Despite a recent decline in performance, FC Barcelona sporting director Deco believes Xavi Hernandez is still the “perfect coach” for the team. Xavi led Barca to the La Liga title last season, his first full season in command since taking over in 2021. But results this year have intensified the strain on his position. There have been a lot of question marks on his position at the club. This has been a question posed by the fans. But it seems like Barcelona has not lost an ounce of belief on their legend.
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Deco believes that Xavi is the right coach for FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona have already surrendered points in the league against Getafe, Mallorca, and Granada. While two defeats in their last four games, against Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk, have sparked outrage in the media.
On Sunday, the Catalans battled back from a goal down to defeat Alaves 2-1. But, as was the case at Real Sociedad the week before, despite winning the match Xavi admitted the performance was a long way short of what is expected at the club.
Deco spoke to Diario Sport on Monday and said, ‘Xavi has our total confidence. 200% guaranteed. I have no doubt that Xavi is the best manager for FC Barcelona. He accepted the challenge of taking over at a difficult moment and he’s the perfect coach to carry out the reconstruction we are undergoing.’
Xavi took over as manager of Barça two years ago, when the club was tenth in La Liga. Last season, he led FC Barcelona to their first league title in four years after ascending the standings to win Champions League football in 2021-22.
Deco also said, ‘We won the league after a period in which people said it would take years for FC Barcelona to win La Liga again. Do not forget, we also lost the best player ever. Leo [Messi] is not here anymore and we thought it would be a big drama until we returned to winning [trophies].’
He continued, ‘A generation of players have left Barça, players like [Sergio Busquets]. I’d like to have another Busi. We had Jordi Alba, [Gerard] Pique, emblematic players…This whole process, for a coach, is difficult to manage. Xavi has achieved it. We have renewed his contract. The confidence in him is 100%, 200%.’
Deco also said that they definitely want to improve. FC Barcelona’s sporting director said, ‘Now, do we want to improve? Do we want to play better? Of course. We can’t hide that, we can’t say that’s not the case, that we don’t want a more attractive team. It’s another thing to know why we are not hitting that level. We know we’ve not had all the players [available]; little by little we have been getting them back.’
Deco gives update on Barcelona players
FC Barcelona’s sporing director, Deco also gave an update on a couple of players of their squad. Talking about Robert Lewandowski, he said, ‘Lewandowski has a contract and we are very happy with him. He’s one of the leaders of the team. I’m also sure there’s no issue between Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal. He’s the first one defending him.’
Deco also spoke about their two Joao’s who are on loan with them, Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix. He said, ‘We want to keep both Joãos next season and for the future. We have zero doubts, we want to keep both João Félix and Cancelo also next season and for the future. They’re key players for us, they’re happy here. It’s still early now but we will think about the negotiation.’
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He also spoke on FC Barcelona’s new signing, Vitor Roque, who is supposed to arrive in January. Deco said, ‘We want Vitor Roque to come as soon as possible. We are doing everything to have him in January — we know the regulations of La Liga, we are on it.’
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