Well, it’s happened. Xavi has left FC Barcelona. After a nearly 3-year long spell, the Spaniard has left Barcelona, after winning La Liga and the Supercopa once in his spell, as well as being knocked out of the Champions League group stage twice in his 3 attempts. It’s certainly been a mixed bag in his spell in charge, full of unexplainable things, including the biggest question we’ve seen already this season – How has Barcelona become so bad?
After only 20 goals conceded in 38 matches – 9 of which coming after Barcelona had already secured the league – the catalan side have already conceded 29 in 22 matches this season, where at this stage last season they’d only conceded 9, and that was including a spell where both Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde were injured and they had to field a back line of Balde-Garcia-Pique-Roberto. This season, they’ve had their full strength back 4 for most of the season, but have been without Marc-Andre ter Stegen since November, and who is set to return this month, for something where he was only supposed to miss 2 or 3 matches, he’s now missed 17 matches, a spell in which Barcelona have conceded 34 goals in all competitions, for an average of 2 goals conceded PER MATCH.
In 2024 this problem has amplified, conceding 16 goals in their 9 matches, and at their worst moments, conceding 4 to Real Madrid and Bilbao, and conceding 5 to Villarreal, all of those performances ruling them out of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Supercopa. The particularly humiliating performance being against Villarreal, which after coming back from 2-0 down to to lead 3-2, they conceded in the 84th, 99th, and 102nd minutes to lose 5-3, the first time Barcelona have conceded 5 at home in the league in over 30 years. It was after this match that Xavi announced his departure from Barcelona at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, which brings us to the topic of this post.
I know, that was a long rambling intro, but we’re here now. After Xavi’s departure, what does Barca do now? Here are my thoughts on all the candidates for Barcelona’s new managerial role, and who I think we need.
What type of manager do Barca need, in my opinion? After Xavi and Ronald Koeman, I do not want another former player in the manager role. Laporta wants the Barca philosophy back, and basically wants to do the same thing he did in his first spell, total football-tiki taka football, a former player as manager, youth academy central, to create a superteam.
However, there is no one way to always build a great team, which is something I think Joan Laporta is missing. What Barcelona needs is a proper manager. One which has a presence in the dressing room and can command the respect of the players. Perhaps the last manager like that at Barcelona was Luis Enrique. While he’s an ex-player and does diminish my point, we’ve seen a lot of managers who’ve either been managers of midtable clubs in La Liga or are ex-players.
In fact, the last manager we’ve seen who, before Barca, was known for managerial exploits outside of Spain was Tata Martino in 2013, who, with a combined 4 spells at Newell’s Old Boys as player and manager, was likely a hiring for Leo Messi. Before that, we saw Radomir Antic, who was really just a disaster, to be fair. However, he was a midseason appointment, and with the availability of Frank Rijkaard, never got a transfer window. An earlier example of this working is Sir Bobby Robson, who was hired in 1996, signed Ronaldo Nazario, and won the Supercopa, Copa del Rey, and Cup Winner’s Cup. Robson became general manager of Barca after his 1 season, and left in 1998 for PSV, while Ronaldo Nazario left Barca after 1 season for Inter Milan.
So, it can work, and I believe if Barca hire a proper manager, it will work. Now, for what you’ve all been waiting for; my thoughts on all the potential candidates. You’ve waited a long time, so here you go.
Jurgen Klopp
The absolute dream, honestly. Klopp has stated he wants to take a break from football, but if Barca can change his mind, he’d be perfect for the role. He is the perfect candidate for the role and checks all the boxes. However, an appointment is considered unlikely, to be fair. However, if we could get him, we would need to.
Pep Guardiola
I’ll go into more detail on this soon, but again. An absolute no-brainer. He is the only ex-player I’d take at Barcelona. He would be perfect, and again, exactly what Barca need. It’s unlikely, but it’s up to Pep. Laporta would have him back in a heartbeat, and my question to Pep is; why not?
Mikel Arteta
Now, I don’t particularly like this one, and I think it’s really a lose-lose situation. I don’t like him, as he’s basically Xavi, with his style of play, and I don’t know why he’d trade a promising project at Arsenal for a project which would make-or-break him, and the evidence suggests that it’ll break him. Please Mikel, stay at Arsenal. You aren’t what Barca needs and Barca isn’t what you need.
Hansi Flick
One of the candidates I’d love at Barca and who’s actually realistic to sign up, Hansi Flick is remembered at Barca for the time he dismantled the club 8-2 with Bayern back in 2020. So he seems like he knows part of Barca’s problem, at least tactically. I also remember watching Bayern’s lovely fast counter-attack style of play and wondering why Barca didn’t play like that. If Flick isn’t pressured to change his style of play from Barca’s traditionalists, he’ll thrive at the club.
Roberto de Zerbi
I’ve lost some enthusiasm for de Zerbi, to be honest. I’ve seen Brighton’s recent form, recently being humiliated 4-0 by Luton, but I’m still intrigued to see what he’d bring to Barcelona. I think de Zerbi’s better than other candidates, but certainly not the best. He’s more of a Plan C or D type manager.
Michel
Along with Flick, he’s one of the realistic candidates that I’d love to have at Barca. Girona’s underdog story has continued into February, and their title charge seems like it’ll never end. A lot of that has been thanks to Michel’s revolutionary tactical style, basically using the rarely used tactic of Chaosball to his advantage. End-to-end play has been his style, and Girona is so interesting and fun to watch. Bringing that style to Barca is something I would absolutely love.
Thiago Motta
Nope. This is exactly the thing I’m taking about – an ex player. While Bologna are doing well for their standards in Serie A this season, I don’t want Motta in as manager with so many superior candidates. Please, Joan, no.
Rafa Marquez
Another manager who is exactly the type of candidate I was talking about. He’s the Barca B manager, and hasn’t even been doing very well. Fortunately though, it doesn’t look like he’ll get it.
Jose Mourinho
Come on, Joan. It would be so funny.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the managerial race for Barcelona after Xavi’s departure. Once the new manager is selected, I’ll post my thoughts on them. I can’t wait for that, even though it’s likely a while away. I’m Jim James, until next time.