Xavi's one of the biggest shortcomings will be his inability to handle critique and learn from making mistakes, rather than blame his failures on anything else.
Xavi (Spanish Lego Pep) | Barca manager - and will be next season
- Thread starter Samid
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Pep looked older because he was a man with an already receding hairline entering his 40s.
Managing Barcelona is easier than managing a top English side.
I don't understand what happened defensively. We had an average like O.5 goals against per game last season and now it has tripled. Same manager and almost same players.
I have no problem with Xavi leaving but I just don't see anybody suitable for the job unless we are willing to try a more direct brand of football.
I have no problem with Xavi leaving but I just don't see anybody suitable for the job unless we are willing to try a more direct brand of football.
Not at all, there is like 0 patience with bad results at Barcelona and the media is way worse than in England. A season like the first one Guardiola had at City would have gotten him sacked at Barcelona.
I don't even think that's the case, every part of his game still holds up except for finishing, which has seemingly deserted him. Then came back, shanked him, stole all his money and his family, made a tiktok of it then turned it into a humiliation kink OF while Lewy's bleeding on ground, pissing and shitting himself
The good news is this actually happened to him before, in 18/19, so chances are it might just be a random season from hell, rather than actual decline
So the only question I have: is FdJ gonna come after all? No point sticking around with Barça. Manchester is beautiful this time of year.
Yeah, I almost wrote that in my post it, reminded me of Ronaldo in those last 3 months at United. Everything that made him a great scorer was still there, but the finishing had gone. That's why I said it's a question mark in my head, I kinda can see Lewa rebounding, even if in a different team.
Bonkers comment. Winning the league and sacked after half a season. That's not happening in England.
You don't have a clue what you're talking about.
Nothing in England comes close to the pressure one receives as manager or player in Madrid or Barcelona.
Despite being a top top midfielder on his days, his barca style is more like David Moyes everton than it is to Pep barca.
Laporta did him dirty.
Don't get me wrong, Xavi and his brother (assistant manager) are the very definition of 'out of ones depth' or 'deer in headlights' but I get the feeling the project Laporta sold him changed when the levers started - in my mind, Lewa was not a Xavi signing for example but a big name for the brand.
Still, Xavi has loaded us with some real shitters; Raphinha is terrible, Yamal (whilst he does look like a future star) at 16 is already preferred. Romeu is not good enough even as a stop-gap and I have no idea how any recruitment team could expect anything different, kind of similar to the Bellerin signing. Kounde I guess can turn it around as he and Araujo have been switched CB to RB to CB to RB to CB so much it's hard to find rhythm. Araujo has gone from looking like one of the best CBs itw to a complete mess. He should only play RB to son Vini jr. Christensen was also very good last season, our best CB at times and this season his form and fitness has fallen off a cliff.
I respect Xavi for putting his hands up and admitting the job isn't for him. Will always be a club legend.
Don't get me wrong, Xavi and his brother (assistant manager) are the very definition of 'out of ones depth' or 'deer in headlights' but I get the feeling the project Laporta sold him changed when the levers started - in my mind, Lewa was not a Xavi signing for example but a big name for the brand.
Still, Xavi has loaded us with some real shitters; Raphinha is terrible, Yamal (whilst he does look like a future star) at 16 is already preferred. Romeu is not good enough even as a stop-gap and I have no idea how any recruitment team could expect anything different, kind of similar to the Bellerin signing. Kounde I guess can turn it around as he and Araujo have been switched CB to RB to CB to RB to CB so much it's hard to find rhythm. Araujo has gone from looking like one of the best CBs itw to a complete mess. He should only play RB to son Vini jr. Christensen was also very good last season, our best CB at times and this season his form and fitness has fallen off a cliff.
I respect Xavi for putting his hands up and admitting the job isn't for him. Will always be a club legend.
Someone needs to break down this concept of "pressure" to me. Who is applying the pressure at Madrid/Barcelona? Why can't it just be ignored?
It is not direct pressure, such as ultras visiting the dressing room (as happened with Sevilla) but the fact that the football debate disappears to focus on whether he is valid for the job and who will be his possible replacement.
The certainty that he has to win something every year , because it is something that has always been demanded, because of the stature of the club that he knows and always looking sideways at what Madrid does, and viceversa (if Madrid were bad everything would be different).
Press conferences that are "is this game your last chance?", "have you lost control of the team?", "what do you think of Sport's cover about your replacement?".
In the end, this insistence of the press makes a dent in the fans or the players themselves who see that they will end up being harmed.
In more extreme cases such as Benítez or Martino, are the players themselves who leak that the coach is useless, which ends up causing a murky atmosphere.
This also has repercussions on board-coach relations, with more ambiguous public support.
I suppose that if Florentino and Laporta were owners they could put aside everything external but they are elected and coaches are shields in bad times and personal successes in good times.
Honestly I think the media and fans of Barca and Real Madrid are probably the worst around. They seem to live in their own media bubbles and are extremely entitled.
Managers at English top sides typically only have to satisfy one owner, keep them sweet. The fans mean nothing compared to clubs where the leadership is elected. Being a manager at Barcelona, Madrid or Bayern one needs to be a politician too. The schedule is easier, everything else is a lot more complicated.
Why would you want to spend big money on FDJ? He's not worth it
Bring in Klopp.
That means we are 100% in for him
Guess that’s his managerial career over. Can’t see him going anywhere els and don’t think many clubs would want him.
Because when every single interview, press conference, etc, you get 50 different variations of "are they gonna sack you? When do you think they gonna sack you? Do you think you doing a good job? Are you an idiot? Are you aware you are an idiot? Why did the team not win today? How can you justify not winning every game? You won 5-0. How can you justify winning 5-0 playing counterattacking football? Don't you know our DNA?!?! Do you think the president still trusts you? We have it on good authority the president will sack you if you lose this game, how does that make you feel?" Etc, etc. Throw in the way medias affect fans as well, and the internal politics of the clubs(being elected presidents, means they and their board have to be in constant political creature to appease the fans) and the reverberations on the players, and you have it. You can see how after a while it might get to you.
And in the case of Barcelona you also have the Negreira case still pending on theit heads, plus the financial situation of the club
Admittedly, part of the reason for Madrid's success comes down to Florentino hijacking the club and basically turning himself into owner rather than president, which has at least helped generating a bit more stability, since Flo doesn't actually have to play politics and care about fans anymore.
Maybe PSG are dumb enough to do it given the Qatar connection. Otherwise Saudis will be all over him.
All these people quitting can only mean one thing folks...
Fergie's coming back.
Fergie's coming back.
In Barcelona it's because the president is elected. You have different 'factions' who want their own president and are hostile toward the other people. The president is under more danger and that usually means they have less ability to back a manager.
The next elections are in 2026. Laporta would prefer a new manager now who can peak in 25/26 season and give him a solid argument to be re-elected.
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The competitiveness of a league may or may not impact their goal difference is all Im saying.
If you think it doesn’t, then lets agree to disagree.
Not quite. Xavi won the league with them last year and has been killed by fans and the media this year for being 3rd in the league while the amount of leeway ETH got for finishing 3rd last year and winning League Cup (arguably a smaller trophy than La Liga) has pretty much allowed him to cruise safely through the season while losing every game against decent opposition and crashing out of CL in the groups, without ever worrying about his job.
English clubs take a lot of time to make a decision on their managers, the only one I reckon going early due to underperformance was Hodgson. If you are at a top club in Spain a run of 5 bad games can kill you at any point.
I agree, you only have listen to that d*ck who is president of Real Madrid for literally 30 seconds and know fine well the entitlement coming out of his mouth.
-5 goal difference, out of the UCL in an easy group, boring football, lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth, 7-0 to Liverpool and 45% of the forum still believe in ETH. Wouldn't happen at Barcelona
we really have no standards
@carvajal @giorno @Iker Quesadillas thanks for the explanation gents
Not that Xavi deserved some scrutiny, but when even a superior manager in Pep has to take a sabbatical after 4 years, it does seem kind of pointless (that level of scrutiny). Could managers simply refuse to speak to the press?
Not that Xavi deserved some scrutiny, but when even a superior manager in Pep has to take a sabbatical after 4 years, it does seem kind of pointless (that level of scrutiny). Could managers simply refuse to speak to the press?
Not sure. Wouldn't change much anyways. Tvs and radios covering you in insults 24/7@carvajal @giorno @Iker Quesadillas thanks for the explanation gents
Not that Xavi deserved some scrutiny, but when even a superior manager in Pep has to take a sabbatical after 4 years, it does seem kind of pointless (that level of scrutiny). Could managers simply refuse to speak to the press?
Football is very much about leaps and bounds so it is impossible to say what will happen in the future but in the last six months they have had a dangerous regression to 1980s Barcelona in terms of mentality which demonstrates a significant degree of frustration and helplessness. The good news for them is I don't think the squad is a bad one so if they find the right coach and signings they have big room for improvement. The bad news is that previous Barcelonas were is a much stronger financial position so they could sign world class players for very big fees -relative to their era- like Maradona, Koeman, Schuster, Romario, Ronaldo Nazario, Rivaldo, Luis Suarez, Neymar etc.
You can have decent squads as the initial base to build up but if you cannot access players like the ones above and your rivals in Spain and rest of Europe can, chances of coming up short in the competition against them should not surprise anyone.
In the past presidents would have to talk to the press very often to give explanations. That has changed in the last 15 years and it's not necessarily a must anymore, but at the end of the day someone has to play that role. If nobody did, it would convey a message of fragility, fear and lack of stability.@carvajal @giorno @Iker Quesadillas thanks for the explanation gents
Not that Xavi deserved some scrutiny, but when even a superior manager in Pep has to take a sabbatical after 4 years, it does seem kind of pointless (that level of scrutiny). Could managers simply refuse to speak to the press?
Not to mention presidents having a vested interest in -you- the manager taking the blame so -he- can escape it
I mean Laporta's brand new declarations about Xavi being allowed to finish the season because he's a legend....like this situation is all xavi's fault
This is a mistake by Barca IMO. The squad has issues yet his ability to trust the talented youth from LA masia and give them a chance has been working.
Yes. Its why he abandoned the pragamatic style that yielded the league title last term. Which has yielded the results of this season. The defence got more exposed whilst the midfield lost all physicallity.Love the objective opinion.
But seriously, is that what they are like? Do they demand possession and high lines at all times?
So true.
In all honesty, in this particular case Xavi should explain why the same squad from last season is performing much, much worse defensively, while Laporta can at least point out at Bartomeu's disastrous decisions to justify the scarcity of quality acquisitions. But yes, it is evident managers's role is also about being the president's shield so it's in Laporta's best interest to make the state of things look like it was mostly about Xavi's inability rather than anything else.I mean Laporta's brand new declarations about Xavi being allowed to finish the season because he's a legend....like this situation is all xavi's fault
The difference between Barcelona and Man utd is mental. Xavi won la liga in his first season despite losing the old guard. Valverde was sacked despite winning la liga and whilst being top of the league. At man utd you just have seem competent at press conferences.
tbf Valverde should not have been sacked.