It is not the first time that an elite football coach announces his resignation in a delayed format. One day before Xavi Hernández did so, Jürgen Klopp announced that he will leave Liverpool at the end of this season and, even at FC Barcelona, there are two very important precedents: both Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique publicly anticipated their farewell in the stretch end of their respective last years. April 2012, the first, and March 2017, the second.
Xavi's case, however, is different. Just as in the three cases mentioned the continuity in the position of the coaches was guaranteed by titles and performance, Xavi is going through a very difficult time because his team is performing below expectations in its third year. In a recent press conference, Xavi himself had linked his future in the entity to winning trophies, a probability currently unlikely to be feasible either in the League, taking into account the classification (Barça is fourth classified, ten points behind Madrid and eleven of Girona, who has played one more game), as in the Champions League, pressing the level of play of the possible rivals beyond Naples in the round of 16.
With Xavi self-ruled out for the bench next season, the squad is more exposed between now and the summer, although the coach's intention, at least as he expressed it publicly, is to free it from the accumulated tension, an aspect that has been especially visible since the new season began. year: they blew up the Super Cup with a rout against Real Madrid (4-1), the Cup against Athletic (4-2 in extra time) and they walked away from the League after a crazy match against Villarreal in Montjuïc (3-5). Xavi, in the message he addressed to the locker room on Monday to announce his departure, asked for more unity than ever from the players and in that sense yesterday there was news that pleased the coach. Lewandowski, the oldest, organized a meal at his house to which he only invited the footballers, a sign that the message of coming together has been captured. The real reaction of a team, however, is not seen around a tablecloth but on the grass and tomorrow comes the first opportunity to gauge the solidity of its response: Barça takes on Osasuna in Montjuïc (7 p.m.).
The performance of the first team between now and the summer will be transcendental to guarantee the stability of a club in the midst of an earthquake. If Xavi and his players do not right the course before the Champions League tie, the coach's continuity, this time in the traditional way (dismissal), cannot be ruled out, with Rafa Márquez, who has already applied in a more opportunistic than opportune manner to take over, as an emergency measure. Márquez continues to lead the subsidiary.
Whether with Xavi, the most desirable, or with Márquez, the Barça management team has already started the search for a new coach. The profile is today a mystery, the names that are heard move from end to end along a personal and methodological spectrum that is sometimes antagonistic, a sign that the heterogeneous sports commission does not transmit a defined line of argument. Joan Laporta as president will make the final decision, but all the members of that commission, formed from highest to lowest rank by vice president Rafa Yuste, sports director Deco, presidential advisor Enric Masip, manager Joan Soler, have control over him. and the coordinator of the football area Bojan. The opinion of Alejandro Echevarría, who has no position in the club, but is part of the president's hard core when it comes to making decisions, will also count a lot.
The choice of the future coach will condition sports policy and define the club's football story, more inclined towards results rather than more lyrical sensibilities since Deco arrived. It will be vital to know the profile of the new tenant on the bench because he will come with his list of signings and the club is not ready for many expenses and because the new and extraordinary fifth of teenage players (Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Cubarsí, Héctor Fort, etc.) needs someone who knows how to take care of her.
A practically invisible but increasingly restless opposition is attentive to the evolution of the club in the face of so much uncertainty. Candidate Víctor Font does not rule out being one again, and other candidates are beginning to prepare. The next elections, if there are no unforeseen events, will arrive in 2026.
