Posted on November 6, 2021 at 12:30 pm by Hadrien Grenier
While Xavi was officially inducted into the coaching position on Saturday night, FC Barcelona clearly seems to have the ambition to count on him to finally launch a new virtuous cycle. And for his part, the former midfielder arrives with the clear ambition to rectify the situation of his long-standing club.
After a nightmarish start to the season, FC Barcelona ended up dismissing Ronald Koeman of his coaching position when his contract expires on June 30th. This decision by the Catalan management then put an end to the endless soap opera of the future of the Dutch coach, the latter having been announced in the hot seat on numerous occasions since the election of Joan Laporta as president of Barça last March, whether it was last summer or throughout early fall. Thus, after having sacked the former coach of the Netherlands, the Catalan club activated with a view to enlisting his successor, and it was finally the name of Xavi that was retained after the tracks leading to Roberto Martinez or Andrea Pirlo have been mentioned in the press in recent weeks. The former midfielder has finally made his comeback to FC Barcelona by leaving the post he held at Al-Sadd .
“We we are in the best club in the world, ”says Xavi
The 41-year-old technician whose arrival was formalized on Saturday night is now linked with the Blaugrana until June 30, 2024. Only there you go, Xavi not going to have much time to enjoy. Indeed, he recovers a team in great difficulty at the start of the season, losing benchmarks and lacking results. He will thus have to breathe new life into a qualitatively limited workforce in certain areas of play. But despite everything, the native of Terrassa gave a speech full of ambitions after the officialization of his arrival on the bench. club forever. “We are Barça, we are in the best club in the world. And the best club in the world has to win, you can't draw or lose. Therefore, maximum requirement. We will try to make the players proud and happy. We will have to work hard and with clear goals to try to win. I'm very positive and I'm going to have to work a lot to make things right. (…) I'm very happy, imagine, it's the biggest challenge of my career, a major challenge, I'm coming home, to Barça, and I'm very happy. Everyone has done their part of the job, especially the club, I am very grateful to Barca and their trust. They came to Doha, there was a breach of contract and we all did our part. I am very positive and very excited to make sure everything is going well. I'm very grateful to the club, really, ”said the Spaniard in remarks reported by Mundo Deportivo, before revealing that the negotiations for his arrival were not necessarily easy as Al-Sadd did not easily open the door when he left.
“The negotiations were difficult because my breach of contract had to be postponed and new leases for all the staff had to be concluded. But both Vice-President Rafa Yuste and President and Mateu Alemany, we all rowed so that it could be done and with great enthusiasm ”, explained Xavi when returning behind the scenes. of his coming which were marked by a soap opera where hot and cold were blown over the last few days. Now the whole question is whether he will succeed in helping FC Barcelona to climb the downward slope on which he has been involved for several months now. And with this in mind, the former captain of Barça seems to have a plan: “In the end, I also lived through bad situations, it is not the best moment in the history of the club but I want to explain what my idea is. And work hard, make a team. I think it's all about teamwork and I can't wait to get it right. But obviously I need to talk to them to see how they're doing. I am also very grateful to Sergi Barjuan and his work because today there is an idea for a game and it is very important. Working together is the most important thing. “
On this last point, Xavi could also receive help during the month of January. Indeed, as reported by the media TV3, Joan Laporta explained this Friday evening during a dinner with groups of supporters of FC Barcelona of Galicia that he planned to recruit until to three players during the next winter transfer window. It remains to be seen how Barça will manage to fulfill this task with its finances in the red. MARCA rightly specifies that the Catalan club will have to somewhat reduce its current costs for this and reduce its payroll. Will sales be on the program? Or even further wage cuts? Case to be followed over the next few weeks, but it is clear that FC Barcelona seems determined to finally launch its new virtuous cycle, be the leadership of Xavi over the next few years. years.