The crisis at Camp Nou continues and Xavi Hernandez’s departure is only an inevitable consequence.
“The media has asked me many times if I am the Sir Alex Ferguson of Barca,” Xavi Hernandez said in his announcement of leaving the Catalonian club on January 27. “The truth is that it never happened here. People don’t allow it to happen, it’s very difficult to be a coach at Barca.”
Xavi’s decision to leave the Barca coaching position at the end of the season is obviously due to the team’s poor performance. However, the fact that the former Barca midfielder hinted that the Barca coaching position is “always unstable” shows something else. The struggles, enormous pressure, unstable financial foundation, and too many factions vying for power have always been going on at Barca.
All of this has contributed to the instability of the club’s coaching position, as well as explaining Lionel Messi‘s refusal to return to Barca twice, once after he completed his first season at PSG. And the second time took place in the summer of last year, when Leo agreed to go to Inter Miami.
The crisis
Xavi stressed that he could not continue to coach Barca, even if he won the 2023/24 Champions League. However, who dares to believe that the Catalan club can surpass Man City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich in the most prestigious European competition?
Barca is at the bottom of their form. The current La Liga champions were eliminated from the Copa del Rey after a 2-4 loss to Athletic Bilbao in midweek. This result followed a 1-4 defeat to Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final.
They also conceded 4 goals to Girona just before Christmas. The 3-5 loss to Villarreal in the 22nd round of La Liga was the last straw. Barca are currently 10 points behind Real in the La Liga standings. History shows that this is a difficult gap to bridge as the season enters the late stages.
Xavi took over Barca from Ronald Koeman in November 2021 and led Barcelona to the national championship last year, in his first full season. But Barca’s performance and results this season have been very poor.
The possibility of them going blank in all major tournaments is greater than ever. Once that scenario occurs, Barca will face a full-blown crisis.
In the list of the richest football clubs in the world just released by Deloitte, Barca ranked fourth with a turnover of 800 million euros last season. The Catalan club is still a “money-making machine” thanks to its reputation and past appeal.
However, if they continue to play unstably on the pitch, Barca’s turnover this season will decline significantly. Last season, they had the La Liga title and the “financial levers” were used cleverly by Joan Laporta and his associates.
The blanking of the season this year will only make things worse for Barca. The Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules being tightened by UEFA and La Liga will make Barca more difficult to breathe.
What is the solution for Laporta?
Just before the January transfer market opened in early 2023, Sporting Director Deco revealed that Barca “cannot compete in big deals.”
The decline in terms of finances of Barca has led to poor results on the pitch. Barca’s squad is currently a collection of young players, veterans who are about to run out of time, and loaned-in stars.
Lamine Yamal, Pedri have great potential but they need time. Robert Lewandowski or Ilkay Gundogan are starting to show signs of age. Joao Cancelo or Joao Felix are inconsistent, which is why Atletico or Man City do not value them and have to loan them to Barca.
Barca is no longer the team that has the best players in the world like before. Xavi is responsible for the poor performance of the club in recent times, but a new coach may not do better.
Just one day before Xavi announced his departure from Barca, Jurgen Klopp also announced his departure from Liverpool. Sport revealed that Laporta is a huge fan of the German skipper and is ready to lay out the red carpet to invite him to lead the club.
The departure of Xavi at the end of the season will create conditions for that possibility to happen. However, Klopp said that he wants to rest more and Barca must make a lot of effort if they want to convince the German coach.
If Klopp does not accept, Barca will face no small difficulties in finding a strategist of sufficient caliber to bring the club back to the top.
Messi was right to refuse to return to a club that is unstable in many ways, where the president once “betrayed” him. If he were still playing for Barca at this time, Leo could very well become a “scapegoat” like Xavi.
To resolve the current crisis, Barca needs to address the most fundamental issues. First, the club needs to stabilize its finances. This means that Barca needs to sell some valuable players, while also cutting costs.
Second, Barca needs to rebuild its squad. The club needs to have a long-term plan to develop young players, while also recruiting stars that fit the team’s style of play.
Third, Barca needs to end the internal division. The club needs to have a strong leader who can unite the different factions.
If Barca does not address these issues, the club will be hard-pressed to return to its peak.
