Despite the last defeat in LaLiga against Real Madrid (3-1) and the draw against Inter Milan in the Champions League (3-3), the Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernandezrecalled that his team is designed to win titles and stressed that if he does not win them this season, “another coach will come”, something he assumes naturally.
In the press conference prior to this Thursday’s game against Villarreal, the Catalan coach spoke about his future on the Barça bench after losing the league lead at the Bernabéu and being on the brink of elimination in the ‘Champions’.
“Everyone encourages me; It seems that a relative has died with all the messages that I have on the mobile. At Barça, there are no transition seasons. With the effort that has been made from the club, you have to go for titles. If they are not achieved, there will be consequences, as the president said, also for me. I don’t want to look for excuses. If titles are not won, another coach will come and try, no more; I try to be natural”, she valued.
All in all, Xavi was convinced that he will be able to “turn the tables”, he was “happy” with a view to the challenges of the future and promised to work “even more” to achieve the objective that, as he reiterated in several occasions throughout the appearance, “is still winning titles” this season.
And he added: “I must be honest with the club, the players and the partners. We have made a team to achieve success and I think so. And I continue with all the illusion of the world“.
For this reason, Xavi faces the next games of the Barça team with “positivity”, in which, as he specified, his team “has to” change the “dynamics” of results, starting with the match that will be played this Thursday against Villarreal in the Spotify Camp Nou.
In this sense, he described his next rival as “chameleon” as it was a squad, he added, “capable of defending you in a low block and then pressing you up”.
For this reason, Xavi is confident that his players will not repeat the mistakes of the classic and the game against Inter, when they suffered a lot in defensive transitions. “You have to be more aggressive, be better positioned in the loss, make tactical fouls… there is a lot to improve”, analyzed the ‘culer’ coach, who added that “the dynamic is changed by winning, with good feelings, training well, playing a good game and winning”.
One of the players criticized after the match against Real Madrid was the captain, Sergio Busquets, of whom Xavi stressed that he is still a “key” player in his scheme, although he acknowledged that in some games he will have to rest.
To replace the Spanish international, the Egarense coach thinks of Frenkie de Jong, Franck Kessie or “one of the centrals” as alternatives. “De Jong is more inside, but he looks comfortable as a pivot because he drives, breaks lines, oxygenates from behind with the central defenders. See the
face football and it is a solution,” he commented on the possible entry of the Dutchman as a midfielder.
Xavi did not forget to congratulate Alexia Putellas, winner of the Ballon d’Or, Robert Lewandowski, Gerd Müller award for top scorer in the 2021-22 season, and Pablo Páez Gavira ‘Gavi’, who won the Kopa for best young footballer , all of them awarded at the last gala organized by France Football.
“It’s exciting to see Barça players winning individual prizes, now let’s see if we win the collective ones,” he settled on the prizes received by the two players on his squad.
EFE
