Xavi Hernandez and his team is trying to reverse the situation of disgust and annoyance left by the unexpected defeat against Shakthar Donetsk and the bad image given, despite the poor final victory, to Anoeta. The team was already ‘touched’ by the defeat at home in the Clásico, but at least that day the Barça team dominated the white team in the first half, which in the second step advanced and ended up beating the Catalans at the time of stop with a purpose Bellingham where there were at least two scoring errors by Barça.
On Wednesday, in his talk Xavi Together with his players, they discussed the team’s problems. The coach spoke but so did the players, including the captains. Ter Stegen and Araujoas well as two veterans with leadership skills, Lewandowski and Gundogan.
As MD learned, Xavi made a self-criticism about team play, taking part of the responsibility and made it clear that the level has been lowered in terms of advanced pressure (with special mention of poor positioning on the field when doing this), on ball release from behind and the development of goal situations.
For the players, the defeat against Real Madrid was a huge emotional blow and their confidence was ‘shaken’ because after a very good first half, they lost control of the game in the second and the game at the end.
One of the most important conclusions of the conversation in which the coach and footballers agreed is that we must think again about the team, about the collective. In the last games it was seen that the players were not as coordinated as they could be, that there was no necessary communication in this sense. And there, everyone agreed, we must improve because without communication there is no collective sense of the game.
Along these lines, there is also a framework to once again be a supportive, organized team that defends and attacks together and does not split up, as happened in various battles, for example against Shakthar.
It was decided that pressure should be intensively applied again after losing the ball and also when the opponent starts from behind, but in a block, not in parts, with separate and discontinuous lines. We must return, they agreed, to the roots of the team that won the League last season by being very supportive and very solid. We should see again those pictures where, after a corner in favor, if the ball is lost and the rival attacks, the whole team runs back to avoid the danger. We need to be a team again because, they point out, there are very good footballers in the squad but no stars who can decide a game by themselves in a brilliant way. Lewandowskifor example, is a good finisher but needs teammates to put good balls into place.
The players recognized that they must take a step forward in terms of responsibility and regain confidence at the mental level, each one is more demanding individually, more focused on each ball, in each rivalry. They insist that they should be more united and separated from what is said in other countries.
The players admitted that they did not play well, but in the group the last two games were also eliminated because in the League they were two points behind the eternal rivals, Madrid, and in the Champions League they were too dependent on themselves . Moreover, it is clear to them that they should not go crazy because the real situation is that there are very important players who are coming back from injuries and need to recover the rhythm of the competition, while there are others who are also important and loaded with a lot. minutes due to the absence of players who are on sick leave. In this sense, it is expected to pay off the loading of minutes when more important players such as Peter and De Jongwho is still on leave.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
