The death of a salesman Xavi edition – The big issue facing the Barca manager

Barcelona might win La Liga next season, but by accident not design. And that might seem like it’s fine, but ultimately, it means that a year down the line, Barcelona project to be in the same place as they are today.

Xavi Hernandez took 89 days to reverse his decision on his future, if we take him at his word, and in that time Barcelona did manage to ease past Napoli in the Champions League, but ultimately lost both ground in the title race, as well as El Clasico, to add insult to injury. It was the Real Madrid fans asking for Xavi to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The sudden collapse of a season that had been trending upward, simmering rather than coming to the boil, brought Xavi’s position firmly into focus, and saw Barcelona broadcast a degree of institutional uncertainty that would frighten even Joan Gaspart veterans. Not least the now multitude of investors Barcelona are both beholden to and seeking.

It was form consistent with the work of the players below the directors box – there was a four-month gap between Barcelona winning a game by more than one goal this season, and every match seemed on a knife edge. Swinging between disaster and heroics, Xavi outwardly lost his nerve: resigned, put a centre-back in midfield – to add to the three behind Andreas Christensen – and made it clear that he wasn’t the one to lead the Blaugrana forward. Whatever he had in his head, he could not transfer it to the pitch, in shrivelling contrast to the ease with which he directed play himself.

His exit he put down to… A lot of things. It seemed on that fateful night on the hill, when Xavi had stepped down from the lectern as leader, he had finally come to terms with the fact that whatever was going wrong, he was part of it. When he