Is Xavi OVERRATED? Can He Achieve Anything With Lewandowski, Raphinha, Others at FC Barcelona?

Series of banters has been flying on the media since Xavi returned to FC Barcelona as the head coach. Some said he is just another Chelsea’s Frank Lampard with a touch of Arteta –inexperienced and won’t win anything with FC Barcelona.

However, it is very important to always remember that Xavi is currently running a post-Messi Barcelona. We all knew what it was for Ronald Koeman after Messi left Barcelona for PSG, in fact, it didn’t even took long before he got sacked after running the club to 11th position on the La Liga table for the 2021/22 season.

With almost the same squad and few signings of players like Aubameyang, Dani Alves, and Ferran Torres he [Xavi] was able to run Barcelona to the second position in La Liga and qualified for the 22/23 UEFA Champions League.

Although, despite the impressive performances in La Liga, he couldn’t do much in the European Competition. FC Barcelona’s 21/22 UCL campaign ended in the group stage while couldn’t make it past Bundesliga’s Frankfurt in the Europa League’s quarter-final. Barcelona ended the season without a single trophy.

📅 #OTD in 1998, @xavi made his official debut for Barça against Mallorca pic.twitter.com/HJCmvEn8cM

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 18, 2022

Again, it was too early to judge the young man, even the likes of Guardiola and Klopp who are considered legendary coaches of the game couldn’t record a single trophy win in their first season at Barcelona and Liverpool respectively. So cutting Xavi some slacks is definitely necessary.

Fast-forward, the 2022/23 preseason was impressive for both Xavi and FC Barcelona as a whole after being able to pull signings in one of the what was considered to be the most dramatic transfer window ever in the history of football. “Barcelona without money”, simply put, ‘Broke Barcelona’ was able to make big signing of Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Frenkie/Franck Kessie, Christensen, Kounde and also renewed Dembele‘s contract.

Which means Xavi now have one of the hottest squad in the top 5 Europe Leagues. A magnificent reinforcement, right? Now, he’s got almost more/less than what he asked for, but will he be able to prove to the world that he can arrange the talents he’s got? Somehow, Xavi is still yet to put the team together, his first game against Rayo Vallecano proved this.

Yes, he had an impressive preseason, Manchester United had the same too but couldn’t display anything related in their first two games (against Brighton and Brentford). So it’s high time Xavi proves to us that he’s fit for the job aside big talks.

What do you think? Xavi still need more time or he’s had enough already? Let’s interact in the comment section below.

Next FC Barcelona Game: Real Sociedad vs Barcelona (9PM – Sunday 21, 2022).

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