In November 2021, Barcelona's season lay in ruins. The Catalan giants were in ninth place in La Liga and on their way out of the Champions League group stage. The club was in disarray both on the field and off it - not even the firing of former head coach Ronald Koeman did much to stem their horrendous run of form.
Barça proceeded to surprise many by selecting Xavi, the legendary midfielder who spent 17 amazing years as a Blaugrana player, as Koeman's replacement. Prior to his appointment at Camp Nou, Xavi's only prior coaching experience had been two-and-a-half years at Qatari club Al-Sadd - not exactly a stint which would've prepared him for life at the helm of a major European club.
As it turned out, however, the selection of Xavi has paid major dividends - a fact underscored once again in Barça's 1-0 victory over Sevilla during the most recent La Liga matchday. Pedri scored the only goal of the match to elevate Barça to second place in the league - ahead of Atlético Madrid and Sevilla on head-to-head record. Barça have also played one match fewer than both of those teams.
Over the past several years, there have been several glaring examples of players who have struggled after making the transition to the dugout. Names that come to mind include Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Santiago Solari, and most notably of all, Andrea Pirlo. Given this trend, some apprehension surrounding Xavi would have been understandable. However, much to the satisfaction of the Barça faithful, Xavi has bucked this trend without much difficulty thus far.
Xavi's tactical approach is clearly superior to the obsolete methods which his predecessors had utilized. High pressing is the cornerstone of Xavi's tactics; Barça's front three have been pressing far more under Xavi than they did under Koeman. This tactical change has brought Barça's playstyle more in line with the current metagame.
Xavi has also brought back the inversion of the full-backs - something which had not been a fixture at Barça for several years. The interplay between the full-backs, wingers, and central midfielders tends to open up much more space for strikers and wingers to go forward and attack. It should thus come as no surprise that with Xavi at the helm, Barça have become far more lethal in the final third.
Unlike Koeman, Xavi also seems to have won over the players in the locker room. He clearly connects with and relates to just about every player on a personal level. These positive vibes have permeated the team; they are also a reason why mid-season acquisition Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appears to be a rejuvenated player. When Aubameyang left Arsenal for Catalonia by way of a free transfer, it appeared that the Gabonese striker was well and truly washed up. This no longer seems to be the case - a fact made most evident by his two goals in El Clásico, when Barça beat arch-rivals Real Madrid 4-0. Such a transformation could not have taken place without Xavi.
Barça have always taken immense pride in La Masia - their iconic youth academy. Since Xavi is a proud dyed-in-the-wool Catalan who became one of La Masia's most successful products, some wondered if this would manifest itself in his coaching and team selection by playing favourites and being biased towards the club's academy graduates. Fortunately, this has not been the case. While Xavi has given heavy minutes to La Masia products such as Gavi, Eric García, Nico González, and veteran duo Sergio Busquets and Gerard Piqué, this has not been at the expense of key non-academy players. On top of this, Xavi was one of the key orchestrators of Barça's mid-season signing of Ferran Torres from Manchester City. The Valencia-born striker has slotted himself into the team without a hitch, adding even more firepower to Barça's surprisingly potent frontline.
Although it's still early in Xavi's tenure, the signs are undoubtedly promising. That said, Xavi just seems to "get it" in the way that other ex-players who moved to the other side of the touchline never did. He is already a Barça legend; however, the opportunity to make his name stand alone in the club's pantheon now lies before him. His first steps in the second part of this journey appear to be all the right ones up to this point.
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