Xavi Hernández Laporta's option, A technician with petrodollars
When the Barça midfielder said goodbye to the club after spending 17 years wearing that shirt, the fans knew that this talented player at some point was going to lead the Catalan club and possibly this moment has arrived.
Laporta and all the club's leaders know that the fans want Xavi as the club's coach, whom many see as the heir to Pep Guardiola, but the truth is that the president and everyone knows that he is not the same as Guardiola.
Xavi and Guardiola are two very similar players on the pitch, one of them with great success as a coach, while the other has only been managing a team in the Qatar League for just two years, a league that clearly does not represent the difficulties of the Spanish league.
Guardiola and Xavi a great resemblance
It can be said that these two characters have the same idea of football or at least a very similar DNA, such as possession of the ball and love for it, where the offensive bet is based on the pressure and the circulation of the ball quickly.
For now, everything seems to indicate that Koeman's replacement will be Xavi Hernández, although the club and the technical director have confirmed nothing, but it is believed that he will arrive before the game against Dinamo. Both the fans and the leaders only hope that he can reap the same success as his teacher Pep.
It should be remembered that Guardiola was able to win the sextet with the same squad that in 2008 got a hall to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu and a year without titles for the Whites. At that time Xavi was part of the starting eleven and Barcelona considered the best team in the world.
Now, all the weight falls on Xavi, who would come to the team with the obligation to give back to everyone the illusion of getting back to Barcelona two or three years ago. For now Xavi does not give any clue of his signing "I am very focused on my work with Al-Sadd and I do not want to talk about anything else."
Your biggest personal challenge
If Xavi Hernández takes command of FC Barcelona, he would clearly be assuming the greatest challenge of his life so far without having a high-level professional tour and above all because he would arrive at the club in one of its worst moments in history.
So far, his unified experience has been the two years leading the Qatar Al-Saad team, clearly an uncompetitive league that cannot be compared with the Europeans, so that Barça would take a double-edged risk with his hiring and this is a risk that Laporta knows.
The Spanish has more merits and stripes in his career as a footballer than as a coach, where so far he has won seven titles. If you look at the number of titles he has achieved in just two years, it can be said that his coaching career has been very successful.
He has managed to win the Sheikh Jassen Cup in 2019, the Crown Prince Cup of Qatar, the Stars Cup and the Emir Cup in 2020, the Crown Prince Cup, the League and his most recent trophy the Cup del Emir in 2021 for the second year in a row. But clearly this is a minor league.
Xavi is still unable to release his palmareses internationally, as Al-Saad has failed to win any international title.
The doubts that Xavi generates
In accordance with all the above, there are many doubts that he generates about his abilities to lead a first-rate team such as Barcelona and especially in the delicate moment that the team and the club live. In the case of the Qatari club, their team has received many doubts on the defensive side, something that clearly worries Barcelona.
Qatar is a country that shows itself as moderate and open, but the reality is different, which is very similar to that of a medieval monarchy and not a democracy, which is governed by Islamic law and there are no political parties or elections.
In the case of the press, they suffer from a lot of censorship. The only seven newspapers in the country are in private hands and belong to the royal family, while on television and radio censorship is exercised normally, although it does not always happen in political matters.
This is how Xavi Hernández has commented on several occasions: "There are many prejudices and there is a lot of unfounded criticism. It is a small, generous and hospitable country. Qatar is not democratic at all, but its political system works better than the Spanish one", which has produced a lot of criticism for the former player.
This is how in 2017, the Spaniard affirmed that people in Qatar feel happy and are delighted with the royal family, where they are paid a salary for being from there, they take care of citizens, and they carry their photos in their cars.
These are statements that contradict the complaints about the working conditions of its foreign workers, who were accused of labor exploitation.
Xavi and his position on Catalonia
Xavi Hernández has proven to be a footballer who is included in political issues as he has done in the case of Catalonia and on the illegal referendum of October 1.
"I am in favor of the right to decide. It is a democratic state, as it is supposed to be in Spain, people have their right to decide, why can't they? And I am not saying this because I am independent or not. It is an injustice that there are political prisoners "argues the DT when asked about Catalonia.
Xavi has been married to Nuria Cunillera since 2013, with two children Asia and Dan, both born in Qatar. The former Barcelona player has been able to find happiness in Doha. First when he came to the league as a player in 2015, after lifting the Champions League with the Catalan club, which was his last meeting with the Catalans.
After there he would arrive at the emir's club. As a player he won four titles and offered a bit of his magic in football, which he would later continue to show but from the bench. Where he has been able to show all his resources and facilities to develop his game idea.
His main mission if he arrives at Barcelona is to continue expanding his number of titles, where he has 34 trophies as a player, 25 with Barcelona, 5 with Spain and four with Al-Saad, while as a coach he has seven titles with the Arab club.
His closest challenge if he arrives in Catalonia is to put Barcelona back in the Champions League positions and be able to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League. For now, winning the Spanish League is not a priority for the club, everything will depend on future results and how many possibilities they have.
