Barcelona’s expectations were too high for Xavi to ever meet as manager
The relationship between Xavi Hernández and Barcelona was a turbulent one. Hired in November 2021 as a throwback to the glory days of the Catalan club, his presence ultimately became a symbol of all that has troubled Barca in recent times. Indeed, by sacking Xavi at the end of last season Barcelona only proved that it was never possible for him to succeed.
By Graham Ruthven
It was only 12 months ago that Barca won the Spanish title. With Xavi at the helm, the Catalans strolled to their first LaLiga championship in four years, playing a brand of football that called back to the days of Pep Guardiola and Johan Cruyff. Barcelona, as it was claimed at the time, had their identity back.
This season, however, was a different story. Barca struggled to keep up with Real Madrid at the top of the table. By Christmas, the title race was effectively over and Xavi cut an increasingly exasperated figure. By February, the former midfielder had announced his intention to depart the club at the end of the season.
Barcelona succeeded in persuading Xavi into a U-turn only for the 44-year-old to be sacked anyway. This was despite Xavi guiding Barca to a second-place finish – the best outcome the Catalans could have realistically hoped for up against a Real Madrid team that finished on an astonishing 95 points.
Expectations are unrealistically high for any Barcelona manager. This season, Barca actually over-performed its spending limit which was the third-highest in LaLiga behind Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. Barcelona are primarily measured against Real Madrid, but Los Blancos had a spending cap of €727.5m while the Catalans’ was just €270m.
Last summer, Real Madrid spent €100m on the signing of Jude Bellingham while Barcelona spent the majority of the transfer window shopping in the bargain bin, adding Ilkay Gündoğan and Iñigo Martínez as free agents and João Félix and João Cancelo as loan signings. The two rivals were operating at completely different tiers of the transfer market.
When Xavi Hernández wanted Barcelona to move for Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi as the long-term replacement for the outgoing Sergio Busquets, the Catalans instead signed 31-year-old Oriol Romeu from Girona for a knockdown price of €4m. This is the reality of being Barca manager at this moment in time.
At no point, though, have Barcelona adjusted their expectations in accordance with their budget. This is a club that still demands domestic and continental titles. Xavi guided Barca into the last 16 of the Champions League this season where they were beaten by a Paris Saint-Germain team that can pay significantly more for players. And yet, this defeat was held against Xavi by the Barca board.
Joan Laporta has made a political career out of being bullishly ambitious. Upon returning to Barcelona as the club’s president in March 2021, he vowed to re-establish the Catalans as the dominant force at the top of the sport. So far, though, Barca’s lack of a secure financial footing has prevented this from happening.
Laporta also made the revitalisation of La Masia and the pathway between Barcelona’s famous youth academy and the first team a priority and this is an area where Xavi made a real difference. Under the former midfielder’s stewardship, countless youngsters were given an opportunity with several flourishing into key players – see Lamine Yamal, Gavi, Pau Cubarsí and Fermín López.
Hansi Flick, confirmed as Barcelona’s new manager on a two-year contract last week, will encounter many of the same problems that ultimately weighed down Xavi. His style of play will be over-analysed. The Catalans have a number of different areas of the squad to strengthen this summer without much in the way of transfer funds to do it. Barca will once again have to shop in the bargain bin. Flick will have to work with whatever they fish out.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid have already landed Kylian Mbappé with the French forward’s signing confirmed just 48 hours after Los Blancos won their 15th Champions League title. Brazilian wonderkid Endrick will also make the move to the Santiago Bernabéu this summer. Real Madrid are future-proofing themselves while Barcelona have only made their future murkier with some of their recent decisions.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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