Cassidy
No longer at risk of being mistaken for a Scouser
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2013
- Messages
- 33,017
Thank the lord
Anyway in case there's any legs to it, this might be of interest:
By this logic, we just need a coach with hair. Graeme Souness has hair.I think we need one of those tbh, Ten Hag didn't moan enough.
Hopefully we aren’t basing our long term football vision around one destroyer DM.
For me Xavi would be a great manager to develop mainoo and amad, so for that alone I would be happy. Obviously on top we should improve our ability to keep and pass the ball around, and show a much higher value in central midfield.Exactly this. Not saying Xavi is the man, but in terms of playing style you have to start somewhere. Our squad is of limited ability and contains a mis-mash of random players that do not complement each other. No manager in the world would be well-equipped to take over our team.
We have to back a new way of playing (personally hope it's one that actually values having good technicians in midfield that can keep the ball) and whichever manager has the personality and the tactical acumen to go execute that should be hired. They have to be given the autonomy, in liaison with the DoF, to bring in the profile of player they want, whilst culling existing players that don't merge with their way of playing. Easier said than done. I know.
Our young players have never been trained in tika taka. It's not a system that can be trained overnight. Pep took 3 to 4 years to get it going at City and that was the master at work.The pick younger players who can do it
Hes rubbish football in the UCL is why I don’t want himMaybe he comes here with a point to prove, just because it didn't work at Barca last season doesn't mean we should write him off completely
You haven’t watched them enoughOur young players have never been trained in tika taka. It's not a system that can be trained overnight. Pep took 3 to 4 years to get it going at City and that was the master at work.
You haven’t watched them enough
Xavi is very rigid.. common misconception is that he is a tiki taka acolyte..he basically won the league with Barca playing like a Mourinho team - 1:0 wins left, right and in the center and sitting back against the big teams.. Xavi is more like Van Gaal than Guardiola..The one thing you can credit Xavi for is that he isn't all that rigid in his "philosophy" of playing tiki taka etc. The man was more than happy to lump crosses in to Luuk De Jong when he needed late winners.
I'm pretty sure that's not the caseHe also accrued more points in that season than almost all seasons by either Real or Barca in the last ten years.
Because Barca have improved immeasurably under Flick, almost instantaneously. Pretty rough indictment on Xavi.Why so much hate for Xavi? He won a league title over Ancelotti with a disruptive and disorganized Barca board.
You're taking this well I see.Good for him. Xavi deserves better.
I'm pretty sure that's not the case
It was looking like it for a long time, but they faltered in the end.
Is he? What type of manager is he? It sounds like he’s a bit safe but boring. A bit Arteta like?Bruno is fecked if Xavi comes in.
Anyway in case there's any legs to it, this might be of interest:
Must be great to hate your manager and still win a title. Wish we could somehow spawn that in the next 10 years.Xavi won the league but if you watch most of our games during that season, ter Stegen was in the form of his life and there was some voodoo going on with opposition strikers shitting their pants infront of goal.
I will sound the alarm: He would be a complete disaster at United as I said earlier in this thread, complete and utter disaster. His football is ugly and very pragmatic - something you wouldn't expect from a player obsessed with posession and control, certainly not a Barca DNA manager or a manager with a tiki taka style like some here seem to think.
His pros are the respect he commands because, well, he's Xavi the GOAT midfielder and he does give youth a fair chance but other than that, he's at most a side step from ten Hag.
The cons: whinning, let's his emotions get the better of him leading to red cards, lack of accountability (which started to rub off on the players), excuses from weather to the grass length and the nepotism of having his unqualified brother as assistant manager. More often than not he was schooled by any credible manager, including your very own Erik ten Hag.
I guess you have the excuse of the club being a financial mess etc etc. but remember Flick has inherited pretty much the same squad (plus Olmo) and every single player has improved with others (Raphinha) going up multiple levels. Xavi told us not to expect much and whined about the players, Flick entered, zero complaining and we are flying.
As you can tell, the Xavi years really pissed me off. I love him as a club legend, he's one of my all time favourite players and he's the greatest midfielder of all time for me but manager? He just isn't him.
We don't have just one club to worry about.Must be great to hate your manager and still win a title. Wish we could somehow spawn that in the next 10 years.
Perhaps that speaks more to the squad than the quality of the manager. Again Xavi won two major trophies at Barca while Flick who is off to a good start is not guaranteed anything.Because Barca have improved immeasurably under Flick, almost instantaneously. Pretty rough indictment on Xavi.
Also not that I feel it matters all too much, but the fact he was outcoached by Ten Hag in the Europa league tie probably doesn't help his cause.
Well he refused to play Amad and Gore so what can I tell you. He sent out left back to Benfica and refused to play Amass what can I tell you. All mentioned players are very good on the ballOh right? You believe they can do it as soon as Xavi takes over? Is our academy that brilliant?
I'll trust you on this.
If our academy can already do this, then it makes ETH refusal to play the football he did at Ajax all the more unforgivable.
If you add 23/24 which Real Madrid won with 95 points then that means 5 of the last 10 seasons had a maximum point tally higher than 88.in 2022/23, Xavi achieved 88 points in his title winning debut season. They conceded only 20 goals in the process.
The previous years :-
21/22 - Real - 86 points
20/21 - Atletico - 86 points
19/20 - Real - 87 points
18/19 - Barca - 87 points
17/18 - Barca - 93 points
16/17 - Real - 93 points
15/16 - Barca - 91 points
14/15 - Barca - 94 points
So, at the point in which Xavi won the league, he had the highest point tally going back to 17/18.
Is it that impossible ? Case, Eriksen and Mount are probably set to leave in upcoming windows anyway, as a no future value.I'm a sucker for a possesion based system, so i would love to have him here. i always feel that club is really lacking an underlying philosophy on how we want to play, if the management chooses a possesion based system, who better to coach it than perhaps the greatest midfielder to play that style.
On the negative side, our players are unsuitable to this style, so it would take a few windows to implement.
Agree entirely.Xavi won the league but if you watch most of our games during that season, ter Stegen was in the form of his life and there was some voodoo going on with opposition strikers shitting their pants infront of goal.
I will sound the alarm: He would be a complete disaster at United as I said earlier in this thread, complete and utter disaster. His football is ugly and very pragmatic - something you wouldn't expect from a player obsessed with posession and control, certainly not a Barca DNA manager or a manager with a tiki taka style like some here seem to think.
His pros are the respect he commands because, well, he's Xavi the GOAT midfielder and he does give youth a fair chance but other than that, he's at most a side step from ten Hag.
The cons: whinning, let's his emotions get the better of him leading to red cards, lack of accountability (which started to rub off on the players), excuses from weather to the grass length and the nepotism of having his unqualified brother as assistant manager. More often than not he was schooled by any credible manager, including your very own Erik ten Hag.
I guess you have the excuse of the club being a financial mess etc etc. but remember Flick has inherited pretty much the same squad (plus Olmo) and every single player has improved with others (Raphinha) going up multiple levels. Xavi told us not to expect much and whined about the players, Flick entered, zero complaining and we are flying.
As you can tell, the Xavi years really pissed me off. I love him as a club legend, he's one of my all time favourite players and he's the greatest midfielder of all time for me but manager? He just isn't him.
Agree entirely.
I do not want Xavi anywhere near this club. He’d be 1 level above from Southgate for me.
You might be able to confirm as well…on top of everything else you’ve highlighted. But apparently he’s not a very good man manager. This united squad needs a brilliant communicator. From what I’ve hard, Xavi is far from that guy
Hansi Flick is actually embarassing Xavi presently. I liken it to the Lampard, Rooneys and Gerrards getting jobs based purely on name and being brilliant players. But ultimately, pretty poor managers
He did but he only stayed for 2 seasons and then wanted to leave, changed his mind and then got sacked.Didn't he win double with Barca?
Walcott? Shoehorned Gerrard.Xavi's all time British 11 is borderline criminal
https://www.givemesport.com/xavi-named-all-time-british-starting-11/
GK Fraser Forster
CB Sol Campbell
CB Rio Ferdinand
CB John Terry
CM Paul Scholes
CM Paul Gascoigne
CM Frank Lampard
RW Ryan Giggs
LW Steven Gerrard
ST Theo Walcott
ST Wayne Rooney