The key to a team is always in the same place. The titles are decided in the locker room. After a 4-1 against Madrid, it is normal for doubts to arise, for the club to wonder what they should do and for the fans to show their discontent. Xavi apologized to the people in his first statements after losing the Super Cup in Arabia. The FC Barcelona coach feels strong enough to fight for the three remaining titles. The question is: “Are footballers at the same level of confidence in their abilities as Xavi?” It cannot be answered in front of the gallery. Knowledge and rigor are necessary to make decisions and the tone of the locker room is key to facing what is coming.
FC Barcelona is a club that lives by looking in the rearview mirror. The day before playing for a title with Madrid, Xavi appealed to Cruyffism. There is a generation that has only known the winning Barça. Guardiola is a permanent reference. Puyol's captaincy is an example. Messi is an icon. The Xavi-Iniesta duo, a football model. The club seems more focused on the past than on the future, which appears more blurred. All the details of past glories are constantly remembered. And they seek to return to that, when today's football has nothing to do with yesterday's.
There is talk of a new era, but it is not. The title has been given before the book is finished and the events happen. It is about recovering the old era and that causes anxiety and collapse. Barça needs a project that looks forward, not that tries to resemble the one behind. It's good that everyone stands up and applauds Cruyffism. Johan was a reference guy, although his contribution as a player was limited to the year in which he arrived with a team already made. In the second season he influenced Sotil to be changed for Neeskens and Barça stopped having that wonderful block. But when he touched the ball he was crazy for Barcelona fans. The first two signings he made as coach were Aloisio and Romerito and the most exposed youth player, Lucendo. But he won consecutive leagues and a historic European Cup and the 6-3 defeat in Zaragoza that led him to stop playing with three defenders and incorporate Nadal alongside Koeman in the rearguard does not appear in the rearview mirror. Images of glories blur other real photos. It is not a question of attacking anyone and we must value everything that many did for Barcelona fans, but, for example, the Barça of today has nothing to do with the one at the beginning with Messi. It is necessary to turn the screen. Keep the rearview mirror, paying all the tributes to it, but innovate for the future, not try to have the digital copy of an album that shined with analog photos.
