The coach culé said again that “there is no problem” with Kounde
“Guardiola is the person with the most influence in the history of football in the last 15 years,” he said of the Manchester City coach
MADRID, 27 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of FC Barcelona, Xavi Hernández, set this Saturday as a “collective objective” for him and his squad to “finish with good feelings” in LaLiga Santander, with just two days to go until its conclusion, and therefore “finish up winning” in the last Spotify Camp Nou match before being extensively remodeled.
“The collective objective is to finish with a good feeling, to end up winning. We have lost two consecutive times, despite the fact that the objective has already been clearly and comfortably achieved. But we like to win, we like to enjoy ourselves on the field and the most important thing is that, to end with good feelings”, said Xavi at a press conference.
“I wish Robert [Lewandowski] At an individual level, the Pichichi can be won, Marc-André ter Stegen the goalkeeper with the fewest goals, also the record for the clean sheet, etc. We would like, of course, to round off the season with these prizes”, assured the coach from Barcelona, adding that “it has not been easy” for his players “to find extra motivation for the already achieved League title”.
“And what better than to say goodbye to the Camp Nou, which are many years of history, emotions, passion, great matches. It will be a very emotional day and it also adds to the farewell to Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. Extra motivation for us , to have a great game, to show our best image, to win the game, so that the people come to the stadium and have an excellent farewell”, he stressed.
Regarding this joint farewell between Busquets and Alba, his coach stressed that “it is one of the most difficult aspects” of his task. “It is managing the career of your friends, of people with whom you have shared so many things. Having to make decisions that they don’t have to play or that there is another teammate who is above them, and to what extent is friendship and professionalism”, he argued.
“But I am here to make decisions and for me the position is above anything else. What I prioritize is the team, it is the group, it is the club and we have to be very professional in this sense. I have already said many times It’s not a personal decision, but a football and group decision”, Xavi insisted before the journalists.
“It is evidence that we will miss them. Jordi and Busi were very important in the dressing room, they were two of the captains and they have been a reference for their teammates. Both Busi and Jordi have helped a lot in the dressing room. But in the end the roles are They are marking and in the first, second, third week you are already seeing another type of leadership. There are people who have to step up”, he explained.
Xavi also analyzed the temporary move to the stadium, due to the imminent works. “My feeling is that it will not be easy because we have felt the Camp Nou very closely, very much like our home. We have felt it as our natural habitat, we have been at ease, comfortable with our people. The fans in recent years have been in favor of 10”, he chose.
“Now we have to move to another house, we have to do our own, we have to feel comfortable. But above all we need people, for people to understand that it’s not going to be an easy year, it’s going to be a difficult year without our home. But I believe that the people, as they are with the illusion that we see in the streets and in the Camp Nou, I think that they are going to move to Montjuïc to support the team. It is going to be very important that the fans take into account realize that we need them very much,” he stressed.
“I think that this year I would say that a new stage has already begun. And it is true that now we are going to have this change of scenery, but I do not have the feeling of a generational change. I think that we have made a change or an evolution in the natural team. In the end, the arrival of Balde has meant that Jordi Alba plays less and that Busquets has had to play more because he doesn’t have a natural substitute”, he warned.
In fact, Xavi gave some clues about the signings. “We still don’t know the economic situation of the club, we don’t know the financial fair play situation yet, but from there we will decide things,” he said. “We have not decided anything because we still do not know the scenario that we will find ourselves, if we will be able to sign, if we cannot, the exits, the entrances…”, he listed in this regard.
The name of the French defender Jules Kounde also came to the fore. “I already said that there was no problem with Kounde, but you keep writing that there is a problem and that there is a problem… and no matter what I say, this week you will also write that there is a problem”, the culé coach complained about the treatment of journalists to this issue.
“I already said that there was no problem, that I talk a lot with the footballers. In fact, I already spoke with Koundé, I also made it public the other day in the press. And there is no problem, not one. It was a very good conversation, very healthy. Jules is a great boy, he is a professional from head to toe”, Xavi was emphatic.
On the other hand, the Blaugrana coach reviewed his successful campaign. “Depending on what aspects, we have had very good moments, excellent moments; and other bad moments, that we have not been well in the collective game. And this is what concerns me the most, in some way”, he pointed out, according to having conquered this year LaLiga and the Spanish Super Cup.
“We have to improve in the positional game, attack in a better way, that we understand better on the field and that decision-making is better. We have to work much more on the movements in attack, in many things that I am already thinking about to start already on the first day of next season to insist on the footballers”, he predicted.
Meanwhile, he gave his opinion on the controversy in the recent league duel between Espanyol and Atlético de Madrid. “We have seen this week that VAR technology is not enough, because it is a ball that went in for one team and did not go in for the rival. If we are looking for excellence, I think that the Spanish LaLiga would have to look for it. If we can have a tool that allow these situations to be clarified, we have to go look for it”, repeated Xavi.
Lastly, the culé coach thanked Pep Guardiola for his influence on ‘Can Barça’ and on other football stages. “Pep is the most influential person in the history of football in the last 15 years, for sure. The coaches have gone in parallel with Guardiola or have been against him,” he said vehemently.
“He has greatly influenced football in recent years and for me he is the most influential person in the history of recent years, of course. He always leaves an extraordinary legacy, wherever he goes. He is brilliant, a brilliant person, a excellent coach and is a reference for all of us”, he added about Guardiola.
“You suffer a lot if you’re a coach, really. There are days that are very hard, especially when you lose, when you have to cheer on the group, when they point to you as the top manager”, but I’m delighted, I’m grateful to be here. I’m at home and I’m the happiest in the world”, he specified. “I’m happy with how this course has gone, grateful for the opportunity to coach Barça and to be where I am”, concluded Xavi.