Xavi: Guardiola 2.0 or Big Job Too soon?

When Xavi Hernandez left Barcelona in 2015 to play out his final playing days with Qatari side Al-Sadd, it would not be a surprise that the former Spanish international will return to the Camp Nou in some form of capacity, possibly as a manager. Retiring as a player in 2019, he became manager of Al-Sadd, winning five trophies in the process. Now, he has returned to Barcelona as a manager, replacing Ronald Koeman. Pep Guardiola, who managed Xavi during his time at Barcelona, gave his stamp of approval, stating that Xavi has more experience in the dugout than he did before he took over Barcelona. However, there is scepticism around Xavi's appointment, given that Xavi has only managed in Qatar and the huge task he's about to encounter. Various former players have returned to their sides as managers. Zinedine Zidane with Real Madrid, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Manchester United, Frank Lampard with Chelsea and Andrea Pirlo with Juventus. Aside from Zinedine and Guardiola, these appointments don't always work so can Xavi become like his former mentor (Guardiola) or be another great who got a dream job too soon?

Xavi is widely considered one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. A midfield maestro, he personified the tiki-taka era of Barcelona and the Spanish national team between 2008-2012 being a lynchpin in the midfield alongside Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta. Having come up during the late 1990s, the late 2000s and early 2010s were his peak years under Pep Guardiola, achieving huge success and was the voice of the manager on the pitch, enacting the possession-based football Barcelona played at that time. His appointment as Barcelona manager is not a big surprise. He has flirted with the job since leaving Barcelona in 2015 and was approached to take the job in 2019 under former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu but he turned it down citing to continue his development as a manager with Al-Sadd. So there is excitement around Xavi's return but he would know what he's getting into and has a lot to work at the Camp Nou. Barcelona has endured a poor start to the season, sitting in ninth in the La Liga standings, albeit with a game in hand scoring 16 goals. Only Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna have scored less than the Blaugrana in the top ten. Their chances of getting through to the knockout stages of the Champions League are still in their hands if they beat Benfica on November 23rd. 

A discipline of Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola, Xavi will bring the possession-based football that Barcelona has lost over the past few years. He has enacted his philosophy at Al-Sadd and in a video from the YouTube channel The Coaches' Voice, Xavi explained clearly his brand of football, with much emphasis on having the ball to create chances, finding the free man to beat the opposition press, numerical superiority and press high without possession to retrieve the ball back. The raw materials are there in Barcelona for Xavi to make this possible. The experience of Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets who have played with Xavi and the crop of young players like Ansu Fati, Pedri, Nico Gonzalez, Serginho Dest, and Gavi, who look up to Xavi in very high regard. It would also encourage Barcelona supporters as well. The Camp Nou has been half-empty so far this season and supporters never warmed up to Koeman. As one of their own, Xavi would get a lot of leeway for much of the season but he would know that things could go south, especially at a club like Barcelona.

With all the romance, this is still a big risk for Barcelona and Xavi himself. For Barcelona, this appointment is a risk that has to work. The get-out-of-jail-free card which is Lionel Messi is gone and this season has shown Barca's dependence on the Argentine. Barcelona right now has to make sure they qualify for the Champions League next season and at least qualify for the knockout stages of this season's Champions League, which has a financial cost if they don't make it. Also, Xavi has never managed in Europe, raising legitimate questions on if Xavi can transition well from Qatar. Hence why, from Joao Laporta, there was a reluctance to quickly give Xavi the job with other managers like Roberto Martinez of Belgium, Eric ten Hag of Ajax and Mikel Arteta of Arsenal. Xavi has gotten his dream job but will have several tough decisions to make now he's at the helm. What's his style of man-management? will he phase out the senior players of the squad? what's his relationship with Laporta? can he deal with the Catalan media? will he have a say in the club's recruitment?  The spotlight will be on him 24/7 and any slight error or decision he makes that goes wrong will be scrutinized, but can he deal with all of that?

When Pep Guardiola was appointed as Barcelona boss in 2008, he only had one season as a coach in Barcelona B but make wholesome changes and let go of the likes of Ronaldinho, Deco and later Samuel Eto'o. He also inherited a special squad of players that he knew were approaching their peak; the rest is history. Xavi has had more time as a manager than Guardiola but the Barcelona he's entering has a lot of problems for the former midfielder to deal with. He will have the authority to make the changes he sees that will help Barcelona in the long run but he also has to get results very soon to get Barca into the Champions League next season.

The video on Xavi from the YouTube Channel The Coaches Voice,