Midfield great wants his players to have \u2018high standards\u2019 amid difficult times for Catalan club
\n MADRID
\nXavi Hernandez said Barcelona\u2019s players will have to play by his rules and raise their standards as the club\u2019s new coach laid down a firm message at his unveiling on Monday.
\nXavi was presented in front of almost 10,000 fans at Camp Nou before signing his contract on the pitch, alongside his family and Barca president Joan Laporta.
\nThe 41-year-old, who has returned to the club where he won eight La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues as a player, walked out to chants of \u201cXavi, Xavi\u201d from his adoring supporters.
\nLaporta said: \u201cToday will be an historic day for Barca.\u201d
\nDespite club debts of more than a billion euros ($1.16billion), Xavi is tasked with returning Barcelona to Europe\u2019s elite and recovering a style of play most associated with Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola.
\nBut in a press conference after the presentation ceremony, Xavi\u2019s main theme was less about style and more about substance, the Spaniard emphasising the first priority is to restore order.
\n\u201cIn the first moment it\u2019s important we put rules in the team, that\u2019s the first point,\u201d said Xavi.
\n\u201cThen we talk about values – respect, attitude, effort – if we don\u2019t have these values, we don\u2019t have a team.
\n\u201cAnd then we can look at models of play, how we defend and attack, but the rules come first.\u201d
\nBarcelona are ninth in La Liga and unlikely to be able to make significant signings any time soon.
\n\u201cI know that it is a difficult time, both economically and on the pitch,\u201d said Xavi.
\n\u201cBut I will ask the players to have high standards because we are Barca, the best club in the world.\u201d
\nAsked if his message meant he was going to be hard with the players, Xavi said: \u201cIt is not about being hard, but about order and rules, and the rules must be followed. When I had rules in the dressing room, things went well. Without rules, things have not gone so well. It is not about discipline, it is about order.\u201d
\nXavi\u2019s instrumental role in Guardiola\u2019s iconic Barcelona side has many at the club hoping that he can now follow in Guardiola\u2019s footsteps.
\n\u201cBeing compared to Guardiola is a victory, for everything he has given to football and Barca. For me he is the best coach in the world,\u201d said Xavi.
\nXavi brushed over whether he would like to coach Lionel Messi.
\n\u201cOf course,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd all the others, (Samuel) Eto\u2019o, Ronaldinho.
\n\u201cLeo sent me a message and wished me luck. We joked a bit and I wish him the best, he is the best player in the history of the club.
\n\u201cBut he\u2019s gone. We have the players we have and we have to work with them,\u201d he added.
\nThe most notable praise was reserved for Ousmane Dembele, the France forward who has suffered a string of injury problems in recent years and whose contract expires next summer.
\n\u201cHe can be the best player in the world in his position,\u201d said Xavi.
\n\u201cBut we have to work with him and demand it. It depends on him, on his mentality.\u201d
\nThere will also be scrutiny on the highly-paid and experienced players like Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. Xavi suggested he will rely on his veterans, many of whom he played alongside.
\n\u201cThe ones I know are the ones I\u2019m going to push the most,\u201d Xavi said.
\n\u201cI see it as an advantage, I know Gerard and Busi and Jordi and (Marc-Andre) Ter Stegen and Sergi (Roberto), they are the ones that have to pull the wagon.\u201d
\nXavi took over as coach of Al Sadd in Qatar in 2019 and said he has since turned down an approach from the Brazilian national team. He said there had been three occasions when he decided against coming back to Barca.
\n\u201cThe first two times it was in January and we didn\u2019t feel it, both as a family and personally, I needed more time,\u201d Xavi said.
\n\u201cThen it was in the summer but there was the presidential election in between, and there was a lot of uncertainty, it was not the moment.\u201d
\nXavi\u2019s priority this term will be to ensure Barcelona qualify for next season\u2019s Champions League by finishing in La Liga\u2019s top four.
\nThey also face a fight to make the last 16 of this season\u2019s tournament, with a crunch game away to Benfica to come later this month.
\nLaporta indicated Xavi would be given time to turn things around.
\n\u201cI would have liked to give him a better squad than the one we have,\u201d said Laporta.
\n\u201cHe will have our support if things go wrong and if they get worse, he will have our support until they go better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Midfield great wants his players to have \u2018high standards\u2019 amid difficult times for Catalan club MADRID Xavi Hernandez said Barcelona\u2019s players will have to play by his rules and raise their standards as the club\u2019s new coach laid down a firm message at his unveiling on Monday. Xavi was presented in front of almost 10,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n