Inside the field, Xavi Hernandez had the speed of light in his neurons, capable of filtering impossible balls at Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi O Samuel eto’o. Now that he is the new coach of the FC Barcelona, that mental sagacity must be put into practice in the construction of a team that will be successful again at zero cost, because the club’s net debt continues to operate on 112% of its income and that translates into bad news: there is no coffers open to sign bombs in the next transfer market.
Xavi will direct only his second game with Barca during matchday 5 of the Champions League, receiving the Benfica of Portugal, a direct rival in the search for the pass to the round of 16, since the other ticket was widely won by the Bayern Munich. Although they already defeated Espanyol 1-0 in LaLiga, in another edition of the Clásico de Catalunya, the duel against the Portuguese team will be the first litmus test for the new 41-year-old coach’s project.
“The reading of Xavi’s arrival is to return to a marked style that was created by Rinus Michels in the 70s, which he further developed Johan Cruyff and that took Pep Guardiola to his maximum level. The idea is to go back to that style that in 2010 they called ‘tiki-taka’, but now it is about more than that: position, circulation, many movements, triangles, very high pressure, in short, a very beautiful, aesthetic and of spectacle for the public. The idea is to achieve good results again through style ”, French journalist Florent Torchut, a collaborator of L’Equipe and France Football, explains to El Economista.
Reaching this aesthetic game will depend to a large extent on Xavi’s human and tactical management, because unlike in the past, the club does not have the money to add bomb transfers. According to the most recent cutoff of the fiscal year of the Barcelona, its net debt is 682.7 million euros, which breaks with LaLiga’s financial control criteria, which stipulates that net debts must be below 100% of income. In the case of the Culé club, that percentage increased from 59.7% in the summer of 2020 to 112.8% in October 2021.
“The common thread of the decisions that have to be made now is the economic situation, but everything is focused on appealing to identity and nostalgia. What happened to this generation that started with Rjikaard and ended with the departure of Messi, that stage of identifying Barca with success, that was not its essence, historically it was not a winning club. For a certain sector, Barca is returning to what it is in essence: a club that struggles to be able to compete against those with a higher budget ”, highlights Ángel Palma, an expert in public image in football.
The austerity was noticeable since the summer, when the technical decisions were still at the command of Ronald Koeman. Between June and November, Barca has added five players at zero cost: Memphis Depay (forward), Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero (forward), Luuk De Jong (forward), Eric García (central defender) and the most recent and surprising , Dani Alves (right back), who arrived at the age of 38 and was immediately shielded with a release clause of 100 million euros.
Depay is the one who has played the most minutes with 1,515 out of 1,530 possible between LaLiga and the Champions League, followed by García with 1,091. Very far away are De Jong with just 398 minutes and then Agüero with 165, although the latter could even be a counterproductive letter if his retirement from the courts is confirmed due to the cardiac discomfort he manifested a few weeks ago playing with the culé shirt. Alves has yet to debut.
“The Dani Alves thing was a wise decision to complement the club with the security it has, it communicates a lot, it has charisma and joy, it is hoping the fans that good things can be done with work, because there is no money or an open portfolio , having two symbols like him and Xavi Hernández serves to enhance home talent, ”adds Ángel Palma.
During his first speeches on his return to Barcelona, the Brazilian veteran spoke of the importance of transmitting his experience to young people like Sergiño Dest and Óscar Mingueza. And it is that, just like them, Barca is entrusting its reconstruction in a litter of under 23 years old who already have world recognition, such as Pedri, awarded with the Golden Boy 2021, which is awarded to the best U21 footballer on the planet. The last Barcelona player to win this award was Lionel Messi in 2005.
“As happened 15 years ago, Barca has a good job and also the luck of having a great generation. They have always been working with La Masía, but there were hollow moments with not so good generations, something that is changing now with Ansu Fati and Gavi, who are from the house, and Pedri, who they went to look for in the Canary Islands, showing that the club he’s still a recruiter who always knows where to get players from and has good scouts all over Europe, ”says Torchut, who covered Barcelona for more than four years.
Personality will also be a key factor in Xavi’s new management, as being a historical figure of the club, he arrives with the absolute confidence of the squad, mixed with experienced players who even shared the pitch with him, such as Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué and Jordi Alba , or with the newest, who were just being born when he debuted, such as Pedri and Gavi, now headlines with the senior team in Spain.
This is how Ángel Palma sees it: “With Xavi they seek a mental impulse, to appeal to identity, they are in a quite strong crisis and it must also be recognized that Xavi shows his love for the club by putting his own prestige at risk, as it does not count with a team that guarantees success. He is one of those sober leaders who always has measured words in moments of crisis, does not accelerate, does not lose his cool, analyzes what is available and solves with that sobriety, he did it as a player and now as a technical director ”.
The perspective is similar from Florent Torchut: “Xavi is a very respected coach for everything he has achieved, he is following in Guardiola’s footsteps, the situation is quite similar to what happened in 2008 when Pep arrived as head coach. Xavi has a respectful relationship with the veterans and the youngest look at him with admiring eyes, his speech could be like the effect of Real Madrid with Zidane, taking advantage of that good image that others know from what he gave to football. Everyone will try to fulfill their wishes and live up to what Xavi was ”.
According to ESPN, the transfer budget for Xavi during the winter market (December and January) will only be 10 million euros, half of what the club’s CEO, Ferran Reverter, had exposed earlier this season, saying it would be around 20. That would keep the hiring line at zero cost.
Some of the best-valued players in the world who end their contract in early or mid-2022 are: Kylian Mbappé, Paul Pogba, Paulo Dybala, Lorenzo Insigne, Antonio Rudiger, Niklas Sule and Ángel Di María. Registration through free players is a strategy that has produced good results in recent years for PSG and Real Madrid, with signings such as Lionel Messi and David Alaba, respectively, since the nearly 100 million euros that the pay your letter are invested in your wages and with a lesser amount.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx