Welcome to The Athletic FC's KZhead channel, where best-in-class journalism meets video.
Barcelona were just knocked out of the Champions League after an extraordinary quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
Xavi announced in January that he would be leaving Barcelona at the end of this season (a decision he has since reversed). Now that they've been eliminated from all cup competitions and the league title is mostly likely out of reach, where do they go from here?
Joe Devine, JJ Bull and Jon Mackenzie review Xavi's tenure - interrogating the Spaniard's philosophy, methodology and overall compatibility with the "Barcelona way" - as well as the club's long-term future
This is The Athletic's Week in Football.
#barcelona #championsleague #laliga
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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:22 Reviewing Barcelona's 2023-24 Season
01:46 Underlying Numbers
05:13 Losing Busquets
06:24 Verdict on Barca's 23-24 Season
06:53 Was Xavi any good?
15:48 Barcelona's Finances ft. Pol Ballus
17:46 La Masia Talent
20:02 Youth Development
24:43 Final Thoughts
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Music sourced from Epidemic Sound
Additional footage sourced from AP Newsroom
Statistics from Transfermarkt and Opta via FBRef
Xavi's time at Barca is really underrated imo.He had to mostly depend on loaned players and Academy players.
they gona hire some scapegoat for next season, finishing 4th and bursting out UCL, and then Xavi will return after a break he needs
Didn't they spend a load of money on transfers thanks to "financial levers"?
@@stevenlannister184 Nope this season they spend total 43mil. 40mil Victor Rouqe and 3 mil Oriol Romeo
Loaned players! Is that how you describe Lewandowski, Raphinha, Ferran Torres, Kounde, Christiansen, Gundogan, Joao Felix, Cancelo?
@@surpriserakins9067bro Felix and Cancelo are on loan , Gundogan came for free and the rest of the players all came for around 50 mil each .
That cut to the "I love Pedri" song made me shed a tear. Bring back the Tifo Football show
i love joe devine so much. so damn relatable. a lot of us are probably gonna be just as dumbfounded as he is between JJ n john but his cluelessness is so adorable miss the tifo football podcast so much
He also has a long term fitness problem.
I miss the crazy fun over the top Joe.
@@sarahjessicafarter7383you really have to watch the video in order for people to get this joke haha
I love those little Tifo moments that poke through
The La Masia point is such a red herring. The pattern of super young academy graduates bursting onto the scene, saving Barca's season, getting a huge contract and then being perma-crocked because they've played too many minutes has just keeps happening. Is Pedri ever gonna play more than 30 league games a season again? I doubt it.
Pedri, Gavi, Fati. Now Yamal, Cubarsi. It is the coach's job to protect them. Of course the kids want to play. It is their boyhood club. It is the coach's job to balance between exposure and caution.
Pedri isn't even a La Masia player. He was bought in and didn't join until he was 18/19
@@gejskelly Good point. Kinda an edge case of the same rough phenomenon.
@@gejskelly A young player was overused and is unable to play a full season till now has become a recurring theme though.
@@sameerkashyap1750 It hasn't been a recurring theme at all. It's only happened with Pedri. In the case of Ansu, he was being managed well then just suffered from injury after a horror tackle and hasn't been able to recover. In the case of Gavi, it's his first injury and it was suffered in the last game of an international break in which the whole first squad was rotated except for him. I think it's completely unfair to blame Barca for his injury.
Barca will never thrive over a full season without a proper dm, if they do not face the reality and and naively prioritize name attacker signings that aren’t needed instead of a young dm we won’t be winning any trophies while our rivals continue to strengthen their teams strategically
And that is why I want to break the bank for Joao Neves. Ideal DM for the club.
You haven't got any money in the bank to break.
Kalvin Phillips might be available. :P
@@thehearingaidLook up Marc Bernal he’s our future DM but still too young to be relied on fully
frank kessie was there whole europe were after him dunno what happened there? transfers from xavi are hit and miss and especially with financial problems it's gonna be tough ferran torres,victor roque 100million right there looking like down the drain. same old mistakes getting signings wrong.
Great to have these in-depth videos, but isn't the Atheltic committed to covering "not just the big teams"? Have you considered longer tactical videos about Stuttgart, Villa, West Ham, Bournemouth, or other overperforming "smaller" clubs?
Completely agree on Villa, Stuttgart and Bournemouth as they do some really interesting tactical things!
Not sure covering smaller teams works as well on KZhead, views would drop. Works better written
Bologna as well
People were complaining a week ago about the lack of content focused on leagues other than the premier league Now they make one on Barca and we're still complaining It's interesting content and they don't make all that many - just appreciate it!
@@jazza115 As a fan of a "bigger" team. I'd like this too. Something different and interesting
Great video but the team seems to be missing a key point. You NEED technical and skillful players to play the Barcelona positional play system. The system would not work with less technical players. In the absence of key players (Busquets, Gavi, Pedri and even de jong) it becomes almost impossible to play the 433 Barca system.
You clearly never watched City.
Exactly! Pep used to count A LOT on Messi when he was at Barcelona. Same at City with KDB, Rodri, Silva, Haaland etc A good system without good players is seen as a BAD system. Xavi is not a perfect coach, but sure he's missing a pivot, a good finisher (Lewandowski has been really bad since WC except in 4-5 games), a good backup goal keeper. If he had these players he would be seen as one of the best coaches
@@stnbch3025 you are telling us Rodri, KDB, Bernardo, Grealish, Doku, Stones, Foden, Alvsrez, Nunes, Stones, Gvardiol, Diaz, Ederson are not extremely technical players?
But Barca do have technical players, felix, gundogan, de jong, pedri, yamal some of these are some of the best technical players in the world, or are going to be in the future, on a pure viewpoint of ability to pass and carry the ball, Barcelona's problem is that quite a lot of their technically apt players are lacking in other areas, they aren't well rounded footballers.
Such a great point. I felt the PSG had better individual players than Barca. PSG players were able to do more individual driving with the ball and therefore get to the Barca half with more confidence. Also, Lewu is not what Barca needs. Barca needs a player with far more dribbling skills.
Barcelona have an injury problem which I think is a reflection of their fitness training staff: too many injuries, perhaps not enough weights work? Messi found that PSG had far more emphasis on weight training than Barca.
What JJ said about the "painting" was spot on: Xavi knows the basic framework but doesn't have the experience to be able to adapt it to the players he has compared to Guardiola
He doesn't have the money that Guardiola has
@@t-vizzlehe doesnt have the knowledge that Guardiola had when he took over . Not guardiola now but guardiola then
@@curtischarles5299Pep had the luxury to sell Ronaldinho Deco Etoo, buy and then sell Ibra Toure. He found players like Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Henry and a certain guy named Lionel Messi. He also had a certain referee help him get to a UCL final in his first season. He found a Real Madrid coached by mediocre managers until Mourinho came along. Bayern was medicocre back then. PSG and City were basically non existent. What does Xavi have in comparison?
@@fationmuhollari9768 you're understanding of football is playstation. You can have the greatest players and get beaten and go nowhere . Pep was a brilliant mind from the beginning . Just like how you have generational talent in a player , pep is a generational talent in coaching.
@@curtischarles5299 oh yes master! My man I didn't say Pep isn't a brilliant manager, but Xavi had a more difficult job and he did quite a hell of a job! He had to go through the mud and won la Liga with a club full of problems. Pep has spent almost 2 billions to be where he is now. Do you see the difference?
I enjoy these so damn much, honestly the energy, the sense of humour and tactics you bring to the table are outstanding. Wish you can maybe do these more often, maybe twice a week or so. Love JJ and John so damn much Keep it on lads
The biggest flaw that Xavi has shown throughout his tenure is inexperience. If he comes back with more experience, I know he can make it.
After seeing the team's performance since that dreadful game vs Villareal, Xavi has proven to us that he can learn from mistakes and improve the team. After that game, I was happy Xavi took it on his own to step down at the end of the season. However, after seeing the lack of elite coaching options and the team's slight improvement - I wouldn't be upset with one more season of Xavi. That being said, it'd be tough to have many high expectations for next season if we don't sign a DM and strong attacker (that doesn't mean a flashy 100million forward).
Nah, in his first season Xavi destroyed La Liga and defeated tactically almost every manager. The difference between this season and the last one is not Xavi, is the players. Last season you had experienced people in the dressing room (Busquets, Alba, Auba, Pique) and now Xavi was forced to use literal kids because of injuries and unexpected departures and you can see that in the players attitude when a game was going uphill. Xavi needs a dm, some experienced players and some luck with injuries and referees mistakes
The defensive problems of Barça started when Busquets left and they couldn't sign a top defensive midfielder to replace them. Barça signed Romeu from Girona who it's not a bad but not a top player. Maybe instead of focusing in signing Cancelo, Joao Felix or Vitor Roque, barcelona should have focus on signing a good Busquets replacement.
Great video, insightful and entertaining. Talking about last year, you forgot to mention Dembele. His numbers weren’t extraordinary but his role on the right wing was crucial because of his pace and ability to dribble past defenders on either side. So the overlap to isolate tactics relied on him. He’s gone and while Yamal is a gem, he acts differently on the pitch. On top of the „sell if the price is right“ list for many fans is De Jong. His wages are very high and he’s considered to be replaceable. He only really shines as a left-sided DM and at times unnecessarily slows down play. Another topic would have been the portuguese loan players.
I think raphina and lamine both fill dembele's role perfectly. As for de jong, i never understood why he would be sold, he is arguably the best ball progressor in the world when he is fit, i think he's criminally underated tbh. Most importantly he is also very defensively sound, and press resistant, he is the type of profile that has allowed barca to play attacking football because he balances the advanced play of balde, and the other midfielders.
De Jong is awful defensively - that's a big part of why he's a problem. And Raphinha doesn't fill Dembele's role at all. Raphinha is an unreliable dribbler who can't occupy defenders on his own, although he offers a lot in terms of pressing - he's basically the opposite of Dembele. Yamal is prodigious but he's too young to be first pick.
Min 23:30 They won a Champions with Rijkaard before Guardiola...
Thank you! There's been so much rewriting of history these years.
You def forgot to add M. Fayé for the LCB/LB area that will show up very soon in the 1st squad 😉
On top of everything else the lads spoke about I think Xavi is too emotional. He’s been sent off multiple times and he’s had over 20 yellow cards. Some emotional control is necessary to manage at a club like Barca were the expectations are through the roof. On gavi I do believe he’s a decent player and works very hard off the ball but his ability on the ball is overrated at the moment. He doesn’t score, assist or create chances so there’s an expectation on him to be creative but he’s not.
I like this format. And thanks for listing important aspects. (: (no native english speaker myself..)
Tikitaka football eara has been longed figured out playing against gegen press expose's the flaw's in tikitaka system. The only remedy is playing an energetic box to box and an intelligent anchor man
Man City fundementally still play tiki taka / possesion base football as opposed to the " gegen press / rock n roll" of Klopps liverpool. At the end tiki taka / possesion football wins.
Pep's man city seems to be doing fine. They still play tiki taka
The problem about those talents is that almost all of them are very often injured.
Joe Divine breaking the fourth wall... Peak Comedy
Great to see a throwback to the glorious Pedri song
Vincent Del Bosque said that about Busquets
Great podcast. Admitting when they don't know something and thought provoking questions. Thank you
Sorry Football AM this is now the best thing about football on Saturday mornings in the UK
tbf last weeks was top comedy when reviewed on the Monday morning
I still trust Xavi for next season. Since this video has come out there's been more news. Xavi has confirmed to be here for next season and i am very happy over the news. He's done well with the resources he has been given
I was watching this Video, hoping every minute (when the Focus ist switching to players) that jjbull mentions pedri...and that this will Happen. You Guys dont let me down!
I love the analytics with a bit of pun, it always cheers me up
I genuinely HATE it when people think numbers explain away perception. "You can see here that they underperformed their expected goals last season as well", sure! But there's a difference between winning two games 3-2 while having 10 chances on target in both games, or winning one game 6-1 and losing the other one 0-1 with the exact same amount of chances
Finally, a video about Barcelona
I like these videos and having Joe around, but I gotta say, I miss TifoIRL and the wild creativity JJ used to bring. Feels like JJ's gotta play it a bit safe these days. Why can't we have both, you know?
Please do more Barca videos! Also, fans should respect Xavi more, he gave Barca what they have been missing for a long time….
The system is what’s makes La Masia graduates differentiate from others actually. They’ve played the same way since they were kids so the adaptation to the first team dynamic is not that harsh, and sometimes is even easier than the one for some experienced and proved players. This is why almost every La Masia kid seems really experienced in the first team games. Sometimes might be because of luck or really good scouting, but when this happens so often, you know is something else
11:15 Joe not listening haha
Good to have Devine back
Ypu can change the name of the podcast, but you can't replace Joe. If you're reading this Joe, you can't leave. 😁
Thanks God we have La Masia academy 🙏🏼 injery problems killed oss this season but thanx Xavi bring our DNA La Masia back to Barça again. Gracias Grande Xavi 💙❤
i don't think he's justified yet but at CB you can partner cubarsi with MIKAYIL FAYE
the podcast boys are back!!!
i do have this sneaking suspicion that if their levels fall off for 2 seasons straight and they finish mid table, will their finances just implode and the club be unable to continue
Hey its Joe Devine!
Tino Liveramento’s arm is looking more and more significant.
All this talk about Pep being a systems manager is hog wash, he always has the most expensive 11 on the pitch. In today's football, where teams like City paying through the roof, only having a great system cannot win you anything ... actually, the last great systems coach to win anything major is Klopp, 2 titles with Dortmund and 1 UCL final. After coming to Liverpool, even he had to spend some money (not like the oil dopers) to create a champion team.
All the talk about La Masia and youth development is what barcelona media sells really well, but it is more marketing than reality. Pedri has not being top level, they don’t talk about Cubarsi mistakes, Yamal is really good but he wouldn’t play if the club had money to hire a top level player in that position. Vitor Roque is on his way out because Xavi does not like him, but never gave him a chance to play regurlarly.
Something not talked about was how wasteful the front line has been all year. Clear opportunities just being shanked every game.
Barca will not sell Arajuo lol
Just barely 17 seconds in, i agree with a lot of people to beg to tifo and the athletic guys to bring back either the tifo football show or podcast. I'll be okay if it's not on a set schedule. Why? because when i'm bored like the time i'm writing this comment. I want to enjoy a accurate, intelligent, and also (doesn't always have to) funny show. So like working hard to create a quality analysis but delivered like a comedian. Because recently i've been more into FourFourTwo videos which i could say good and felt the good amount of mix of things that i prefer.
Bring TIFO vibes back. Energy is different
Xavi has done a good job at Barcelona. The idea that he doesn't understand what he wants to do in terms of a system is almost offensive. Barcelona just have too many problems at the moment. That they keep signing players on free transfers and then try to offload them a year later to pay off their debts is not a stable way to create a team. It doesn't get discussed enough.
Show this video to the Barca board pls
Finally a video ABOUT barca agai
You are forgetting one important thing about a "system" that the players need to be coached about it for long in order for them to implement it and gain success. This takes time and Barca consist of really young players. After Xavi came, we saw glimpses of the old Barca instantly because Busi, Pique, Alba even Dani Alves LOL were still in this team. This season is another story
WE NEED ANALYSIS OF MATCHES ITS BEEN A LONG TIME!!!!
That future Chelsea video will bang
I guess it's just a coincidence that La Masia started producing good players under Xavi after a decade of second division crud.
Barça would've gone through comfortably without the red? Why? PSG should've levelled earlier abd the red came about a 1 on 1 situation with the keeper. Frankly it seems clear PSG was starting to take charge of the match. Obviously the red had an impact, but it was a still open affair. Also don't forget the Dembele post in the first leg which could've made it 3-1 for PSG.
5:52 Didn't know that Busquets used to be an astronaut. What a career he's had!
I can't believe what i'm hearing. "Xavi's system relies on players, players make the system better". I mean, duh. You (you meaning JJ and Jon) said it yourself, City are way worse without Rodri, their key player. Barcelona lost their most important player (Busquets) and didn't replace him (Romeu is a joke of a replacement), then they also had a never ending injury crisis where they lost Ter Stegen (one of the best in the world), Raphinha and Gavi all for significant time periods. Of course they will be worse without their key players. Why doesn't this system argument apply to City then? They are worse without Rodri, is that because Gvardiola doesn't understand positional play fundamentaly? Or maybe it's common sense that better players play better regardless of the system and if you replace them with worse players they play worse regardless of the system. Also to further emphasize my point about Xavi's system working anyway: look at 21/22 season. He got appointed in november and started playing with guys like Jutgla, Abde and Mingueza. Even Adama Traore was good in his system. Is he good now at Fulham? Was he carrying Xavi's imperfect system? Since his appointment on 6th of november, Barca are top of the league in xGD p90, meaning the system he built was the best in the league that year. And look at the quality he had at his disposal then. Sure, they bought Ferran and Auba in january, but the performance was already good eithout them. Overall i would say the quality of analysis is 6/10, because some good points were made as well.
If you want more Joe, he’s got a new ish podcast called ‘Movies you forgot you forgot’ that’s pretty good to listen to!
Most of the time I was thinking about Spongebob, while looking at Johns sweater thats says Patrick. Anyway, I agree that Barca has to football more.
Where did JJ get that Barca kit I need that
You need to talk about Bologna too
1:23 someone made a mistake typing Lamine Yamal's position! 😅
oof.
the dyslectic me thought Jon was rocking a Partick Thistle sweater! ... and then I saw the Italian flag. :)
Guy in the middle sounds like the bloke from Pointless
I think Barca is doing fine this season, I don’t think people have realised how insane Real Madrid have been this season.
ooof wondering whether Xavi is a paint by numbers version of Guardiola is one of the harshest burns a manger could have
I LOVE PEDRI HE'S REALLY GOOD
The point that Xavi isn't at the elite level of cruyff and gaurdiola as a system manager, because his system fails when he doesn't have pedri/gavi/busquets is a double standard. Pep's system is also far less effective when he is missing rodri, in the past Pep's system worked because he had all the worldclass players, in xavi, iniesta, busquets, messi, pedro, villa, etc. I think cruyff stands above all as a system manager, because he didn't have such refined generational talents and he had less depth, and multiple profiles of player at two differant clubs, and he was still able to effectively impliment his system consistently at the highest level. So xavi and pep are equal in ability, but xavi is lacking in depth, while cruyff is better then them both.
Sell De Jong, Lewandowski (Unless he takes a big paycut, accepts rotational role), and Raphinha. I like all three of these players, they all love the club - But with the money from these three, I think we could sign a strong pivot and young attacker like Nico Williams (Elite 1v1 winger). Also sign a backup left back for Balde
selling academy graduates to balance books is how Real madrid is stable....they have literally the highest number of players in first flight in top 5 leagues...they are not always elite but they use it that way then. Barca has to balance this. Also, Barca still pays much higher salaries than Madrid for underperforming players
This is the rebuilding phase and all those levers are just setting them back. They have to take their lumps and be mediocre for a while in order to rebuild the team. Especially since they must use mostly self-developed players. People talking about Real Madrid DNA or whatever, but if you put the two teams side by side and were asked to make a combined 11, you'd be hard-pressed to put many Barca players in there. And when Mbappé and Davies come, it will only be an even more massive gap. Let alone if/when Endrick works out.
"times 3" -- JJ
It'll be nice when people stop saying Pedri was a La Masia product. He wasn't.
Okay, but he signed at age 16 for the club. The confusion comes because he counts as a home grown player.
Yes... yes... Slowly deteriorating into the original podcast... We just have to wait for Joe to get bored and JJ to mention skeletons. I can feel it. It's coming. Praise be.
Saying Xavi quit half way through the season is a bit misleading. Especially since the moment Xavi announced it will be his last season the team went undefeated for 4 months.
who replaced Jay Jay Bull the Bullard with J J Bull?
23:35 they already two. One with cruyff and one with rijkard
17:25 this dude is mad if he thinks barca would sell araujo. Mad
injuries arent an excuse after madrid
This reminds me of the Tifo Podcast
We have Fabrizio Romano at home
Till date I still believe Auba fits our system more than Lewa
I’m watching Barcelona vs Madrid and it’s as though no one on the Barcelona squad has any individual talent or skills to simply turn and move with the ball, only Jamile.
🔥🔥🔥
18:12 really ...???? .that entire squad won a Euros and worldcup without messi
Are you guys planning a FUN DAILY SHOW DURING THE EUROS? Mmmmm? Yeeees. That would be amazing indeed.
FINALLY
need lautaro asap. sell Gavi, Lewa and Frenkie for him and Onana
Yeah, Mackenzie and Bull
HIS NAME IS JJ BULL THE BULLARD
Barca need someone like Rodri or Kimmich.
Great analysis This tifo crew is great at it !! The athletic podcast is horrible Always with the old mainstream view
Saturday Tifo Football Podcast
Make a video about Tottenham
Xavi has been incredible at Barcelona. It would be extremely disappointing to see Xavi leave this quickly especially now that the team is getting to gel together.
We don’t need Xavi.
@@PadmeGaveMeHIV brother pls.This seasone we spent 5 million and reached the quater final of the ucl. we are 2nd in the league. Many key players were injured for a majority of the season. How many games we have lost due to Pena not beeing able to save simple passes or players not being able to get back in postion during transtion or failing to convert chances. Unjust to pin it all on the coach. Ucl exit was largely the players failure not xavi. Even if xavi leaves, the most realistic replacement is rafa marquez who has no expereince. Hasni flick is unlikley according to most credible source and we simply are too broke and have a very volatile fanbase for a coach to come and takeover. So yes we DESPERATLEY NEED XAVI!
Lamine Yamal - left back???
I'm surprised that you guys do not understand the basic fact that Barcelona is NOT comparable to Real Madrid. Regardless of system or no system, if you take a closer look to the starting 11 + the usual subs of Real Madrid and then have a look at Barca's team, these teams are not the same in terms of quality. You don't see it? Look again, becasue there is no team in the world that you can compare with Real's team (maybe City comes close, imo not, but you reasonably debatable)
you didn't point out that lewa what overperforming xg last year, this year he's underperforming xg
These guys are journalists not soccer experts and it shows! "We don't know if Xavi is doing good" ARE YOU KIDDING ME! He's basically doing miracles! Injuries, referring robberies every other game, the media making up stuff to hurt the team all year, Tebas making up rules to block Barça from signing, etc. Yet he has almost the same points as Ancheloti in his 2.5 years (95-96) yet more wins head to head. Made quarters finals just like Guardiola this year. I guess he is ONLY good if Barça wins the treble! Please