The Xavi Hernández’s Barcelona does not start. Moreover, the team, despite the incorporation of players who were injured, the arrival of new signings and the fact that they enjoy a social tolerance that their predecessors did not have, has returned to exit box.
After falling in San Mamés in a game in which the Blaugrana club was clearly overtaken by Athletic Club for the first time saw a Xavi overcome for the events.
Disappointment. To its arrival, Xavi injected an illusion into the team that had been lost. Even in the games that were not carried out, the coach had a optimistic speech looking to the future. After falling in San Mamés, the story was different. “They come Hard days because things are not working out for us. We are getting all tails and never heads. The results do not arriveBut you have to keep believing. It will cost us to digest this result. These are very difficult moments. You have to recover because they are two hard blows, but we still have LaLiga and the Europa League. We cannot lower our arms. It is a difficult day for us to digest”, he declared at the end of the match. technical, I was touched.
From Messi to Dembele. The start of the season, with Koeman on the bench was clearly marked by the departure of Messi. Five months later, the situation is repeated with Dembele. The president assured his coaches that both players would continue, but the Argentine is in the PSG and the French has entered a conflict with the club pointing to dead end. In both cases, the negotiation began with an attempt at seduction and ended (or is on its way to ending) with a painful divorce.
Dembélé, together with Xavi, in a Barça training session.
Alejandro Garcia (EFE)
injuries. One of the most serious problems that mediated the progress of the team were the constant injuries and relapses of soccer players. One of the Xavi’s conditions when he took over the team was the renew from top to bottom medical services. Physiotherapists, recuperators, doctors were purged and the doctor recovered Ricard Pruna. In many cases, they started from scratch in the recovery of players, but whatever the reason, progress in this field has been interrupted by Ansu’s new injury.
decisive matches. One of the most alarming lacks of Barça was his lack of competitiveness in decisive matches. Only Koeman managed to overcome this barrier by winning the Copa del Rey final against Athletic. With Xavi has turned to fall in key matches. Against Benfica at the Camp Nou, only one victory was needed to ensure passage to the round of 16 of the Champions. It was tied at zero and in the following day against Bayern the team continued to be transparent. In the Super Cup took Madrid to extra time, but was lost and on Thursday at San Mamés extra time was also forced, but with opposite feelings to those of Arabia.
Goals. A Koeman he was surely rightly criticized for his conformism and his litany of “this is what it is”, but reality after his relief is that the club goes discounting titles. His objective in LaLiga is reduced to qualifying for the next Champions League and today the Europa League is guessed as the great challenge.
Failed leadership. Although it is true that the youths face and maintain hope, also those who are increasingly alone in their fight. The supposed leaders by age, salary and quality do not accompany them and they have collapsed. From Ter Stegen to Frenkie de Jong, passing through Memphis or Jordi Alba, it is missed that the officials pull gallons. They have left the recruits alone.
Ter Stegen, Gerard Piqué and Jordi Alba in yesterday’s game against Athletic.
AFP7 via Europa Press
Effectiveness. The lack of goal keep being him big problem of a team in which Xavi has had to resort to the reviled Luke de Jong to try to have fang. The arrival of Ferran can serve to correct this deficiency, but the hopes were put on Ansu, that he will be out again for two months. Xavi claims Morata, but for Dembélé to arrive he would have to leave the club.
Trust. It is Xavi’s great asset, which has a project and that has the patience of the environment, but in a club like Barcelona everything is volatile. He himself, like the president, agree that “there are no transition years” and that “a tie does not work here.” A victory is urgent cathartic, a triumph that clears the labyrinth. It didn’t come against Benfica, neither against Real Madrid nor against Athletic. The next match in Vitoria against Alaves It does not work. next game February 6 against Atlético mark the border to find an exit and leave the exit square once and for all.