Listen to this story
--:--
4:30
Xavi's Barcelona shows a better game, but lacks punch
The new Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernández, has managed to recover the good Barça game, something that seemed really impossible until now, and he only needed 90 minutes to do so despite the fact that the result did not show a great difference in the marking and the goal came with a penalty maximum.
That was how Xavi was able to demonstrate a totally different team from the one he had been seeing on the pitch, a notable change has been seen in the Barcelona game, which suggests that the details of the former midfielder will improve the team quickly.
It could be seen that all the Barcelona players arrived together at the stadium something that had not happened for a long time, exactly two years later it has happened again.
The main objective of Xavi Hernández is to promote the good relationship of the squad and that is how in his regulations he has imposed that all players must have breakfast and lunch together, he has also imposed a small concentration on the day of the games. In this way, it will prevent each player from reaching the Camp Nou on their own.
Changes during warm-up
It was also possible to see a difference in the warm-up of the team, you could see much more intensity and a change in the design. Clearly, I already knew how Xavi's new team was going to play, but what was long awaited was his first line-up.
There it was possible to see with surprise the ownership of Illias Akhomach, a young man who is barely 17 years old and who would be making his debut with the first team. From what you can see that Xavi Hernández will also bet on the youngest to make the Barça club grow again.
Barcelona could be seen constantly playing on the opposing team's ground, showing rapid ball recovery after losing it as well as high pressure that was accompanied by ball possession, wide ends and fast circulation.
Basically, Barcelona was looking very similar to Xavi's game on the fields. But what was astounding is that eight of the eleven starting players were trained in the lower categories of the club.
A large crowd for Xavi's debut
The expectation to see Xavi's first game as Barcelona coach was maximum, thus achieving the second-best entry of the entire season after the classic against Real Madrid, where this time 74,418 fans have attended the Camp Nou.
All these people have wanted to witness live what is the new era of Xavi in the Barça club. Likewise, he has made his personality very clear by leaving players like Riqui Puig and Coutinho on the bench, who were thought to have much more prominence than they had with former coach Ronald Koeman.
However, for this first eleven Xavi officers have not been taken into account. The case of Couthino at Barcelona continues to be worrying and with the first decision of the new coach it is still believed that the club is signaling the exit door for him.
It must be remembered that the Brazilian has not been able to perform enough since his arrival at the Spanish club, so his departure in the next transfer market would suit Barcelona very well, since it involves a high payroll cost and his performance is not having been justifying for a long time.
Little precision when looking for the rival goal
Despite showing a good game and looking much better on the field, there are some situations that do not change and that continue to be worrying, in addition to which Xavi cannot do anything. In this case it is the lack of effectiveness in the punch that continues to be the biggest problem for the Spanish team.
All season he has shown little effectiveness and the need to have a solvent striker in the starting lineup. This was something that could be seen during the 90 minutes, mainly in the first 45 minutes of play.
In addition, the first goal of Xavi's era has come through a penalty charged with much controversy over an action against Memphis Depay, it was the player himself who changed the charge per goal. A penalty that saved Xavi Hernández's first game and made him debut with a victory.
The forward is a problem that they have to correct, but that they cannot do with the available players, perhaps with the return of Dembelé and Ansu Fati this can be corrected.
Kun Agüero situation
The Barcelona team has received bad news this Saturday that has come out of the very close environment of the Barça forward Kun Agüero and that has affirmed a rumor that has been coming for several weeks.
It is that the forward of the club and the Argentine national team would be putting an end to his sports career due to heart problems that forced him to retire before the Alavés game and thus have to undergo different medical studies that ended up confirming an arrhythmia.
Despite these rumors, the news has not been made official by either the player or the Barcelona club. However, it is believed that this next week it will be the same player who is announcing his retirement from football to the media.
Regrettable news that clearly overshadows the world of football. This time Kun Agüero would have to decide if he continues to play and puts his life at risk or if he retires in order to lead a healthy life. Considering that such a demanding and high-level sport could kill you if you keep playing it.