Rescueman Xavi Gets Barca Rolling

As tough as it is to say, football is a cyclical game. No single club or quite specifically team can sustain sheer dominance for an eternity of time. The sport will always adapt and evolve, move in tides as unique as waves crashing on a beach.

Just like the infuriating waves, FC Barcelona embodies this. At the dawn of the previous decade they were a behemoth. Devastating to say but in reality, a once rapturous super-team at the pinnacle of European and world football, the Blaugranas have fallen from unimaginable heights over the past three years.

Yet as mentioned earlier on how cyclical the beautiful game is, the Catalan club is gradually regaining the crown they deserve. The man now tasked with taking the side from the destitution of desolation is a man who was a key player during their previous two treble-winning seasons in 2009 and 2015 – Xavier Hernandez – more commonly referred to as 'Xavi'.  

The 42-year-old was handed the Barcelona job at the beginning of November 2021 with the club suffering in every competition. However, the young but promising coach came home to the Nou Camp with a wonderfully exciting and expensive style of football for the fans to devour. As such his team is now gradually reaching back to sit on top of the world.

'Juego de Posicion' and the Adaptation of Xavi

Xavi's style of play has been compared to that of his former mentor Pep Guardiola. Both men are keen on having the ball as well as maintaining the key principles of 'Juego de Posicion' (positional play), made notoriously famous by Guardiola himself. Speaking in an interview with Fifa back in 2019, Xavi spoke about the way he wants his sides to play:

"I'd describe myself as someone who likes to have the ball. I'm there in the dugout suffering if my team doesn't have the ball. It was the same when I played: I loved being on the ball. What I want is for my team to have control and I think you have that when you have the ball."

"That's my philosophy: to have possession high up the pitch – not just sitting and waiting – and to go on the attack, because the more chances you create, the more chances you have to win."

However, Xavi's side are much more direct and have proven themselves to be very adept in attacking transitions, among other elements not usually representative of a Guardiola team. Just like that, Xavi has been influential in making Barca play with high intensity and inviting the oppositions to pressure his team. This allows Xavi's team to play long ball with the three forwards in a setting of conventional 4-3-3 pinning the back four of the opponent at the halfway line.

Moreover, what makes it more fascinating to Xavi's tactical display is how he is using Aubameyang as a perfect false-9 just like Harry Kane, Roberto Firmino, etc. Aubameyang loves to make runs in behind the defenders but he has adapted himself to drop back with one or two defenders alongside. Essentially, when Aubameyang drops, players support him with runs in behind and movements in front so that he can lay the ball off to the third man. From there, Barca can generally find the fourth man who is running in behind. 

The glorious passing patterns with third-man runs are a key component to the young coach's philosophy and Xavi has infamously spoken about their importance in the past, saying: "the third-man is impossible to defend against".

Third and fourth-man runs are a wonderful way to break down a defensive block, irrespective of how deep the opposition are sitting and Xavi's side are extremely well-drilled at doing so.

These types of passing sequences also play into the true narrative that Barca are far more direct under the new coach than in previous years. Their play is vertical, and Xavi wants the ball to be moved with purpose and precision, and to be shifted through the thirds quickly.

These passes to try and find the feet of the dropped center-forward don't necessarily have to just come from the build-up phase in order to play vertically as quickly as possible. Barcelona also try looking for this option during settled positional attacks.

As with building out from the back, Xavi wants his side to subscribe to another element of modern football through pressing high up the pitch. Most sides commit multiple bodies in the press, but Xavi has taken his side's tactical set-up in this phase to near-Marcelo Bielsa levels.

The press is man-oriented and extremely rigid. The most striking aspect of Xavi's press with Barca is that no player is kept back to protect the backline in case the press is broken or the opponent goes long over it. Barcelona have been using a man-to-man marking scheme in the high press. 

This is a very risky form of pressing and has proven to be detrimental to the Catalan giants already. If the team in possession can bypass the first and second line of pressure, Xavi's side are in trouble due to the high positioning of the number '6'. This high-reward tactical ploy leaves the backline very exposed because of the wealth of space in front of them not being covered.

Video Analysis

Sergio Garcia, David Prats and Toni Lobo are charged with watching videos of Barca's opponents and analyzing them. On matchday, there is a list of eight to ten key points drawn up on what Xavi asks of his squad.

Matches are also thoroughly reviewed after they are played so that it can be seen what was done well and what could be improved. Once all the material has been processed, it is shared in a group and then in a personal manner to the first team.

Physical Preparation

Xavi appointed Ivan Torres as his head of physical preparation, and every player now has an individual fitness plan. Torres has been strengthening the players' weak points depending on their physical build, and the group's data has also been recorded. It was found that the players weren't used to the physical demands of Xavi's preferred style of play, which meant it took time to shift the culture at the club to not worry so much about the amount of kilometers run in a match, but instead the intensity at which they are completed.

Unity and Team Spirit in the Dressing Room

The strong team spirit in the group that the legendary ex-midfielder has fostered can be seen in training footage posted to the club's social media accounts. Xavi has inherited a strong mentality among all the players, irrespective of their ages. As was disappeared in the era of the three previous coaches, Xavi's Barca are fighting for a win in every match till the very last second of the match. Take for instance the last El Clasico and last weekend's match against Elche.

The players are willing to fight for each other, and make way for their positional rivals in the starting line-up if the assignment calls for it without hard feelings. And at the same time, those previously cast out and marginalized are having top form extracted from them when asked to perform a task for their boss. Besides, it is no coincidence that the last five goals scored by the Catalan club are by the substituted players. That is how influential Xavi has been to the Blaugranas.

Focus on La Masia and Youngsters

As the club president Joan Laporta mentioned that FC Barcelona would use all the resources possible from La Masia, Xavi has been doing so to his full capability. The recent rise of midfield duo Gavi and Nico is something that Xavi likes a lot. There are other La Masia graduates in Xavi's plan who have succeeded in all the chances they got. Oscar Mingueza, Alejandro Balde, Ilias Akhomach – all proved to be worth the opportunities. Yet it would be worrisome for Xavi seeing his main man and the number 10 Ansu Fati being out of the squad for months due to an injury.

Not only is it La Masia that is working like clockwork for the Blaugranas but the other young players they have bought from outside. The obvious highlight is the 19-year-old midfielder Pedri, who is dubbed as "Feels as if watching Iniesta" by the coach himself. The other positive aspect in terms of a youngster player for the club is having a warrior of a defender in Uruguayan Ronald Araujo.

Rejuvenation of FDJ

Frenkie De Jong was the best player of FC Barcelona alongside Leo Messi for the past couple of seasons. However, his performance dropped quite devastatingly in the beginning of the ongoing season. It was quite bad until Xavi got the key to unlock Frenkie's magic in the spree of February's beautiful football by the Catalan club. It is as if the old Frenkie is back running in behind the defenders and taking up free spaces as well as dropping back to help his team's backline. Not only did Xavi rejuvenate Frenkie but the two captains of the team Pique and Busquets are dropping comparatively much better performances week in and week out.

Winter Transfers - The Fine Bladed Swords

When the super sporting director of FC Barcelona Mateu Alemany made it possible for Xavi and his team to sign Dani Alves, Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Adama Traore, there were mixed reactions from fans and rival fans. However, with time people are aligning into one outcome of reactions only as Xavi and his tactical masterplan are proving these three players as instrumental for the team.

Dani Alves restarted his Barca career right from where he left off the last time around. Ferran Torres was never a prolific goalscorer and it is quite evident with the number of missed chances he has already made. But he is a 'Xavi-isque' player who loves to move the ball with short passes and has great positional sense. Contrastingly, Aubameyang is working hard both on and off the ball to create chances and scoring goals. In the short span of time he has been in the club, he has already scored a hattrick. Adama Traore, on the other hand, along with the injury-prone Ousmane Dembele who has got the rejuvenation he deserved, are being the workhorses of the team running riots on the wings. They are constantly performing well making it relentless for the opposition defenders.

Summer Transfer - 'Needle' Can be the Word for Sword

When a club is big, it is always expected for them to have a generational talent in their team. No matter how tough of a situation they are going through, it is expected of them to sign a high-profile player. Now that there is a possibility of FC Barcelona receiving around €650M if an agreement with CVC and sale of Barca Studios is completed, as well as the sponsorship deal with Spotify is completed, the chances of signing Erling Haaland are increasing. Barca boss Xavi has shown how interested he is to have a striker of Haaland's caliber in the recent days.

To work that off as an icing on the cake, as of today Steven Gerrard has shown interest to permanently sign Phillipe Coutinho in Aston Villa for €40M.

On a more realistic approach, the Catalan club is showing interest in getting some of the most valuable 'free agents' possible. Chelsea defenders Azpilicueta and Christensen being the obvious targets considering the defensive woes of Barca, they have also sent an offer to Ajax for right-back Mazraoui. Just like that to replace or more realistically have a backup of Jordi Alba, Barca are searching for a left-back and with current circumstances, it looks as if they will get the services of Grimaldo since Gaya is ready to sign a new contract with Valencia. However, the most interesting transfer target of Barca currently is of an unlike-Barca physical midfielder Franck Kessie of AC Milan.

Some thought it would take years due to the lack of quality in Barca's squad and their financial woes. But with the huge amount of work the manager and his henchmen are putting into the project, the Xavi-era is already starting to bear fruit. The football is exhilarating, and Xavi has turned Barcelona from a side on a freefall off a bottomless cliff to one of the most exciting teams in Europe once again.