Yeah he was a fantastic player, however my last management memory of him is losing to us in Europa League playoff two seasons ago. So can totally see where the hit and miss idea comes from.
Xavi - The manager
- Thread starter Red00012
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Yeah he was a fantastic player, however my last management memory of him is losing to us in Europa League playoff two seasons ago. So can totally see where the hit and miss idea comes from.
No thanks. Just because Ten Hag didn't work out doesn't mean the formula was incorrect. Managers on the up is what we need.
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Because bald is best.
I say this as a huge fan of Xavi the player; he would be a disaster.
He really should manage a mid table club and prove himself before taking another top job, he was totally out of his depth at Barca and it would be the same at United.
At Barca his football or "Xaviball" as we came to call it was in all honesty an abomination and it blows my mind a player so obsessed with possesion (to a fault at times) as a player served up that type of football. Then, you have the meltdowns on the sideline getting himself sent off, the constant excuses, whining and a lack of responsability blaming everyone else. There's a reason many Madrid fans celebrated when he did his u-turn.
The club being a mess is no excuse either, Flick came in and has largely the same players at his disposal, the difference is night and day.
He really should manage a mid table club and prove himself before taking another top job, he was totally out of his depth at Barca and it would be the same at United.
At Barca his football or "Xaviball" as we came to call it was in all honesty an abomination and it blows my mind a player so obsessed with possesion (to a fault at times) as a player served up that type of football. Then, you have the meltdowns on the sideline getting himself sent off, the constant excuses, whining and a lack of responsability blaming everyone else. There's a reason many Madrid fans celebrated when he did his u-turn.
The club being a mess is no excuse either, Flick came in and has largely the same players at his disposal, the difference is night and day.
You guys treated him really unfairly.
I demand Flick to be fired and Xavi to return.
This is often said, but i don't think it makes a difference, some managers just "got it", others don't.
Most of the better managers "had it" from the start, in some ways, i don't see Xavi ever becoming more than an average one.
I guess there are exceptions, but look at the greats, most of them made an impact immediately.
I think he would be better suited in a club that isn't Barcelona.
But I'm also not sure if Xavi has it to be an amazing manager.
But I'm also not sure if Xavi has it to be an amazing manager.
Ole would have fit this squad better than Xavi.
True, however have seen a few people say that these players wouldn't suit how he wants to play
To evaluate him you have to forget the caricature of a team's possession giving lateral passes for 90 minutes. The reality is not that.
He would require very technical profiles (you always complain that other teams show more technique and speed in attack) and I don't think that a little more of "mès que un club" theoretical part will do you any harm. Dominate with possession and always keep an eye on the academy.
He wouldn't be my first option but I don't think it's that bad, as long as you don't stagnate by keeping him if he doesn't win.
He would require very technical profiles (you always complain that other teams show more technique and speed in attack) and I don't think that a little more of "mès que un club" theoretical part will do you any harm. Dominate with possession and always keep an eye on the academy.
He wouldn't be my first option but I don't think it's that bad, as long as you don't stagnate by keeping him if he doesn't win.
Xavi strikes me as another 'sideways' appointment.
The logic we would use to hire him is the same as when we hired EtH. Same goes for Iraola.
We do seem to be in the habit of exaggerating the prowess of every supposedly available manager.
Barca have moved on from Xavi already. Nobody else is keen. Seems a limited, uninspired choice with no enthusiasm available he'd significantly improve us.
The logic we would use to hire him is the same as when we hired EtH. Same goes for Iraola.
We do seem to be in the habit of exaggerating the prowess of every supposedly available manager.
Barca have moved on from Xavi already. Nobody else is keen. Seems a limited, uninspired choice with no enthusiasm available he'd significantly improve us.
Good post. I do agree with this part here. At least bringing Xavi in will have us wanting players with the more technical profile we've been sorely missing. Especially in midfield. Would he be my first (or even third) choice ? no, but we're clutching on straws here and a change is sorely needed.
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.
Don't think it means anything regarding managing us, just that we are his favourite English club.
Legendary player but I'd be wary of him managing us, he wouldn't be the top of my list that's for sure.
At the point where anyone with a pulse will do
One of the most unlikeable, moaning feckers in the game. I hope we go nowhere near him.
Yeah! Let’s stick with the current unlikeable moaner…
No you can get rid of him without bringing in someone who wasn’t good enough at Barca
I don't know why people are playing down the league win so much, he beat Real Madrid to win and won Barca their 1st league title since the 18-19 season, that's a bigger achievement than anything ETH has ever done.
Integrated youth very well too, set the foundation for this current Barcelona side. Conceded the least goal for a title winning team in La Liga.
Would he be the best choice? probably not, if Nagelsmann is available. Amorim, Hoeb all have question marks associated with them too, if they undergo poor spells people will question their credentials in a heartbeat, saying they won in a poor league, or hasn't won anything of note.
At least Xavi has 2 major trophies under his belt, and won a final against Real Madrid too.
Integrated youth very well too, set the foundation for this current Barcelona side. Conceded the least goal for a title winning team in La Liga.
Would he be the best choice? probably not, if Nagelsmann is available. Amorim, Hoeb all have question marks associated with them too, if they undergo poor spells people will question their credentials in a heartbeat, saying they won in a poor league, or hasn't won anything of note.
At least Xavi has 2 major trophies under his belt, and won a final against Real Madrid too.
Maybe 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
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It's a guy the players would respect at least.
I think the trouble is people saw him lose to us in that Europa League Playoff and said no thanks. Then the fact Flick is getting Barca playing better is another stick he gets beaten with constantly on here
As much as I want ETH gone, I've got a bad feeling about Xavi. I'd give him a chance, but Barca fans were sick of him, and that's quite telling really. He didn't get on well with his players either, and froze out one player because he didn't want Barca to sign him.
I still think he could improve things until we are able to secure maybe Nagelsmann in 2026
He's a miserable sod but he could bring a certain stability to the side.
Yeah give me stability with him for now
Can’t imagine our leader Fernandes trying to play football the way Xavi had Barca playing. Don’t think any or our midfield are good enough on the ball to do it. Would be a disaster of an appointment.
We need someone with a reputation that can match the club. This guy may or not have it as a manager but certainly had it as a player, and i'd say one of only a few viable options right now.
The others being Zidane and Ancelotti (sack pending).
The others being Zidane and Ancelotti (sack pending).
I imagine only Eriksen would be capable of playing what Xavi would demand, but do you like our midfield now? You think it's performing well under Erik?
Maybe, I'm just not convinced somebody like him is a good idea. He was quite destructive and stubborn in his views at Barca by the sounds of it. It might be a case of pouring petrol on the fire. Like I said I'd give him a chance, but he's way down my list. I think it would be ridiculous to go for him now whilst Tuchel was sat there all that time.
I’d say we’d need yet another rebuild we can’t afford with him at the helm. Would rather we went for a manager who can improve and utilise the players we already have. The amount of underperforming players we have is astounding, Onana, Evan’s and probably Eriksen are the only ones who can actually perform near their potential for a few games in a row.
It's kind of forgotten now but Xavi got Barcelona playing really well for a while. In the first months of 2022 they beat Atletico 4-2, Valencia 1-4, Athletic Bilbao 4-0, Osasuna 0-4, and Real Madrid 0-4 at the Bernabeu. In that same period they also beat Napoli 2-4 in Italy. That was with a worse squad than their current one, too.
It ultimately didn't last, yes. But hey Flick's been there for 5 minutes.
Didn't he have a big problem with the DM position? Frenkie de Jong was terrible at it and that was all he had.
I remember there was some criticism in Spain that he hired his brother as a coach (the guy they nicknamed klopp as he was a bit of a lookalike lol), plus a friend for another role on the team. So the impression was that he was a bit amateurish. He did start well though and had some good ideas, which resulted in Barca winning the league, then the following year things went south and he had too many meltdowns in press conferences and was obsessed with some of the VAR decisions Madrid were getting etc. Sometimes you would feel it is a hardcore catalan fan speaking and not a manager of a big club like Barca. I personally don’t think the complaining would be as big with United because the angle will just never be the same. That being said, he would still be a pretty risky hire, but at this point can we afford waiting? or who else can we bring?
That's a DHgate top
Good, he'll fit right in with us lot.
I don’t think anyone is performing well constantly under ETH, as has been the case for over 2 seasons. Change him and we might see more confident players that aren’t shackled by poor tactics.
Where are our Barca fans? I would love to hear what they have to say about Xavi. Style, formation, mentality.....