BarcelonaJoan Laporta and Xavi Hernández usually talk after the matches. They comment on the play and, if the result was not good, the president takes advantage of the opportunity to encourage the coach. He did it on Sunday too. But Laporta’s encouraging message, which is always well received by thestaff, it doesn’t prevent the debate on Xavi’s future on the bench to have been revived in both the managerial and sporting leadership. The truce that had opened after winning against Porto and Atlético de Madrid ended suddenly. Not so much because of the stumble but, above all, because of the doubts about the game.
Monday was a tough day in the locker room. Specifically, for the coaching staff, who admitted that the defeat against Girona had left them with a sense of frustration and concern at the same time. Xavi and his friends like to analyze things hotly and they slept little that night. But, contrary to many critical voices, the coaching staff maintain that 2 to 4 was an excessive result for what had been seen on the field and cursed the chances that the team had wasted. They didn’t want to name names to avoid pointing anyone out, but some of the images that ran through their heads were the deep passes that Raphinha failed to complete or Lewandowski’s header in the stoppage time, which would have made it 3-3.
Xavi spoke of “details”. He also recalled that the team was “under construction”. A speech that did not please the sports area, headed by Deco. Nor in the box office, where they maintain that this season’s team is more complete and competitive. The sports director did not have hair on his tongue and contradicted the coach. “We didn’t play a good game, we weren’t forceful”, he said, expressing his discomfort with a game that Barça wasn’t able to develop and, on the other hand, they did execute Girona despite having – a priori – pieces of less individual level.
Precisely, one of the things that most annoys the sports area, and also the management, is the way Xavi tries to protect his players in public. They think his speech is too soft outside. And, by analogy, they suspect that this message, which they describe as weak, is also transferred to the dressing room. Accusations that the coach tries to refute based on his experience as Barça’s first captain or remembering that last season he also had very difficult moments before Christmas and then ended up winning the League and the Super Cup.
Xavi has a worse win percentage than Quique Setién
But the numbers don’t lie and the team is nowhere near as solid as last year. At the offensive level, he is slightly below – he has scored 30 goals in 16 games, when he had scored 35 last year. The problem is defensive, because they have conceded 18 goals, three times as many as they conceded a year ago (6). In fact, he closed the season with 20 goals against in the League, just two more than he has already scored this season. Defensive fragility has resulted in many lost points. Last year the balance was 13 wins, 2 draws and a single defeat. Now it’s 10 games won, 4 draws and 2 games lost. Xavi’s overall numbers as a coach have suffered. He only has 62% of victories, below Quique Setién’s 64%. Of the last fifteen years, since Guardiola took over the bench, the only one who worsens this record is Ronald Koeman (58%).
Resigned to the knowledge that, for one more week, his future will be discussed again, Xavi and his team close ranks and try to isolate themselves from the external noise to focus on the three imminent objectives: guaranteeing first place in the Champions League in Antwerp and not lose points in the League against Valencia and Almeria. They try to shield the dressing room while outside the noise is fed, many times from the club itself, thinking about the convenience of making a relief on the bench.
At the box office, things haven’t changed for Joan Laporta. The president maintains his thesis: coaches should not be fired in the middle of the season – Koeman’s case was a very specific exception. Aware that many in his immediate environment believe that it is time to make a change, he opts for prudence and asks fellow board members and advisors to refrain from throwing stones at the coach. But, as they also admit to their surroundings, even if they wanted to, they can’t get them out either. He knows that not just anyone can coach him at Barça: the coaches that Laporta likes either have jobs or have an unaffordable budget. The only option would be Rafa Márquez, from Barça Atlètic. A maximum emergency resource, in case something really big happens. From the box they assure that a replacement is not planned in the short term. Now, nobody rules anything out once the season is over.
2023-12-12 05:00:17
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