Throwback:
Football can be a funny game sometimes. There comes a moment when everyone rules you out but then there is a turn of events a possible rebirth. Same scenario has been observed in case of FC Barcelona. A club known for pull, legendary players, moral values and most importantly a democratically operated club by the members under the name of SOCIS. It was a team everyone feared to face and even draw in the knockout games of the UEFA champions league. From Cruyff, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Henry, Messi, Suarez to a frontline of Luuk De Jong, Ez Abde and Braithwaite this team had a huge turn of events due to administrative turmoil caused by some of the parties involved in the democratic principles of the club.
How Xavi arrived at Barcelona?
But as mentioned already football has its twist and turns so guess what there comes a change in the hierarchy Joan Laporta takes over from Bartomeu with the hope of turning around the broken and rotten legacy of football club Barcelona. The turmoil caused by the previous administration was so immense that the new administration had to resist some decisions in order to revert those mistakes. The 1.2 Billion Dollars Debt was another entity playing its part in the direction in which the club was heading. Joan Laporta imposed his new team with Mateu Alemany and Rafa Yuste the important personas in the Laporta team. Things were going from bad to worse. Barca were not in a position to renew Lionel Messi due to economic restrictions. Disagreement of the board with the manager and former Barca player Club Legend Ronald Koeman was creating another havoc in its own rights followed by the departure of lionel messi. Barca were in complete shambles and broken. There came a time when Laporta said enough! Barca sacked Ronald Koeman after a 1-0 defeat to Vallecano with another club legend and Treble winner Xavi Hernandez making his return to the Camp nou after leaving in 2015. Xavi had no preseason no transfer window for the time being and then started a revolution period for FCB.
Performances:
Barca were 9th when Xavi came. He finished the season with 2nd qualifying for the CL and was very close to win the Europa league with the aid from winter transfer window. Seeing Barca’s Project under Xavi commonly known as Xavi Ball a lot of big names started thinking about Barcelona. This was the start of something special. Barca’s Board timely decisions and activation of economic levers provided Barca with enough income to rebuild from the Scratch. Firstly Barca started hunting for the free transfers and got 2 in Kessie and Christensen with low salaries gross to keep the economic levers in check. Then something happened no one expected Barca signed Raphina, Lewandowski, renewed Dembele and added Jules Kounde to the prestigious list. Signing Marcos Alonso and Hector Bellerin on short term deals and minimum wages instead of lucrative contracts of 4,5 years is another change. The major factor that compelled the big names to join Barca with salary cuts despite huge economic offers from other clubs was XAVI’S Project.
Changing Mentality:
The biggest plus in all this scenario is the change in the mindset while making quality signings. The previous board splashed 135 million on Coutinho with huge wages disturbing the wage cap. This summer Barcelona signed all the players mentioned above for a fee of 153 million and a wage cap which is well within the limit. This shows the change in mentality of the club and the hierarchy.
Way Forward To achieve The Goal:
But the major question is what’s next for Barcelona? In the last season although barca finished 2nd from 9th when Xavi came some people criticized Barca that why don’t they win the league. The simple argument adopted by the people was that this is a transition season so these results are very much acceptable. But the major question that arises now is What will be the excuse this season if Barca failed to deliver? Xavi has got what he wanted with a proper pre-season under his belt and all the signings with some mad depth. Xavi can play any formation because of the resources he has at every possible position. Attack is stacked. Midfield is young but very capable. Defence looks much better after a long time with many options at the CB positions and Barca possibly hunting for more options at the full back position. Barca and Xavi can easily deploy 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and even 3-4-3 based upon the options they have at their disposal. But will Xavi be under pressure? Definitely, he has the backing of the board and fans due to his past but he will be thinking I have the resources now I just need to integrate them into a team by any means. Will Xavi be able to do it? If he does what he did last season, getting the best out of every player he had at his disposal we could be in for a real treat and a possible contender for all trophies at the coming season in the shape of Xavi’s Barcelona.