“I will not quit again. I am with an intact commitment. With energy and desire thanks to the trust of the president, the footballers and the fans”, Xavi alleged to explain his change of attitude. The coach, emblem of the club thanks to his footballing past, will need this energy. To strengthen its credibility and to awaken an anesthetized Barcelonianism with only 17,000 season-ticket members in Montjuïc.
When Xavi landed in Barcelona in November 2021 with the ninth team in La Liga, he was a hero. Two and a half years later, despite having won a League and a Super Cup, his image has been weakened by the emotional roller coaster that Barcelona has become.
He himself has taken note of it and knows what he has to do to improve and face this last season with determination. To begin with, continue betting on young people, the most grateful and happy with their continuity. In the difficult journey through the club’s economic desert, Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Fermín or Gavi are among the few non-transferable.
Xavi will also have to be strong in the offices. It is good to have confidence in the president, but the coach must have a voice and a vote to choose the key pieces of his project. If a guaranteed midfielder is requested, they cannot allocate 30 million fixed and 31 more in variables for Vitor Roque. If you dream of Messi’s return, you have to find a way. And above all, the club must spare the coach trips and impossible promises with players such as Håland, Zubimendi or Bernardo Silva when there is neither space to register them nor leverage to pay them. This kind of behavior weakens him in the world of football.
In his third full year, the coach must also leave behind the character of a footballer and learn to control his temper with the referees – he already apologized after leaving the team with 10 against PSG and went without cards from the classic Soto Grado–. And the most important thing: isolate yourself from the environment and focus on the football story.
