

The departure of Sergio Busquets \u2013 and Oriol Romeu\u2019s doomed attempt at replacing him \u2013 coupled with key injuries to Barcelona\u2019s remaining midfielders has often robbed Xavi of this option.<\/p>\n

The series of trials and errors that have been scrubbed on and off the Barcelona blackboard has taken away any sense of rhythm for the Catalans.\u00a0De Jong\u00a0can start with himself when pointing out the faults of Barcelona\u2019s players. Pedri and Alejandro Balde have unmistakably regressed. Ronald Araujo, once so reliable, is liable to drop a clanger at any given moment.<\/p>\n

Araujo was at the centre of Xavi\u2019s latest high-profile tactical blunder. The towering Uruguayan has man-marked Vinicius Junior in each Clasico under Xaxi and was stationed at right-back once again for the\u00a0Supercopa de Espana final\u00a0against Real Madrid in January. Yet, Vinicius has played a central role all season for Madrid and so was nowhere near Araujo when he fired the capital club into a 2-0 lead after ten minutes. By the time Araujo got close enough to the Brazilian, he gave away a penalty and got himself sent off. Not all of that is Xavi\u2019s fault, but he didn\u2019t help his players in that humbling 4-1 loss.<\/p>\n

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Too much pressure<\/h2>\n
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Another manager leaving their role at the end of the season, Xavi will step down from his position at Barcelona! \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n

\u2014 90min (@90min_Football) January 28, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Few individuals preach from the altar of the Cruyffian church with as much conviction as Xavi. The former Barcelona captain is never slow to espouse Johan Cruyff\u2019s playing ideals but has also taken on board the Dutchman\u2019s distaste for the Spanish press.<\/p>\n

Cruyff called the neverending scrutiny around Barcelona the club\u2019s \u2018entorno\u2019. On countless occasions, Xavi has insisted that this swirling vortex makes Barcelona \u201cthe most difficult club to manage in the world\u201d. Ultimately, the pressure has proven too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a cruel job,\u201d Xavi admitted to explain his departure. \u201cIt wears you down. In Barcelona you always feel like you\u2019re not valued, you\u2019re mistreated\u2026 that\u2019s how the club works. From a mental health perspective, it\u2019s tough, too. I\u2019m a positive guy, but the battery levels keep running out\u2026 and at some point, you realise there\u2019s no point in staying.\u201d<\/p>\n

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