Xavi is the son of Louis Van Gaal. It was he who made him debut in Mallorca as a footballer. Xavi is the grandson of Johan Cruyff, from the one who inherits the football ideology that he intends to express from the bench, as well as a disciple of Pep Guardiola, whose sublime work – the best Barça ever seen before – will haunt him forever and ever. In Xavi, first as a player; Now as a coach, the story of a unique club is summarized, which has, as he himself denounced, a harmful and negative environment that ends up influencing its day-to-day life.
Both from the institution, which lives in anguish because it has neither money nor a house – it lives on loan in Montjuïc while the new Camp Nou is being built – and from the team, which has exhausted the quota of errors in the League when seeing how Girona and Madrid They have escaped him, so he lives under the permanent suspicion of an exam that he does not quite pass.
Two exams in three days
Each match becomes all or nothing. And there are two ahead in three days (this afternoon Betis, who have not lost at home this season; on Wednesday night, Athletic, with the Cup at stake) to verify the reliability of the work under construction, yesterday he returned to repeat this term, and without anyone asking him, what Xavi is raising.
Not only must he create a new team, shaken emotionally, tactically and football-wise by the 4-1 that Madrid gave him in Riyadh, but he must also fight against the “environment”, a word coined by Cruyff in Prague (1992) that sums up something so diffuse –you can’t touch it-, although you feel it and even suffer it, which is why it is suffocating.
“Vangaalian” message
Xavi, who just before the defeat of the classic in the Super Cup invoked “Cruyffism”, also has that ‘Vangaalian’ air when he uses the same expression, but with different words from the brave coach who opened the Camp Nou door for him. . “You are very bad! Always negative interpretation! Always negative! Never positive!” said the Dutch coach (1999). Years go by. And a quarter of a century later the message is repeated: “There is a lack of positivity “Of course there is a lot missing. It is what is missing the most,” said Xavi with a broad smile.
“The environment is not positive; I am. I firmly believe that we can win the three titles. We have reasons to be optimistic”
Barça coach
“But I’ll counteract it, don’t worry. The environment is not positive; I, yes. I firmly believe that we can win the three titles. Winning cannot be guaranteed. There are many clubs that have not won for many years. We have arguments to be optimistic,” he told the journalist before searching for the reasons behind such a negative impulse.
“It’s absolutely missing. I don’t know if it’s from the Catalans, the club, the history, I don’t know… We’re from oh! oh! oh! What’s Betis coming, what’s coming, eh, Betis and Athletic! Well , to compete. I see it as an opportunity,” he added. Xavi rebelled, appealing to ‘vangaalist’ discourse, against that environment that hinders the growth of his team.
“We are playing with very young kids, from home. The other day there were 13 players from the quarry,” he said, referring to the Cup list against Unionistas, “and I didn’t see any news about that. Not even one! We play with kids of 16, 17 and 18 years old… That’s why I say that we are building and they have also killed me for saying that,” the coach stressed, insisting that no one will change his optimistic outlook.
Ferran, an example
“Failure would be not trying. And we will try,” proclaimed Xavi, who stressed that same idea when asked about Ferran Torres and that “mental strength” that he exhibited to overcome the criticism received in recent months. He will play this afternoon in Seville in his 100th official match with the Barça shirt.
“Here, on a day-to-day basis, they make you feel small and that you are worthless or of no use, whether you are a coach, player, doctor or press officer. And that is Barça. It is a shame, but that is how it is,” denounced the coach. , who highlighted the character that the former Manchester City striker has shown.
“Here, on a day-to-day basis, they make you feel small and that you are worthless or of no use, whether you are a coach, player, doctor or press officer. And that is Barça. It is a shame, but that is how it is”
Barça coach
“Ferran embodies what a mentally strong footballer is. To play for Barça you need him. He has had to be very strong mentally. He wrote me a very important message this summer and I thought: ‘this kid will turn the tables.’ He has eight goals and is positive. He embodies what a Barça player has to be,” said Xavi, using the Valencian player as an example of how capable he has been of overcoming himself, even leaving João Félix, who came as a star, on the bench.
Neither Christensen nor Cancelo
Barça will not have Cancelo in Seville today (he will reappear on Wednesday in the Cup after five games out due to a knee injury) nor will Christensen, who requested the change on Thursday in Salamanca after noticing some discomfort in his Achilles tendon.
Related news
The coach, who brings 11 youth-trained players to Seville, is left with only two center backs from the first team (Araujo and Koundé).
The door opens again Pau Cubarsi (he turns 17 tomorrow), after his good debut in the Cup. But Xavi knows that there is no better antidote to silence the environment than to play well and win.