His great challenge is to have his own stamp and that there is less and less need for references to other technicians to explain his proposal
Would the footballer Xavi be comfortable at Xavi’s coach’s Barça? Or rather: would it be in the work of Pedri and Gavi? To more than one the question will seem nonsense, but he will wrinkle his forehead with the numbers of the midfielders against Rayo. Pedri had 33 passes, Gavi 12. Not exactly new: Xavi’s Barça is a much more vertical team than his figure anticipated.
It was seen last season and the trend continues: the team looks for wingers very quickly and the midfielders, more than carrying the weight of the games, are facilitators. Those transitions are reminiscent of Luis Enrique’s Barça, who knew that the quickest way to win games was for the trident to receive the ball quickly.
More than one has been surprised that the interiors of the current Barça play much more advanced than Xavi in his day. In that team built by Guardiola, Xavi accompanied the base of the play, and although Busquets was the midfielder, the footballer who touched the most balls was the Egarense. Somehow, his position was inside, but his role was similar to that of current Busquets, with Iniesta being the inside player who played the highest. It was precisely with the departure of Xavi when Busquets became the player who assumed the most weight in the game.
Now the interiors play much more advanced, a context that bothers De Jong because it is a position that requires a lot of movement without the ball and seeing the game from the back. In return, these movements generate disorder in the rivals, who see how they have to be aware of two extremes and two interiors in dangerous positions.
Ironically, Xavi seems to have focused on City when designing the position of the interiors. Pep has been dismantling, both at Bayern and at City, the inflexible story about the style that accompanies him. Citizens fans have seen how beyond the classic 4-3-3, Pep has played with three center backs, has tried the double pivot and has advanced the position of the interiors. This last movement has been accompanied by what Martí Perarnau called interior sides, a maneuver to accompany the midfielder when the ball comes out.
The debate has been somewhat tricky since Guardiola has always been much more flexible with tactics -the disposition of the players- than with style: his team will always play to have the ball. Xavi also seems to share the same ideology, although his Barça is still not defined by the midfielders
The coach insists on asking his players for a break and for them to be neat with the ball, but he has not yet achieved that what he explains so well that he wants from his players, is reflected on the pitch. The great challenge for the coach is to create his hallmark and that references to other coaches such as Pep or Luis Enrique are less and less needed to explain his proposal.