Some fifteen thousand people wanted to welcome Xavi Hernández as the new FC Barcelona coach at the event organized by the club at the Camp Nou. After having exhausted the ten thousand tickets that were made available to the fans on the web, the club was forced to set up more areas on the field to meet the high demand for requests. All the fans who came to the stadium were given a flag with the Blaugrana colors to make the show more visible and more colorful.
Xavi, who took to the field half an hour late, was surprised and grateful at the massive reception. With his parents, Joaquim and Maria Merçe in the front row, the FC Barcelona coach spoke his first words, before a crowd eager to enjoy football again and feel proud of their team.
“Thank you all! Thank everyone, right now I have goosebumps. We are the best club in the world and we will work hard to return success. Barça cannot lose or draw, only win ”, stressed an emotional Xavi, on the verge of breaking down in tears.
After the speech, he posed on the field with his family and then with President Joan Laporta to take a picture with the Blaugrana shirt with his name on it.
The fans, unleashed, did not stop chanting Xavi’s name and applauding their new idol. In fact, she was the other great protagonist of the show, singing incessantly and cheering all the time. In fact, Laporta was even seen humming the chants from the stands at times.
The president was, for his part, as concise as he was forceful in his speech: “Today is a day that will be remembered in the history of the club.”
In the end, Xavi had to do an encore at the insistence of the fans: “We need you more than ever, cheer on the team and help them because the club is in a difficult time and we have to forget all isms. I’m very excited”.
Xavi: “I don’t like the word discipline; but this is a matter of order”
Before his official presentation and signing his contract with the Barça club until 2024, Xavi made his first statements on Barça TV.
Sensations: “I know that he arrived in a complicated situation. I like challenges. I am a competitive person and as culé I cannot be in a better place. It is a spectacular challenge. I am going to leave my skin and life so that everything works well.”
Potential: “There are teams to do great things. I have experienced good and bad things and I feel prepared for the greatest challenge of my career”
Illusion in the family: “My mother, like all my family, we are very culés. Today is even my wife’s birthday, which I take the opportunity to publicly congratulate because she turns 40 … There will be criticism and pressure. That demands us, but our goal is to win titles or at least be close to getting them. I see a lot of illusion. I know that the expectations are high and that is the illusion of the culés. And I am one more. We practically do not have time and soon we will start competing. The calendar is beast , but the summary is illusion. “
How was the call: “The president called me and told me it had to be me. Both parties wanted him to be here, I told him I had a clause and things got a bit complicated. What we have is wanting to take the team, talk to him. dressing room make a talk. I thank the club for going to Qatar. “
Ideas: “I arrive prepared. My DNA has not changed. What I want is for us to have the ball, to go on the attack, not to speculate. Beyond the system, that we can vary, the important thing is the idea. An intense Barça. We have to recover the pressure and a lot of things, but I think there is a team, there is talent and a fantastic generation of young people. I want to convey enthusiasm. “
Knowledge: “In the end it is an advantage to know the club, to have gone through different circumstances. I think I can know if the player has anguish, how he feels. But we have to be united. The message would be that we have to stop isms, and go all to one because it is a historically delicate moment for the entity. We all have to go to one “.
Talk to the players: “As a coach, the first message is that I am here to help them personally. I will demand a lot of them but it will help them. For me it is an advantage to know Sergio Busquets, who for me is extraordinary. I know what weak points they can have and I know how they work and train. Sergio, Jordi, Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Piqué. I want to explain the idea of work, the rules of coexistence. I don’t like the word discipline, but it is a matter of order. In the end, the wear and tear will be tremendous. I like challenges. I am very competitive and I will try to convey this illusion to the players, but I am prepared. “