Two years after landing on the FC Barcelona bench, Xavi Hernández is gaining security despite the inherent fluctuations of the position he occupies. In the last month he has experienced his most critical situation (game crisis and results) and the most relieving (victories against Porto and Atlético de Madrid), an emotional merry-go-round that ensures that it does not interfere with his daily work, although it does not always get it. This is how Xavi Hernández works.
Costumes
As soon as he arrived, Xavi Hernández recovered customs that had been neglected. All first team players must arrive an hour and a half before the scheduled start of training, imposing financial fines for those who arrive late. Since Dembélé and Kessié, usual suspects for being unpunctual, left the club, the group barely breaks that rule. Soccer players must have breakfast in the sports city and eat after the session, a way to control their diet. In fact, the youngest, like Fermín for example, take the dinner served by the club's cooks in a lunch box. Almost every day the staff passes the scale on an empty stomach and is tested for fat levels and other parameters.
Xavi arrives at nine in the morning after dropping his two children off at school. He drives a Cupra on loan from the club. He barely sets foot in the coach's office, which is practically brand new. His workday, beyond the training field, is spent in the area occupied by his staff. There are his brother Òscar, Sergio Alegre and the physical trainer Iván Torres, as well as José Ramón de la Fuente, the goalkeeping coach, and the three analysts: Toni Lobo, David Prats and Sergio García. Xavi meets with Deco, sports director since last summer, every day. The Brazilian has an office in the sports city and that makes communication much easier. Deco is very direct, he already was as a player.
The dialogue
Xavi rarely enters the players' locker room (the coaches have their own) after games. He prefers to let them sit for 48 hours before correcting errors face to face. That same global talk usually serves to start working on the next game. The most private personal conversations arise from the request of the player who requests it or because someone from the staff, or Xavi himself, detects that a player is discouraged, either because he has lost prominence (Christensen and Balde have lately fit that description) or because some extra-sports issue distracts them, which can also happen, like the rest of us mortals. There are players who are very sensitive to media criticism. Raphinha is one of them. In general, the coach turns to the captains to set the mood in the locker room. And he is more than delighted with the arrival of Íñigo Martínez: natural leader, great center back and a guy who has come to add. In his first season, Xavi decided to make all of his players go through the psychologist's consultation at least once.
To motivate the staff, Xavi is not using new methods at the moment. No movies or convivial excursions. If the team wants to win a holiday, they bet on an important victory. Even a 2-0 at half-time against a more affordable rival. Sometimes it is the players who take the initiative. Ferran Torres and Pedri have done it on occasion. “If we win we will pay you all a meal,” they promised on one occasion. And they complied.
match day
Match days serve to briefly review everything worked on in the previous days. The day after, Xavi and his team review the previous match on television and begin to study the next one, using video and magnetic boards to simulate possible tactical movements. As for the videos, the images are not the same as what viewers see. They are viewed through a broader, top-down frame that all League teams can access thanks to a specific program. Xavi usually announces the lineup two hours before to his players. In a special room in Montjuïc or in the hotel, before leaving with the coach, if the game is played outside. This is not the time to fill the footballer with instructions. It has already been done in the previous days with general and personalized videos, especially the newest ones, sometimes over-informed due to Barça's peculiar way of understanding football: positioning, way of applying pressure, marking of a specific rival player. .. The talk barely lasts 15 minutes. It is about highlighting the basic slogans. Before going out into the field, a pineapple is formed. The captain says “one, two, three” and the rest shout “Barça!” It is not the most original proclamation in the world. During the match, Òscar, Xavi's brother, wears a earring. Communication with the rest of the analysts, who watch the game from a high area of the stands, is constant, but the one who decides and has the last word is Xavi. For example when he moved Koundé to the side on the Alavés day to cross for Araújo midway through the game. Or when he maneuvered against Atlético by seeing Riquelme as the starter and not Saúl as expected. The possibility was contemplated in advance.
The environment
What Xavi took the worst upon his arrival were his reactions to the referees and the criticism from the media. In both cases he has made efforts to improve. As for the referees, he has managed to reduce the number of cards for protesting and in press conferences he deliberately avoids the topic. With half the squad on fire after the match against Atlético de Madrid, he appeared before the media without adding more fuel. He has come to the conclusion that the more bounces, the worse the arbitrations. As for the journalistic criticism, he cannot shake the feeling that he judges Barça from excessive negativity and takes the criticism from the local press (friendly fire) worse than the Real Madrid criticism. He made mistakes like calling journalists directly. He has stopped doing it and seeks phases of disconnection in the worst moments, when he prefers not to read or watch anything. It's useless. Family and friends do it for him and let him know.
