“That would be our ideal game,” Xavi Hernández recalled this past Friday the final of the Spanish Super Cup last season, which ended with a major victory over Real Madrid, both in the result (1-3) and due to the superiority over the eternal rival That night of January 15 in Saudi Arabia, the coach won his first title as a tenant on the Barça bench. A confident victory for a very young squad and a liberation for a club mired in defeatism, in a continuous crisis in all its areas, including sports. But for the man from Terrassa, success at the King Fahd stadium was especially important because it set a pattern, a reference, the model to follow for what he pursues for his players.
Despite winning the League, Xavi did not feel the same satisfaction in the second part of the season. Barça sang the alirón with solvency, finally with a ten point advantage over Real Madrid, but the team lost brilliance, sustained in many games by its defensive strength. “The main objective this season is for the team to play better football,” said the man from Egar at the press conference prior to the match against Cádiz this Sunday. “What is it for me to play better? Choose better, have more patience, get to the band and not risk it first. Go back, find the superiority within. Have more inner game. Chopping the spaces, not always, at the right time ”, the Catalan broke down some of his commands on the pitch.
Barça lost that script in a final stretch of the previous season where suffering and unocerism abounded. “This requires time, work and maturity. We have very young footballers. Last year we played very well in many games and in others not so well, ”Xavi excused his pupils, who insisted on the example of the Super Cup, the zenith, for the moment, of his work as a Blaugrana coach. “We must try to play like that day every minute of every game. As a coach I also have objectives and the main one is for the team to play football better, to understand it better”, Xavi concluded on the matter, focused on the match against a “rocky” Cádiz, the first official at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
Forgotten the bad drink of Getafe, the coach did not want to “generate more controversy” and focused on what he can “control”: his team. “It is time to abide by the sanction (two games). Maybe I should control myself more in my technical area, ”he explained about his attitude in the azulón fiefdom, where he ended up indignant with the referee and sent off. Calmer, having overcome the anger at the Coliseum at “24 hours”, he lamented Ronald Araújo’s muscle injury, suffered “in a race in a training game”. “Guardiola complained and I am with him. He thinks about the business, ”he pointed out the“ demanding schedule ”to find an answer to so many injuries.
Despite being very explicit in previous appearances, Xavi once again defended that Ansu Fati is the club’s “heritage” to deny his departure. A possible sale to Real Madrid was not taken seriously either. “Is it a joke?” He responded to the hypothetical white interest, raised in the parallel press conference with coach Carlo Ancelotti. As usual, the Catalan did not provide names of possible signings, an aspect that he will now work hand in hand with Deco after the sudden goodbye of Mateu Alemany, of which he valued his “extraordinary work”. “It is said that we do not have a good relationship with Deco. It’s false. Debate settled. I’m very comfortable. We are in tune, we already had it in the field. He is very capable, he dominates the market, he has leadership, personality… I like him. We will do a good job”, he said of the Portuguese, the new sports director. “We will sign what the economy and fair play allow us. It is a very difficult situation ”, a much more optimistic Xavi resigned himself with the extension of his contract:“ From 0 to 10, the negotiation of my renewal is at 10 ”.
