The ‘Ansu factor’, Xavi’s great hope

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Although everything would change if the coach had this season the best version of Ansu Fati, the light that illuminated Barça in the dark final months with and without Messi. It was and is the great hope of the coach to find the path of competitiveness in a team that has stopped competing years ago.

The young man, who has undergone four operations on his left knee, which has taken him longer in the infirmary than in the field these last two years, has accelerated his set-up this summer. Luis Enrique He took him to the three Nations League matches to pamper him emotionally, taking on the criticism that would come his way. He did not play ansu not a minute Xavi has also handled it with exquisite care in these six months since he relapsed from his injury at San Mamés, avoiding ansuand of his own free will, the passage through the operating room.

The young man chose a conservative treatment. He also bet ansu by prudence, weary as he is of so many physical problems. It is enough to observe how his presence in the team has been reduced over time. He started playing 1,375 minutes (season 19-20), then dropped to 596 (20-21) and finally 505 (21-22).

From structural to marginal

It had to be a structural player in the reconstruction of the project. It had to be because of his ability to become decisive thanks to his intuition and success in the shot. But he has ended up being an absolutely marginal piece to his own misfortune. And, of course, from his own trainers.

Now, having successfully completed the first week of training, Ansu’s smile lights up the day-to-day life of the sports city of Sant Joan Despí. She does not separate from Pedri, the other light source of Barcelona. Both have been punished for injuries. For this reason, even the official Barça account has not stopped sending hopeful messages about the striker.

“How many goals will he score this season?”, the club asked on their social networks when, in reality, the really important thing is how many games he will play after his presence has been decreasing over time. Of the 1,375 minutes he played in the 19-20 season, he went on to 596 (20-21) and just 505 this past season (21-22).

Neither Valverdethe technician who made him debut, nor Setienneither koemannor the interim Sergio not even now Xavi They have been able to enjoy their talent. Barça, in addition, has paid dearly for it, devoid of one of the most decisive pieces of it. A piece without any replacement, also having a very serious impact on the team’s performance because it coincided with the departure, and in chronological order, of three attacking pillars: Luis Suárez (summer 2020), Messi and Griezmann (summer 2021) .

Hence the importance of Ansu. Hence also the extreme tact that Xavi is having in the use of the striker. Hence the need for him to meet again with that excellent level that filled the Camp Nou with hope, forced to find new stimuli in a team that has already shown signs that it is running out. A title, the Copa del Rey, in three years, proves it.

manage the pressure

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Hence the pressure that the young player must manage, who debuted in August 2019 (he was then 16 years, nine months and 25 days), who has been mercilessly tortured by injuries, frustrating his promising growth. The Ansu factor is, therefore, essential to understand the second which is, in fact, Xavi’s first project, who took Barça in November, revamped it in winter with four signings and hopes to change it from top to bottom this summer .

At the moment, two additions have arrived: Kessié and Christensen. But if Ansu is fine, and has been working hard for weeks and months, together with Joaquín Juan, a trusted physiotherapist from Madrid, it is the best possible news for Xavi. That is why everyone, and the coach is the first, who looks daily at the evolution of that knee that has caused Barça to lose one of its greatest sporting assets.



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