the merits of Rafa Márquez for being an emergency alternative to Xavi

BarcelonaJuliano Belletti, the hero of the Champions League that Barça lifted in Paris in 2006 against Arsenal, joined Rafa Márquez’s work team at Barça Atlètic a few days ago. Coming from Juvenil A, the ex-Brazilian winger is the only man the Mexican has been able to trust since he took over last season, as he adapted to thestaff What was there. Belletti wants to be a shocker for a team that is not at its best and lives three points from the play-off of promotion in the middle of the year. He hasn’t won in five games: since the end of November against Cornellà (0-2).

The Barça subsidiary dropped from Segona to the defunct Segona B in 2018 and has still not been able to recover the category. Márquez was close to the goal in his first season as Barcelona coach, 2022-23, in which he put up some pretty good numbers. He placed the team in positions of play-off and played the semi-finals against Raúl González’s Real Madrid Castilla, who advanced to the finals after coming back from a 4-2 defeat in Valdebebas (3-0). Arnau Tenas, today PSG’s third goalkeeper, did not play that decisive duel because he was with the under-21 team.

If Márquez’s Atlético Barça contested promotion, it was because they collected 61 points after a series of 13 games without losing, the best of the last six years. That was the main merit of the Mexican, who, despite finishing the course with a bitter aftertaste, remembered that his goal at the head of the subsidiary “is not promotion”, but “to develop footballers”. The speech is very constructive, but collides with the reality of a team that has ceased to be a hinge to land in the first team, since the majority of young footballers who arrive there come from youth, with little or no previous participation in the Blaugrana second squad. Gavi, Balde and Lamine Yamal are the most recent examples of this trend.

“Time will decide,” assured Rafa Márquez

Márquez, who in the election campaign showed explicit support for Joan Laporta and has a contract with Barça until June 30, is the only emergency alternative to Xavi Hernández that the club can afford. The ex-Mexican defender, who is also very close to the Blaugrana sporting director -Anderson Deco-, is known in the pole if things don’t improve in the first team in the coming weeks. In fact, his statements at a Kings League event made it quite clear: “The most important thing for me is to prepare very well to keep gaining experience. And when the opportunity comes [d’arribar al primer equip] I will try to be ready. If not, he will have to follow other lines or go in another direction”. Translated: the ex-player will decide his future on the benches based on what Barça can offer him. “Time will decide”, he said.

Shortly after uttering these very sincere words, Márquez defended Xavi’s work: “We need to support him. We are in good hands. We hope that the good results will come.” The reality, however, is that the Kaiser of Michoacán, who as a player was part of the client portfolio of Jorge Mendes, is activated to make the jump if called upon. He knows the house – he played seven seasons there – he has done what the president wanted Xavi to do before taking over the first team – train the subsidiary – and he is aligned with the four people with real weight in the sports area – Laporta, Deco, Yuste and Echevarría–. However, if he accepts the challenge, it will be with the previous experience of having trained young people at Madrid’s Alcalà alongside Barça Atlètic. less mili than Xavi, who before taking over from Koeman had at least coached professional players (and won titles) at Qatar’s Al-Sadd.

2024-01-16 11:07:14
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