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A club once home to some of the greatest talent in the game seemed to lose it all when in 2019-2021 they had some of the worst seasons to date. When all hope seemed lost for the club they found a man meant to be their shining light. Xavi Hernández, one of Barcelona’s greatest midfielders, took up the manager role in 2021. After a string of truly difficult to watch seasons Xavi took control and seemingly turned the season around. The winning didn’t stop there with the team winning LaLiga with one of the best defenses in the league. The season was finished with restored hope of the club finally returning to a global competitor. However as the season geared up a few problems became evident with players struggling to make the necessary passes and shots. The talent of the players has managed to cover up some of the worst of it but it begs the question does something need to change if the club wants to keep and continue its re-found winning model.
When Xavi first took over there were questions about the playing style he would favor. Having played under Pep Guardiola a take on tiki taka football was popular opinion. Yet looking at game footage Xavi’s style of play is definitely not tiki taka. Rather it appears to be a take on positional playing. In the early games under Xavi we see the players moving together to create passing avenues with less focus on passing and a greater focus on the movement of it. When done correctly positional play allows teams a flexible style of play with open passing lanes that create scoring chances. When Xavi first took over his implementation of this style worked excellently. Players moved synchronously passing and creating chances as a unit. There wasn’t much apparent flaw in this system until last season's wind down. Towards the end of the season Barcelona’s execution seemed off. Some blame it on their lack of league table competition for the club but a re-watch of the later games seems to highlight some flaws with Xavi’s plan.
The issue with positional play is it truly cannot happen overnight. It actually takes many nights to be able to get players to move in a rotating harmony. When looking at the club’s roster when Xavi first arrived the players had all been well versed in this strategy with many also having played together for years. This means the strategy not only caught on well but was executed well. Going into the 2022-23 season the roster did look different but in the earlier games key pivot points were dominated by the older players. As the season went on younger players were switched on for these roles more and more. A common criticism of the club's manager has been that he doesn’t play younger players. When looking at last season the reason becomes apparent. They simply don’t have the same experience playing this way. Normally this subtle passing of the torch works really well. The problem is this takes time, time Barcelona didn’t have. In recent games we see these younger players struggle with some aspects of positional play; however, the older players are out performed by these youngsters. Barcelona’s crisis boils down to a brilliant plan that seems to have come out half baked. So far this hasn’t held the team too far back but when having to face clubs that have greatly improved over the summer transfer window such as Real Madrid, the club’s rivals, their little mistakes will become much larger.
During the transfer window Barcelona signed some crucial players, most notably İlkay Gündoğan, the last minute João Felix, and João Cancelo. These three were crucial picks in an attempt to tighten up the clubs weak points. Especially now after the injuries of Araujo and Pedri. In the case of Gündoğan he has the added benefit of having played a form of positional play with Manchester City. The three have had a tangible positive impact on play. Despite the talent of the current lineup Barcelona has had a few questionable games. Winning the league the year before gives no guarantees and looking at last year, the club’s early season dominance helped carry them through to the later season dry spells. There’s give and take with every strategy but especially with positional play. If Barcelona wants to continue with “Xavi’s plan” it will take a few games at least to really get into the flow. A few games is an extremely optimistic outlook and it’s likely even after getting into the flow some results will be inconsistent for a while. However once Barcelona do get a solid hold on positional play they will be a dominant fixture. Sticking with Xavi and his plan seems the most likely path for the club as they’ve publicly talked about their intent to re-sign the current manager even past the latest extension. This faith seems to have been validated in the latest fixtures where we’ve seen major improvements be made by the club as newer and younger players find their rhythm.
Looking at any of the top clubs who are currently executing a positional play model we can see that they didn’t get where they are overnight. Often it takes a few seasons to get starting players into the flow. Clubs like Manchester City faced similar issues and are now one of the most dominant in Europe. No manager makes the right choices every time but ultimately Xavi seems to have a feasible plan to take the club back to its glory days. Barcelona doesn’t have a formation crisis, it's simply a club trying to rebuild.
