After beating Real Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti by a staggering margin in the Spanish national derby, Barcelona have extended their unbeaten record to 12 in all of their current matches, with the Ross and The Ross scoring four goals in six of the last 11 games, averaging more than 65% of the possession per game.
The numbers themselves are certainly surprising, but if the discerning person sees the ball game scene, under the leadership of Harvey, the recovery of this Catalan capital team is extremely obvious, and the centripetal force of the team has a qualitative improvement under the leadership of Harvey, although there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially on the defensive end, but this team seems to be completely different from the team at the beginning of the season.
The Ross and Blues have shown their ambition, initiative and personal style of playing on the pitch, and after a few years of disastrous experience at the club, Barcelona now looks like the stadium giant their fans once saw; they are passive when they fall behind, the away performance is extremely difficult, and the psychological pressure of every important event is so great that the game is in trouble or even reversed, these are the team problems that Xavi is steadily burying.
La Masia's talent pool has never been a problem since the construction of the godfather Cruyff, but it still needs to be understood by the coach to make their talent blossom, how some promising young people play their best side, which tests the manager's usual training and the ability to line up on the field, the cohesion of the team is also indispensable, all players are willing to fight for themselves, the team and the coach, some values are intangible and uncountable, in short, this 4-0 victory night let everyone see the determination of this group of people.
Taking the reins from Ronald Koeman, Harvey kept planning a blueprint for this team, bringing in his own team is a starting point, first pulling the team he has played for since childhood back from the edge of the cliff, changing course is basic, returning to glory is the process, and building a team that is comparable to Cruyff, Rijkaard, Guardiola, Luis Enrique and other popular teams around the world is the ultimate goal.
"Barca have always been a winning team when everything is in order," he made clear at his first press conference as Barca coach. "We believe the best way to win is to play well." Harvey said: "We played happy attacking football, no luck speculation, open-airing, with the dominant ball and knowing how to make good use of space. ”
Ronald Koeman's last six games as a coach of Barca's first team, the team averaged 63% of the ball per game, but the record of these six games was only two wins and four losses, and the loyal fans of the Red and Blues were often disappointed by the situation that they lost because of their superior possession, but this script seems to have changed since Xavi came to Camp Nou, the 11 games before the national derby, Barca's average possession rate is more than 2% higher than under Ronald Koeman, the most important difference is that Xavi's Barcelona won eight of them, Having lost no other games, Harvey rekindled the team's ability to tackle tough problems and transformed them from a club ridiculed at the beginning of the season into a frightening force.
Of course, there are more and bigger challenges ahead, such as the Europa League quarter-finals, the semi-finals and even the final, sitting on three sides to grab the la Liga crown in the first place, any road is a very difficult task for the rebuilding Barca, however, Barca is now full of many positive signals, and Xavi's Barcelona has passed many rigorous tests so far.
Guardiola coached Barcelona to label the team "Tiki-taka" in recent years, some people say that Guardiola brought it to Manchester City, others think that too many big-name signings and the club's traditional pulling of the youth will create a gap, no matter which angle cuts, after Ronald Koman's rectification and Xavi's tuning, Barca's recent performance is enough to make fans proud, especially against Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Napoli, Bilbao, Osasuna, and the latest match against Real Madrid.
Pedri and Garvey's ability to suddenly move forward in midfield control, Frenki De Jong's ability to cross vertically through the opponent's defensive line, Busquets continues to do what he has been doing for a decade: controlling the rhythm and handling of each game, the stability of the midfield is the catalyst for this revival; Xavi himself is the master of the midfield, and the top one, his coaching has brought new vitality to the Barca midfield, that mastery and fluency have not been seen for a long time, and the midfield has always supported the existence of the lower limit of this team. The once familiar Red and Blues are back.
In the DNA of This Club of Barcelona, it is not enough to win just to win, but also to win with personality, playing offensive football dominated by me, the team has lost this identity for many years, against Real Madrid has not won in the past five games, Xavi has taken over a club that is in a dilemma in performance and finances, and it is a difficult task to insist on the revival of faith.
With four players on board and four others leaving in january's winter window, Harvey's reinforcements are not unsuccessful in terms of outcomes.
With the return of club legends Alves and La Masia academy-born Adama Traore, their passion for their old clubs has been reflected in the appreciated on-field content of the pair's several games since the beginning of 2022.
Adama Traore scored only one goal in 23 games for Wolves in the First Half of the 2021-22 season, but after returning to his hometown, the Adama Traore-born winger contributed 4 assists in the first six games, the threat of the attack is obvious, strong physique, outstanding instantaneous explosiveness, coupled with agile footsteps, defenders on the pitch feel oppressive and normal, although the shooting skills still need to be pondered, the passing accuracy also needs to be improved, but with systematic tactical cooperation, He is still competent for a coordinated pass in advance.
The arrival of Alves has enhanced the tactical richness of the team on the right side, although not as fast as Dester, but the awareness and grasp of the ball is still first-class, only the weaknesses of the defensive end need to be made up by the team's tactical backcourt, but the return of the 38-year-old Brazilian to this team is still more beneficial than harmful overall; and when fans watch Alves galloping on the pitch, the nostalgia with club heritage is like the slogan of Barca's team: "More than just a club." ”
The performances of Ferran Torres and Aubameyang proved why the team should sign them, and their threatening presence on the offensive end has increased Barca's ability to score a lot.
Although it was not the first choice, Aubameyang scored 9 goals for Barcelona in 11 games after joining, fully understood the timing of entering the danger zone, effectively attracted defenders and pulled them, although there was no complicated tactical coordination straight up and down, but the excellent shooting smell, the ability to attack the goal has not been lost, coupled with the superb anti-offside running, the national derby debut was staged a second time with 1 assist, after the hard battle baptism of Aubameyang's performance in Barca so far has surprised most fans and even shot the case.
Despite the lack of goal-scoring performance in front of goal by 22-year-old Ferran Torres, the presence of running awareness on the offensive end cannot be underestimated, and the ability to open up space or create opportunities for teammates is clearly visible, the former Manchester City striker has rebounded brilliantly after missing a string of chances in the Europa League against Napoli, the national derby has also contributed 1 shot and 1 pass, and the confident Espanyol has contributed 6 goals and 5 assists in 14 games, the point is that Ferran Torres is still very young, There is still room for improvement in the footwork of the archery.
Looking back at the pre-season when Messi and Griezmann left the team, and barcelona's road to reconstruction was long and endless, who would have thought that after Xavi took over only one winter window transfer period, Barca's weather at this moment has been renewed, and the thriving moment has a feeling of dreaming of the first season of the second season in early 2004.
There are reports that Barca will have Frank Casey next season to help, recruiting Haaland may also be a goal, but no matter who Laporta brings in, in Xavi's mind is these blueprints for running in red and blue jerseys, and the use of Araujo and trust Dembele has also been rewarded in the high-tension game of the national derby, Xavi seems to have a share of the instruction manual that belongs to these players, and how to present the value of these players on the pitch is the responsibility of the manager.
Xavi has done a good job so far, the Barca star in the management, planning and execution of the managerial position, so that red and blue fans have reason to believe that a competitive team is back, Xavi seems to be the helmsman of Barcelona's next generation of dream team, at least, on the road, the players are beginning to say with confidence: "We are back." ”