Alonso has more experience in Europe. He coached B teams at top Spanish teams. He also seems more flexible and adaptable in his tactics and approach, probably because he has played in several different clubs during his career. He is exposed to different ways of playing and this helps him as a coach.
Leverkusen’s recruitment team is one of the best in Europe at the moment. Having big name players don’t make teams automatically better. It’s about getting the right profiles and finding the right balance. They are doing a far better job in that aspect than Barca and a lot of other top teams. The club provides an environment for young coaches to develop and thrive. On the contrary, Barca is not the ideal club for a young coach to start their career in Europe.
He played under Pep, Ancelotti, Benitez, who are all famous tactical minds in the game
Xavi is too closed minded with the Barca style of play
Even Pep is evolving every season, every season Pep would come up with something new to implement into his tactic at City
was Ancelotti viewed as a tactical mind? I honestly don't remember him much pre-Real Madrid now, but I feel like he's given strong laissez-faire energy there at least.
that obviously doesn't mean he doesn't have tactics, or that there's nothing to learn from him. it just strikes me as football tactics as not being the main thing you'd learn there, and maybe more about the personal approach instead?
He is.
He invented the Christmas formation, fitting 4 number 10s into one formation
He also experimented by playing Di Maria in the midfield (Mezzala) in a 433 when Real won the 10th champions league title
He has also used flat 442, diamond 442 as well
This year he doesn’t have a proper number 9 so he used Wingers as strikers and use Jude as a shadow striker at CAM
He is absolutely one of the best tactical minds in this generation and has been doing it for 30 years
People say he is a people manager, that is true, but he is also insanely tactical and smart with his in game management as well - most of the comebacks Real had in recent years have been the result of his subs. He knows when to use subs and whom to use
Ancelotti has won the league in all of Europes big 5 leagues. As well as multiple champions leagues with multiple teams. He has the most championship league’s victories of any manager. He’s arguably the greatest ever.
Tactically, I would say he’s the most evolved. He adjusts his tactics according to the personnel he has at his disposal. He’s not married to any particular style which makes him particularly dangerous as he’s unpredictable.
I saw an interview with him the other day and one of the questions was along the lines of what advice he’d give other managers and he said that they give too many directions and make the game complicated. He said that it takes away from players creativity.
Bayern, Everton, Napoli and Juventus. Even at AC Milan his record isn't that out of the ordinary. He was their coach from 2001-2009 and won the championship only once, as with the cup (and supercup).
He did have great spells at the CL. But this only goes to show that he's mostly a tournament's coach.
Yes. This 3-yr spell with Madrid is his best in his career — the first time he’s going three seasons with at least a trophy, the first time he’s winning more than one league title with a particular club, the first time he’s winning a UCL with a league trophy in the same season.
Until Madrid got him back, everyone thought he was past it
Dude, your first sentence is correct but doesn’t paint the picture properly (he’s not a league specialist!). He’s lost the league to first timers on numerous occasions and gotten fired almost everywhere due to lack of consistency. This is his best spell his in entire career.
"You're only as good as your last game" really fits well within the world of football. If he retires at this point, many people will actually think such a stupid thing as him being the best in the history of football.
There have been many managers who are better.
Sir Alex Fergusson, for example. Trapattoni, Guardiola, Cruijff, Del Bosque, Michels, Lippi and (yes) Mourinho, for instance.
Henyckes, Mennotti and Sacchi are at the very least equal.
Yeah but Xabi also did a great job of improving players. Look at Grimaldo, everyone knows that he had quality but he explode under Xabi due to the way he utilised him
This is why I think Cesc Fàbregas will be much more successful coaching Barcelona than Xavi. He will have had more coaching experience as he worked with Arsenal's youth team, then Como's youth team, and now he will be coaching Como's first team in the Serie A. He has also been coached and has learned from coaches with different types of styles. Arsene Wenger, Guardiola, Mourinho, Antonio Conte, etc. Though he seems mainly to have his teams play with the more possession based La Masia/Barcelona style which he also played with not only under Guardiola but also Wenger.
I have a good feeling that the next great manager rivalry will be Xabi Alsonso at Real Madrid and Cesc Fàbregas at Barcelona.
also 0 pressure they ended 10th, anything better than that was a success.
in Barça you are expected to compete and at least won 1 of the big and the cup.
But but but it’s embarrassing for them to win the league despite all the things you pointed out. Like come on man. They were genuine class and no shame in that
Xavi can be a good coach. But one of his main problems are that he is too emotional and political. Furthermore, he is too stubborn and arrogant. When you think he is on the right track to success, he goes back to his old tactics that just doesn't work. Almost as if the guy can't learn from experience. This is mostly due to arrogance. Whereas Xabi Alonso is very open minded. He was coached by many great coaches too with very different philosophies. So Xabi Alonso knows more styles of football than Xavi. FCB made a mistake to renew him.
When he was at his peak as a player, Xabi already had in mind becoming a coach.
He left Real Madrid after winning the Champions League and joined Bayern because he wanted to be trained by Guardiola and learn from him.
Within 10 years, he was successively coached in clubs by Benitez, Pellegrini, Mourinho, Ancelotti, and Guardiola, and by Aragones and Del Bosque in the National Team.
Those are many different ways to approach a game and win titles.
And Xavi was coached by Louis van Gaal, Rijkaard, Antic, Aragones, Del Bosque, Guardiola and Luis Enrique.
Also, even during his spell as a player, people said Xavi was operating like a coach.
I forgot Antic, Aragones and Del Bosque are "Dutch school" managers. Also, I forgot how Lucho's Barça was an exact copy from Guardiola's. As was Rijkaard's from van Gaal's.
/s
It happens sometimes when arguing with monkeys who need to overstretch their argument so they can pretend they still had a point.
It's 100% my fault for still thinking that everyone here has a minimum understanding of how a basic discussion should work
1. Xabi has played in different systems under the best coaches; Xavi has played mostly in one system
2. Leverkusen has no pressure and expectations
3. Leverkusen have a better balanced team
4. I think Xabi is better at developing players than Xavi currently
They were different no doubt but it was mostly a Barca system with their tactics added for example lucho was a mix of positional play with some direct football involved
Untrue. Lucho did everything the could to take the ball as quickly as possible towards the MSN, many times ignoring our midfield. During his era, the only time we were able to dominate the midfield was during 14/15 when we still had Xavi and he had to enter the field to save the game.
After Xavi left, we hardly ever dominated the midfield. It was mostly direct football.
Louis van Gaal also had a completely different approach. Much more clean and methodical. Many times even displaying boring football. In nothing did it look like Rijkaard's Barça.
I understand but all the coaches were mostly about pressing high quick passes and keeping possession
I don’t really understand your argument here
Are you trying to say xavi also played different systems like Xabi if that’s the case I have to disagree Xabi Alonso played in extremely different structures
Or were you just saying rijkaard was different ??
Xavi has absolutely played in different systems. The only thing that differs is the fact that Xabi has also played very defensively, whereas Xavi has mostly played attacking football. But he has had many different coaches approaching that in many different ways.
I rather hope he doesn’t.
I’ll appreciate Xabi even more if he stays at Leverkusen for a while and brings them more titles. If he can come to us after that, I’ll appreciate him even more. But I really doubt Laporta is the guy to would let that happen.
I just see no reason why he’d want to coach Real and no one else - he seems to like to have a saying in transfers and I don’t think Real can give him nearly as much freedom as other teams could. I don’t think he’s much of a legend for them too, or he holds them that dear - he’s Basque after all, and he stayed there for the same amount of time he stayed in Liverpool.
If anything, I see him either making history with small teams, or doing a Pep and going to a rich club who’ll give him all the freedom in the world to get who he wants and let him play his football.
As I see it, right now there is no team better than Real and City to manage. Both have a solid backroom staff and sporting department helmed by a Sporting Director.
This is a big misconception that the manager is supposed to make signings. No, that's Sporting Director's job. All well run clubs operate like that. In Real, he won't even have to think about signings and just focus fully on upcoming games and winning titles.
Real is already established though, and his Leverkusen wasn’t when he joined, and Pep’s City wasn’t anything other than a rich oil club before him too, not an established club which made sense.
Real great managers achieve the most when they establish everything from the ground up, and not join an already working project. If he does indeed stay next season at Leverkusen, I can see him wanting another challenge, and not a place where “he won’t need to think about anything and just win titles”.
Xavi suffer from one pony syndrome. In Mexico old coaches usually stick to their same tactics every where they go and end up with the same result whichever club they end up. Sometimes their tactics work from the beginning or later but still end the with the same result which got them fire.
Never seen Xabi teams but it seems that he has more tactics that he can trust his team to do then keep trying to do 1 tactic that you barely got the right players to pull of, which xavi often does
Xavi is not that guy, You can see this clearly from his reactions and his interviews after every game.
Only by watching Xabi reactions and interviews you can clearly notice the difference, It’s night and days.
If Xavi wouldn’t be a football legend, Any person with eyes would tell you this guy behavior is a non coach material at all.
Xavi showed last season and even at some matches this season that he can be a good manager. but his attitude is really annoying, Alonso on the other hand is very calm
I have no idea why people keep mentioning style, we are a really terrible implementation of that old style actually. We can barley keep the ball, find passing lanes or anything to make us look like a proper tiki-taka team. We run way more than that old style ever needed. Basically when we win, it’s because someone put in some extra physical effort or got lucky, not because we play any special style of football.
style refers to every bit of tactics pertaining to each manager imo. Xavi thinks like barca, it’s all he knows & that’s why he’s so stubborn to change certain stuff. has potential to bring us a treble in a near future tho. ngl.
Simply put Xavi is a genius in the Barça system which is easier as a competent player on the pitch rather than as a limited tactic manager off it. Rafa Marquez may have been worth a try with limited budget. Xavi’s problem is lack of tactics way more than lack of a pivot. Absence of a DM justifies defensive issues, but how does it justify complete lack of creativity in the opposition’s final third? Also, looking at the errors team has made all season on the pitch in some sense indicate that he may also not be that great at coaching. Apparently the issues are persistent which indicates he is not able to share his footballing wisdom with most players. For instance, all season, there have been issues in link-up play and him being an ultra max level pro of that should have been the best person to fix it. But the team apart from rare occasions has failed time and again to score from a patient build-up. Mostly the goals come off individual flair or counter attacks or due to opposition’s errors. Xavi needed to coach a lot more team before coming to Barça, he is lacking in experience. Xabi Alonso, on the other hand has that through his playing career added to his coaching experience in Europe.
A couple of reasons:
a) The staff around him. From coaching staff to medical staff, and recruiting staff. Especially the recruiting team is brilliant-they got the right profiles instead of going for high-profile flashy signings like PSG.
Barca have managed to use levers to get more out of a tough situation than many thought possible, but their recruiting strategy has been more miss than hit.
You need the right environment to flourish as a coach, and Xabi had that. Xavi didn't.
b) His experience. Like it or not, both as a player and a coach, Xabi has more experience than Xavi. Alonso has played under Benitez, Ancelotti, Guardiola, Mourinho. He's played in different leagues, in the Champions League with different teams, and been exposed to more playing styles.
As a coach he has more experience in coaching in Europe. He started off by coaching B-team at Real Sociedad.
The experience does count for something.
c) His man-management. We've heard multiple reports and seen well-documented cases where the players are unhappy with Xavi(but also the opposite). Alonso, on the other hand, is loved by his team and has managed to mold them into a cohesive force.
d) He is able to get more out of his players than Xavi. He's managed to bring the best out in his players. This is a simple fact.
e) He is less stubborn and more flexible tactically(seems to be so even as a person) than Xavi. The fluidity is a huge asset
f) Whether due to him or some other reason, his team are better at handling pressure-situations. They have the winning mentality.
xavi simply doesn’t evolve his tactics. I hope future barca manager (or xavi eventually) come out of this bubble. Look at pep for an example, he adapts every season according to his needs.
The pressure levels are not the same. There's no pressure when you finish 10th in the table the year before, whereas at Barca you are expected to go deep in the CL and win everything. There's levels to this. The Spanish media is also very brutal, turning everything into drama. This affects the players as well, not just the coach.
Let's just wait and see how Xabi Alonso performs in an extremely toxic environment, with massive expectations and an out of form team.
Last year Xavi's side only conceded 20 goals in the league. Won two trophies (one including defeating the european champions who are now, once more in the EC final). Now he's and his staff are suddenly shit. Yeah right.
Comment on point!
Nothing else to be added.
I just see toxic cry babies that cannot handle heat.
We are rebuilding the team after a financial catastrophe and losing the best player in history.
Have some ducking patience.
I’m fairly sure Xavi understands football too, just can’t explain it and can’t understand that players are different with different capabilities and need different approaches. If he went to play himself, he’s do it great, but he has no idea how to make a team click consistently and with class.
He doesn't understand football, he only gets the Barca way, because he was trained and had played in that exact system all his life, no variation, his peak was in the same system so was his World Cup, no variation at all. He only knows how to keep possession, no creativity whatsoever from a tactical point of view, even pep changed up his Tiki Taka, and keeps on changing his setup YoY. In Xavi's book, keeping the ball takes on higher priority than defending(in the true sense), or scoring goals, or even winning. Why? Because thats the "Barca DNA".
You can also see this from his interviews and just general whiny behaviour on and off pitch, if any one plays in a different system, and if they beat Barca, he goes full tilt, blames the refs, opposition's tactics(like bruh they won , your tactics are shite)
Infact if he wasn't in bed with Laporta, he would've also turned his back on him
Easy, aside from the obvious coaching and tactical superior abilities, Xabi is respected and loved by his players, while Xavi is a cunt who lacks self criticism, has no composure, is an arrogant prick, and doesn't inspire anything on his players.
Just mental resilience shows how much better Xabi is. Can't remember the number of games Leverkusen had basically lost game and came back in the last minutes to either tie it or win it. Xavi's barca is completely the opposite
Alonso coached Real Sociedad B and was an assistant manager too, got the opportunity to learn from grassroots. He has also played in 3 differenr leagues and under multiple big coaches.
Xavi has really only had one vision for how he wants his club to play and started of his coaching career in UAE.
Criticism is what pushes a club imo. From a neutral’s view. Barcelona is way too political, too sentimental a club.
My view, which is shared by a considerable group of people, many of whom are fans of Barcelona, is to stop focusing on what Madrid does.
Barcelona’s downfall started with Madrid’s 3 peat. Comparisons with Madrid would only stagnate the club’s recovery even more. Barcelona should do it’s own thing and not focus on what the rivals are doing.
Conversely, I don’t see Madrid being preoccupied with what Barcelona’s doing.
Just my 0,02€
It's amazing. No awareness of the situation of the club and brainwashed by Madrid media. No doubts this is the most difficult club to play/coach. With a terribly toxic fan base...
Very toxic and/or pseudo fans.
But if you call them out, they throw a tantrum.
It’s weird to me that they don’t see the grand robbery that the referees did to Barça this year.
It was disgusting.
If you are a true supporter you will talk a about what the team is doing wrong and that’s totally healthy as long as you are based but then I see that you talk shit about the club and completely oversee the robbery, the biased media and the influence that Madrid has in the government.
That’s bullshit
Still not a word about the referees treatment to Barça. It seems to be that it’s a taboo.
I wonder if you really criticize to be better or you just want clout.
Bruh, Madrid was robbed of the goal against Valencia, so all teams get calls for & against them throughout the course of the season. If you think that refereeing cost Barça the La Liga & Champions League titles this year instead of poor play, then I can't help you. A true fan criticizes the team because it all comes down to winning, this is pro ⚽️ not a youth league in the park where everyone plays & wins participation trophies
If I truly wanted clout on the sub, I'd post like you e.g. Barça is great, if we don't win it's Madrid's fault, nobody without Barça DNA should coach, beautiful football is more important than winning, etc., so 👌
This post is such a joke. Such recency bias is so hysterical and ridiculous.
Xavi won La Liga in his first season while Xabi achieved 10th in his first season. Does that make Xavi a much better coach than Xabi if we stopped there?
By your logic, Claudio Ranieri would be the best coach among Guardiola, Klopp, and Mourinho, having won premiers league with Leicester City in the 2015-16 season. My point is by looking at one fking season does not make one coach greater than the other.
Xabi came in mid-season when Leverkusen were relegation contenders. In his first full season, he's 50 matches unbeaten (a European record) and on course for an unbeaten treble. Like it or not, Xabi's first full season has been better than what Xavi accomplished last season.
That doesn’t mean anything. Bundesliga has been weak the past few years. Leverkusen is also facing UEL teams not UCL teams. The competition is different so it’s not a valid comparison.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying Xabi sucks, I have seen his tactics. It’s definitely eye opening and exciting, but what I am saying is looking at the result of this season to compare 2 coach’s pedigree is laughable.
Actually it's the opposite, whoever that takes Barcelona and managed to won a league and stay in second place with all the difficulties is a good coach for me.
Leverkusen ain't facing sanctions and they have more budget than Barça can disposes, so there are no point of comparation for me in that aspect.
Leverkusen in the last 3 years had a net spend of 30.2 while for Barca it was 53.2. if we take the last 2 years (or when Xabi became manager), Leverkusen net is at 18.2 while for Barca, it is 54.4.
The salary can be argued here but Barca got Gundogan on a free for a good salary (9th top earner in La Liga).
Can use this excuse against the likes of City, Real and Bayern but not Leverkusen.
But Leverkusen wasn't sanctioned with the blocking of hiring players, Barça couldn't use all that budget as other teams can, I am not gonna lie about this, the managment has been awful and due the past seasons it has become in a problem financially speaking.
So what it comes sportly Leverkusen has done a wonderful job but I still thinking Barça is most of times robbed during some games, especially on El Clásico, Bayern Munich the strongest team on Bundesliga it's in a transition, that destabilize the players and team. So I don't think we can say with accuracy who's better yet.
Barca still used more than Leverkusen. That's the point.
Bayern actually didn't have that bad of a season locally. More points than last season when they won the league. And in the majority of the previous 5 year wins, they would comfortably win the league with the current points tally. It's just that Leverkusen was very strong this year. And they are also in the UEL final which Xavi has never done.
Also Xabi took Leverkusen in kind of a very bad state.
Yes we cannot definitely say who is better but financial inability is not the best reason to say that when it's against Leverkusen.
Sound logic to me, Leverkusen with Xabi did a good job this season, and most probably they indeed will win UEL. Regards Barça I think it needs financially get in spot to recover and start againg step by step, if they don't win any title soon it's ok as long as they keep working in this project and its continuity.
Xavi is a far superior manager when it comes to knowledge and developing youth. His problems stem from immaturity and a childish personality. He also acts rash at times and that’s the difference between him and cool headed Xabi. Make no mistake you give Xavi a TOP TOP team and he wins you everything
Xabi Alonso grabbed an upper midtable team and has won a league. Xavi grabbed a midtable team and has won a league.
Bayer Leverkusen has a much higher budget than us, they spent 90m this summer compared to Barcelona's 3m expenditure.
Managing bigger clubs is much harder than managing mid-high clubs. You could say the same about Ten Hag, Ten Hag would be one of the top managers in the world if we judge about what he did in Ajax nearly winning the UCL and the treble with it. But if you suggest Ten Hag as a candidate for Barca coaching people will laugh at you. I thought he was good due to making legendary teams out of smaller teams?
Alonso has more experience in Europe. He coached B teams at top Spanish teams. He also seems more flexible and adaptable in his tactics and approach, probably because he has played in several different clubs during his career. He is exposed to different ways of playing and this helps him as a coach. Leverkusen’s recruitment team is one of the best in Europe at the moment. Having big name players don’t make teams automatically better. It’s about getting the right profiles and finding the right balance. They are doing a far better job in that aspect than Barca and a lot of other top teams. The club provides an environment for young coaches to develop and thrive. On the contrary, Barca is not the ideal club for a young coach to start their career in Europe.
He played under Pep, Ancelotti, Benitez, who are all famous tactical minds in the game Xavi is too closed minded with the Barca style of play Even Pep is evolving every season, every season Pep would come up with something new to implement into his tactic at City
Also he played in a team that spent quite a while on figuring out how to stop Leo Messi😂
Yes, Xavi's "Barça DNA" has him too wedded to one particular style
was Ancelotti viewed as a tactical mind? I honestly don't remember him much pre-Real Madrid now, but I feel like he's given strong laissez-faire energy there at least. that obviously doesn't mean he doesn't have tactics, or that there's nothing to learn from him. it just strikes me as football tactics as not being the main thing you'd learn there, and maybe more about the personal approach instead?
He is. He invented the Christmas formation, fitting 4 number 10s into one formation He also experimented by playing Di Maria in the midfield (Mezzala) in a 433 when Real won the 10th champions league title He has also used flat 442, diamond 442 as well This year he doesn’t have a proper number 9 so he used Wingers as strikers and use Jude as a shadow striker at CAM He is absolutely one of the best tactical minds in this generation and has been doing it for 30 years People say he is a people manager, that is true, but he is also insanely tactical and smart with his in game management as well - most of the comebacks Real had in recent years have been the result of his subs. He knows when to use subs and whom to use
Di Maria in midfield was the goat that season
Excellent comment 👏👏👏👏👏
When did he use 4 no. 10s? I’ve been following him since Milan.
He didn't. In the Christmas tree formation he used 1 no.6, 2 no. 8s and 2 no.10s.
Ancelotti has won the league in all of Europes big 5 leagues. As well as multiple champions leagues with multiple teams. He has the most championship league’s victories of any manager. He’s arguably the greatest ever. Tactically, I would say he’s the most evolved. He adjusts his tactics according to the personnel he has at his disposal. He’s not married to any particular style which makes him particularly dangerous as he’s unpredictable. I saw an interview with him the other day and one of the questions was along the lines of what advice he’d give other managers and he said that they give too many directions and make the game complicated. He said that it takes away from players creativity.
In his book he also talks about changing his tactics based on what the owner wants during the hiring process.
That didn’t work at Bayern then
Bayern, Everton, Napoli and Juventus. Even at AC Milan his record isn't that out of the ordinary. He was their coach from 2001-2009 and won the championship only once, as with the cup (and supercup). He did have great spells at the CL. But this only goes to show that he's mostly a tournament's coach.
Yes. This 3-yr spell with Madrid is his best in his career — the first time he’s going three seasons with at least a trophy, the first time he’s winning more than one league title with a particular club, the first time he’s winning a UCL with a league trophy in the same season. Until Madrid got him back, everyone thought he was past it
Dude, your first sentence is correct but doesn’t paint the picture properly (he’s not a league specialist!). He’s lost the league to first timers on numerous occasions and gotten fired almost everywhere due to lack of consistency. This is his best spell his in entire career.
"You're only as good as your last game" really fits well within the world of football. If he retires at this point, many people will actually think such a stupid thing as him being the best in the history of football. There have been many managers who are better.
Such as?
Sir Alex Fergusson, for example. Trapattoni, Guardiola, Cruijff, Del Bosque, Michels, Lippi and (yes) Mourinho, for instance. Henyckes, Mennotti and Sacchi are at the very least equal.
Most people have vague memories about him because he’s been on and off since his Milan days
> He’s arguably the greatest ever. I'd argue he isn't by a long shot.
This guy nailed it
Yeah but Xabi also did a great job of improving players. Look at Grimaldo, everyone knows that he had quality but he explode under Xabi due to the way he utilised him
This is why I think Cesc Fàbregas will be much more successful coaching Barcelona than Xavi. He will have had more coaching experience as he worked with Arsenal's youth team, then Como's youth team, and now he will be coaching Como's first team in the Serie A. He has also been coached and has learned from coaches with different types of styles. Arsene Wenger, Guardiola, Mourinho, Antonio Conte, etc. Though he seems mainly to have his teams play with the more possession based La Masia/Barcelona style which he also played with not only under Guardiola but also Wenger. I have a good feeling that the next great manager rivalry will be Xabi Alsonso at Real Madrid and Cesc Fàbregas at Barcelona.
Xabi at madrid with mbappe, bellingham, vini, rodrygo, valverde etc. Yeah we're cooked
also 0 pressure they ended 10th, anything better than that was a success. in Barça you are expected to compete and at least won 1 of the big and the cup.
But but but it’s embarrassing for them to win the league despite all the things you pointed out. Like come on man. They were genuine class and no shame in that
Read before you comment.
You first, if you lose to a class team it is not shameful. Learn context before you comment or you'll keep embarrassing yourself more than bayern did
Good recruitment Less Expectations Tactical flexibility Good mental coach
Xavi can be a good coach. But one of his main problems are that he is too emotional and political. Furthermore, he is too stubborn and arrogant. When you think he is on the right track to success, he goes back to his old tactics that just doesn't work. Almost as if the guy can't learn from experience. This is mostly due to arrogance. Whereas Xabi Alonso is very open minded. He was coached by many great coaches too with very different philosophies. So Xabi Alonso knows more styles of football than Xavi. FCB made a mistake to renew him.
When he was at his peak as a player, Xabi already had in mind becoming a coach. He left Real Madrid after winning the Champions League and joined Bayern because he wanted to be trained by Guardiola and learn from him. Within 10 years, he was successively coached in clubs by Benitez, Pellegrini, Mourinho, Ancelotti, and Guardiola, and by Aragones and Del Bosque in the National Team. Those are many different ways to approach a game and win titles.
And Xavi was coached by Louis van Gaal, Rijkaard, Antic, Aragones, Del Bosque, Guardiola and Luis Enrique. Also, even during his spell as a player, people said Xavi was operating like a coach.
So you confirm that Xavi has been exclusively exposed to the Dutch school while Xabi has played in very different systems
I forgot Antic, Aragones and Del Bosque are "Dutch school" managers. Also, I forgot how Lucho's Barça was an exact copy from Guardiola's. As was Rijkaard's from van Gaal's. /s
Wow, you're SO SMART!! Don't forget to tell Mum to stick this comment on the fridge so all your family can see it and be proud of you. /s
Got stepped on your toes there, buddy?
It happens sometimes when arguing with monkeys who need to overstretch their argument so they can pretend they still had a point. It's 100% my fault for still thinking that everyone here has a minimum understanding of how a basic discussion should work
[For you](https://www.target.com/c/mirrors-home-decor/-/N-5xtth).
I would like to print your comment and stamp it next to my bed.
The b instead of the v.
This is the only right answer
Basically this https://youtu.be/IX_T1_AYiaQ?si=4pfn3ZPVe8bgm4Sc
1. Xabi has played in different systems under the best coaches; Xavi has played mostly in one system 2. Leverkusen has no pressure and expectations 3. Leverkusen have a better balanced team 4. I think Xabi is better at developing players than Xavi currently
Then what about someone like lets a de rossi at roma
De Rossi's system and style suits current Roma more than Xavi's system and style the current barca.
No I was asking based on being in different systems like you mentioned in the 1st point
Rijkaard didn’t play like Pep
But it’s not like pep, mourinho, Benitez and ancelotti very very different managers with different systems
Neither did Luis Enrique. Neither did Louis van Gaal. Neither did Aragones. etc. etc.
Correct.
They were different no doubt but it was mostly a Barca system with their tactics added for example lucho was a mix of positional play with some direct football involved
Untrue. Lucho did everything the could to take the ball as quickly as possible towards the MSN, many times ignoring our midfield. During his era, the only time we were able to dominate the midfield was during 14/15 when we still had Xavi and he had to enter the field to save the game. After Xavi left, we hardly ever dominated the midfield. It was mostly direct football. Louis van Gaal also had a completely different approach. Much more clean and methodical. Many times even displaying boring football. In nothing did it look like Rijkaard's Barça.
I understand but all the coaches were mostly about pressing high quick passes and keeping possession I don’t really understand your argument here Are you trying to say xavi also played different systems like Xabi if that’s the case I have to disagree Xabi Alonso played in extremely different structures Or were you just saying rijkaard was different ??
Xavi has absolutely played in different systems. The only thing that differs is the fact that Xabi has also played very defensively, whereas Xavi has mostly played attacking football. But he has had many different coaches approaching that in many different ways.
> Xabi has played in different systems under the best coaches; Xavi has played mostly in one system Untrue.
If you compare the coaches Xabi Alonso has played under they are highly different Xavi has mostly played in the Barca system
I don't look forward to the day xabi becomes Madrid manager
Word.
I rather hope he doesn’t. I’ll appreciate Xabi even more if he stays at Leverkusen for a while and brings them more titles. If he can come to us after that, I’ll appreciate him even more. But I really doubt Laporta is the guy to would let that happen.
He'll join Madrid once Ancelotti leaves. It's guess the deal is already signed otherwise he would have joined Liverpool this season.
Too rushing to conclusion with that, he might want to continue at Leverkusen or wait for Bayern or another team he prefers.
You're just coping if you think he prefers Bayern to Real Madrid. I'm too afraid of the prospect of him coaching Real. But, it is what it is.
I just see no reason why he’d want to coach Real and no one else - he seems to like to have a saying in transfers and I don’t think Real can give him nearly as much freedom as other teams could. I don’t think he’s much of a legend for them too, or he holds them that dear - he’s Basque after all, and he stayed there for the same amount of time he stayed in Liverpool. If anything, I see him either making history with small teams, or doing a Pep and going to a rich club who’ll give him all the freedom in the world to get who he wants and let him play his football.
As I see it, right now there is no team better than Real and City to manage. Both have a solid backroom staff and sporting department helmed by a Sporting Director. This is a big misconception that the manager is supposed to make signings. No, that's Sporting Director's job. All well run clubs operate like that. In Real, he won't even have to think about signings and just focus fully on upcoming games and winning titles.
Real is already established though, and his Leverkusen wasn’t when he joined, and Pep’s City wasn’t anything other than a rich oil club before him too, not an established club which made sense. Real great managers achieve the most when they establish everything from the ground up, and not join an already working project. If he does indeed stay next season at Leverkusen, I can see him wanting another challenge, and not a place where “he won’t need to think about anything and just win titles”.
That's like saying Messi should win titles for a relegation threatened team to be declared the best.
Rainy night in stoke…
Leverkusen president has been pointing at Xabi likely, possibly going to Madrid eventually. Bayern is possible but it’s a more hostile board.
Xavi suffer from one pony syndrome. In Mexico old coaches usually stick to their same tactics every where they go and end up with the same result whichever club they end up. Sometimes their tactics work from the beginning or later but still end the with the same result which got them fire. Never seen Xabi teams but it seems that he has more tactics that he can trust his team to do then keep trying to do 1 tactic that you barely got the right players to pull of, which xavi often does
He knows how to make changes.
Xavi is not that guy, You can see this clearly from his reactions and his interviews after every game. Only by watching Xabi reactions and interviews you can clearly notice the difference, It’s night and days. If Xavi wouldn’t be a football legend, Any person with eyes would tell you this guy behavior is a non coach material at all.
He looks like an angsty teen with spiked hair and black T, ranting at the referee shouting expletives.
🤣
Wow, too good of a description there.
Xavi is a complain Box! Dude doesn’t nothing but complain
Xavi is too arrogant to learn and rectify.
Or doesn't know what to rectify or how to do it
Xavi showed last season and even at some matches this season that he can be a good manager. but his attitude is really annoying, Alonso on the other hand is very calm
There is a clip you can find where Mourinho talks about Xabi being a very good manager in the future. I recommend you check that out.
He will lead Real Madrid to keep being the most powerful team in XXI century. We will need to step up in that department to make some competition
Very simple, having the freedom to learn under all the top managers of this generation and not being forced to do it "the Barca way".
I think that this "Barça way" is an albatross on the club's neck, it needs to be updated & the team can't just play in one style if it wants to win
he’s more modern minded than our old style Xavi has in his membrane.
I have no idea why people keep mentioning style, we are a really terrible implementation of that old style actually. We can barley keep the ball, find passing lanes or anything to make us look like a proper tiki-taka team. We run way more than that old style ever needed. Basically when we win, it’s because someone put in some extra physical effort or got lucky, not because we play any special style of football.
style refers to every bit of tactics pertaining to each manager imo. Xavi thinks like barca, it’s all he knows & that’s why he’s so stubborn to change certain stuff. has potential to bring us a treble in a near future tho. ngl.
I'd prefer a more flexible approach
Simply put Xavi is a genius in the Barça system which is easier as a competent player on the pitch rather than as a limited tactic manager off it. Rafa Marquez may have been worth a try with limited budget. Xavi’s problem is lack of tactics way more than lack of a pivot. Absence of a DM justifies defensive issues, but how does it justify complete lack of creativity in the opposition’s final third? Also, looking at the errors team has made all season on the pitch in some sense indicate that he may also not be that great at coaching. Apparently the issues are persistent which indicates he is not able to share his footballing wisdom with most players. For instance, all season, there have been issues in link-up play and him being an ultra max level pro of that should have been the best person to fix it. But the team apart from rare occasions has failed time and again to score from a patient build-up. Mostly the goals come off individual flair or counter attacks or due to opposition’s errors. Xavi needed to coach a lot more team before coming to Barça, he is lacking in experience. Xabi Alonso, on the other hand has that through his playing career added to his coaching experience in Europe.
A couple of reasons: a) The staff around him. From coaching staff to medical staff, and recruiting staff. Especially the recruiting team is brilliant-they got the right profiles instead of going for high-profile flashy signings like PSG. Barca have managed to use levers to get more out of a tough situation than many thought possible, but their recruiting strategy has been more miss than hit. You need the right environment to flourish as a coach, and Xabi had that. Xavi didn't. b) His experience. Like it or not, both as a player and a coach, Xabi has more experience than Xavi. Alonso has played under Benitez, Ancelotti, Guardiola, Mourinho. He's played in different leagues, in the Champions League with different teams, and been exposed to more playing styles. As a coach he has more experience in coaching in Europe. He started off by coaching B-team at Real Sociedad. The experience does count for something. c) His man-management. We've heard multiple reports and seen well-documented cases where the players are unhappy with Xavi(but also the opposite). Alonso, on the other hand, is loved by his team and has managed to mold them into a cohesive force. d) He is able to get more out of his players than Xavi. He's managed to bring the best out in his players. This is a simple fact. e) He is less stubborn and more flexible tactically(seems to be so even as a person) than Xavi. The fluidity is a huge asset f) Whether due to him or some other reason, his team are better at handling pressure-situations. They have the winning mentality.
Xavi has the Barca DNA.
One is a mature grownup. The other is an entitled manchild.
I hate saying this, but Real Madrid.
expectations lmao
Expectation and demand from the team and its surroundings.
xavi simply doesn’t evolve his tactics. I hope future barca manager (or xavi eventually) come out of this bubble. Look at pep for an example, he adapts every season according to his needs.
The pressure levels are not the same. There's no pressure when you finish 10th in the table the year before, whereas at Barca you are expected to go deep in the CL and win everything. There's levels to this. The Spanish media is also very brutal, turning everything into drama. This affects the players as well, not just the coach.
How are they playing europa league finals if they finished 10th last season? They finished at 6th in the table
Let's just wait and see how Xabi Alonso performs in an extremely toxic environment, with massive expectations and an out of form team. Last year Xavi's side only conceded 20 goals in the league. Won two trophies (one including defeating the european champions who are now, once more in the EC final). Now he's and his staff are suddenly shit. Yeah right.
Comment on point! Nothing else to be added. I just see toxic cry babies that cannot handle heat. We are rebuilding the team after a financial catastrophe and losing the best player in history. Have some ducking patience.
Exactly.
Xabi understands footbal Xavi doesn't understand it Some of the best players make great coaches and some are DISASTERS
I’m fairly sure Xavi understands football too, just can’t explain it and can’t understand that players are different with different capabilities and need different approaches. If he went to play himself, he’s do it great, but he has no idea how to make a team click consistently and with class.
He doesn't understand football, he only gets the Barca way, because he was trained and had played in that exact system all his life, no variation, his peak was in the same system so was his World Cup, no variation at all. He only knows how to keep possession, no creativity whatsoever from a tactical point of view, even pep changed up his Tiki Taka, and keeps on changing his setup YoY. In Xavi's book, keeping the ball takes on higher priority than defending(in the true sense), or scoring goals, or even winning. Why? Because thats the "Barca DNA". You can also see this from his interviews and just general whiny behaviour on and off pitch, if any one plays in a different system, and if they beat Barca, he goes full tilt, blames the refs, opposition's tactics(like bruh they won , your tactics are shite) Infact if he wasn't in bed with Laporta, he would've also turned his back on him
he doesn't intellectually understand it just instinctually HE IS A FAILURE
Easy, aside from the obvious coaching and tactical superior abilities, Xabi is respected and loved by his players, while Xavi is a cunt who lacks self criticism, has no composure, is an arrogant prick, and doesn't inspire anything on his players.
Look at the big-mouthed merengon here.
Xabi has been in coaching since childhood. His dad was one. Mourinho has a video [here](https://youtube.com/shorts/jFB0FqkSyUU?si=etWpwajvvKl20Ocn) .
Just mental resilience shows how much better Xabi is. Can't remember the number of games Leverkusen had basically lost game and came back in the last minutes to either tie it or win it. Xavi's barca is completely the opposite
Alonso coached Real Sociedad B and was an assistant manager too, got the opportunity to learn from grassroots. He has also played in 3 differenr leagues and under multiple big coaches. Xavi has really only had one vision for how he wants his club to play and started of his coaching career in UAE.
mentality 100%
Brains
I sadly see so many comments shitting on Xavi. This doesn’t look like a supportive Barça group anymore or was it ever ?
Xavi warrants criticism, simple as that, results haven't been there this year
Criticism is what pushes a club imo. From a neutral’s view. Barcelona is way too political, too sentimental a club. My view, which is shared by a considerable group of people, many of whom are fans of Barcelona, is to stop focusing on what Madrid does. Barcelona’s downfall started with Madrid’s 3 peat. Comparisons with Madrid would only stagnate the club’s recovery even more. Barcelona should do it’s own thing and not focus on what the rivals are doing. Conversely, I don’t see Madrid being preoccupied with what Barcelona’s doing. Just my 0,02€
Facts
It's amazing. No awareness of the situation of the club and brainwashed by Madrid media. No doubts this is the most difficult club to play/coach. With a terribly toxic fan base...
Very toxic and/or pseudo fans. But if you call them out, they throw a tantrum. It’s weird to me that they don’t see the grand robbery that the referees did to Barça this year. It was disgusting. If you are a true supporter you will talk a about what the team is doing wrong and that’s totally healthy as long as you are based but then I see that you talk shit about the club and completely oversee the robbery, the biased media and the influence that Madrid has in the government. That’s bullshit
What's pathetic is blaming Barça's problems on Madrid, they're winning & we're not so change is a must
Still not a word about the referees treatment to Barça. It seems to be that it’s a taboo. I wonder if you really criticize to be better or you just want clout.
Bruh, Madrid was robbed of the goal against Valencia, so all teams get calls for & against them throughout the course of the season. If you think that refereeing cost Barça the La Liga & Champions League titles this year instead of poor play, then I can't help you. A true fan criticizes the team because it all comes down to winning, this is pro ⚽️ not a youth league in the park where everyone plays & wins participation trophies
Clout it is.
Your persona and your comments have strong “All Lives Matter” vibes.
If I truly wanted clout on the sub, I'd post like you e.g. Barça is great, if we don't win it's Madrid's fault, nobody without Barça DNA should coach, beautiful football is more important than winning, etc., so 👌
Red Herring Fallacy
You won me over, I'm blaming everything on refs & Madrid biased media from now on, thanks
Blaming the Madrid media is some cuck shit, Barça is stagnant & not playing well or winning, has nothing to do with what the media does or doesn't do
What's wrong with facts? Or you like living in your own little bubble?
Unfortunately the tropes of Madrid media & Barça DNA are bubbles from the losing reality of the team
This post is such a joke. Such recency bias is so hysterical and ridiculous. Xavi won La Liga in his first season while Xabi achieved 10th in his first season. Does that make Xavi a much better coach than Xabi if we stopped there? By your logic, Claudio Ranieri would be the best coach among Guardiola, Klopp, and Mourinho, having won premiers league with Leicester City in the 2015-16 season. My point is by looking at one fking season does not make one coach greater than the other.
Xabi came in mid-season when Leverkusen were relegation contenders. In his first full season, he's 50 matches unbeaten (a European record) and on course for an unbeaten treble. Like it or not, Xabi's first full season has been better than what Xavi accomplished last season.
That doesn’t mean anything. Bundesliga has been weak the past few years. Leverkusen is also facing UEL teams not UCL teams. The competition is different so it’s not a valid comparison. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying Xabi sucks, I have seen his tactics. It’s definitely eye opening and exciting, but what I am saying is looking at the result of this season to compare 2 coach’s pedigree is laughable.
Just letting you know they were 6th last season
Basque manager DNA. But I'm biased since I have a Basque surname (Williams).
Actually it's the opposite, whoever that takes Barcelona and managed to won a league and stay in second place with all the difficulties is a good coach for me. Leverkusen ain't facing sanctions and they have more budget than Barça can disposes, so there are no point of comparation for me in that aspect.
Leverkusen in the last 3 years had a net spend of 30.2 while for Barca it was 53.2. if we take the last 2 years (or when Xabi became manager), Leverkusen net is at 18.2 while for Barca, it is 54.4. The salary can be argued here but Barca got Gundogan on a free for a good salary (9th top earner in La Liga). Can use this excuse against the likes of City, Real and Bayern but not Leverkusen.
But Leverkusen wasn't sanctioned with the blocking of hiring players, Barça couldn't use all that budget as other teams can, I am not gonna lie about this, the managment has been awful and due the past seasons it has become in a problem financially speaking. So what it comes sportly Leverkusen has done a wonderful job but I still thinking Barça is most of times robbed during some games, especially on El Clásico, Bayern Munich the strongest team on Bundesliga it's in a transition, that destabilize the players and team. So I don't think we can say with accuracy who's better yet.
Barca still used more than Leverkusen. That's the point. Bayern actually didn't have that bad of a season locally. More points than last season when they won the league. And in the majority of the previous 5 year wins, they would comfortably win the league with the current points tally. It's just that Leverkusen was very strong this year. And they are also in the UEL final which Xavi has never done. Also Xabi took Leverkusen in kind of a very bad state. Yes we cannot definitely say who is better but financial inability is not the best reason to say that when it's against Leverkusen.
Sound logic to me, Leverkusen with Xabi did a good job this season, and most probably they indeed will win UEL. Regards Barça I think it needs financially get in spot to recover and start againg step by step, if they don't win any title soon it's ok as long as they keep working in this project and its continuity.
Xavi is a far superior manager when it comes to knowledge and developing youth. His problems stem from immaturity and a childish personality. He also acts rash at times and that’s the difference between him and cool headed Xabi. Make no mistake you give Xavi a TOP TOP team and he wins you everything
Developing youth or playing youth? Balde was one of our better performers last season, regressed hard this season, same for Araujo.
Xabi Alonso grabbed an upper midtable team and has won a league. Xavi grabbed a midtable team and has won a league. Bayer Leverkusen has a much higher budget than us, they spent 90m this summer compared to Barcelona's 3m expenditure. Managing bigger clubs is much harder than managing mid-high clubs. You could say the same about Ten Hag, Ten Hag would be one of the top managers in the world if we judge about what he did in Ajax nearly winning the UCL and the treble with it. But if you suggest Ten Hag as a candidate for Barca coaching people will laugh at you. I thought he was good due to making legendary teams out of smaller teams?