Barcelona are currently having a debt of almost 1.5 billion Euros. They had to let go of most of their superstar players including Lionel Messi.
A string of poor performances followed and manager Ronald Koeman was sacked. Replaced him, the Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez who was tipped to become a Barcelona manager one day when he was a player.
Barcelona is having a youth revolution at present. The team is hugely dependent on young prodigies like Gavi, Pedri, Eric Garcia, Nico Gonzalez, Sergino Dest, Ronald Araujo and many more.
Xavi found it difficult at the start as results weren’t going their way. He was unable to strengthen the squad due to the financial problems of the club. His young players were lacking the experience and cutting edge to grind out results for him.
In came Ferran Torres from Manchester City for a reported fee of 55 million Euros. They made the deal possible by laying out the payment over 4 seasons.
And they looked into other cheaper options like Adama Traore coming on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang from Arsenal for free.
Most people were sceptical regarding the output that can be gained from an Arsenal bench warmer. In Barcelona’s recent 4-1 win over Valencia, Aubameyang scored a hat trick. A few weeks before that, Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid by 4-2 as well.
The recent good form of Barcelona brings optimism about Xavi’s managerial prowess. Xavi had managed Saudi Arabian club Al Saad where he made them play a fluid tiki taka style football like the Barcelona of his own time.
Xavi’s Barcelona has also displayed similar fluid football themselves. The players seem to have a new source of motivation through Xavi.
Players like Jordi Alba, Dani Alves, and Gerrard Pique who are deemed to be finished are stepping up. Like most managers now-a-days, Xavi likes his full backs to provide width to the team.
Jordi Alba is still running smoothly and Sergino dest, Oscar Mingueza and Dani Alves all are providing proper support. The versatile forward Ferran Torres is yet to leave a mark but Adama traore and Aubameyang are doing so.
The galloping youngstars are following the footsteps of the senior players and putting up more confident performances. The improved performance of these La Masia graduates have resulted in drawing the attention of top European clubs.
Provided the current financial issues, it remains a challenge for Xavi and the club to keep hold of its bright young talents.
If they can retain their young talents, Xavi would be able to work out a new generation and continue playing the great fluid football everyone likes to see.
