LA LIGA
XAVI HERNANDEZ WAS THE CREATIVE HUB OF EVERY BARCELONA TEAM HE PLAYED IN last season. Neither fit Xavi’s mould of forwards and he will be cursing the board’s decisions to allow both Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann to join Atletico Madrid, especially given the likelihood of Sergio Aguero’s retirement. Further departures of players such as Arthur, Francisco Trincao and Marc Cucurella has left Xavi heavily reliant on a squad build on the aging Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, with little budget to rectify the situation in the short term. Nevertheless, this situation could well be a large part of what motivated Laporta to gamble on a coach with limited experience. As a graduate of the famed La Masia academy himself, the expectation is that Xavi will be keen to promote youth team players to the senior side. This tactic has already paid dividends for Barcelona in the last 18 months with first Pedri then Gavi bursting onto the scene to become touted as ‘the next
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SOCCER360 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2022
ABOVE: FC Barcelona captain Xavi Hernandez holds the trophy after defeating Club Leon in the Joan Gamper Trophy soccer match played at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 18 August 2014 BELOW: FC Barcelona's captain Xavi Hernandez (C) lifts the trophy after defeating Real Madrid during the 2011 Super Cup
Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta’. If these two are anything to go by, the new coach’s job will be one of ushering in the new era of academydeveloped superstars, the last generation of which was his own. Viewing the task at hand through this lens, Xavi’s appointment could well be a masterstroke from Laporta. The club has already moved to sign Dani Alves as a free agent, and the right-back will most likely serve as a mentor to the young players, adding to the experience provided by the likes of Pique, Busquets and Alba. As these players reach the end of their own playing careers and look towards coaching, their ability to guide others could be fundamental for their colleague-turned-coac. Despite not being at the level Xavi left it at, Barcelona’s squad is also far from shambolic. The purchase of Frenkie de Jong is one of
