The changes coming to Xavi's captains at Barcelona
When Pep Guardiola joined Barcelona, the captains were Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and Valdes. Heart, talent, commitment and personality. Maybe the best quartet of captains the club has had. Today, Busquets is captain, with Alba, Pique and Sergi Roberto behind him. I don’t want to get into comparisons. Because they are odious and often painful. But it’s clear these four have nothing to do with their predecessors. They only coincide in terms of being homegrown. However, the new coach must use them to help reconstruct the team.
They were team-mates, and in some cases, close friends. They know each other perfectly, strengths and weaknesses. Xavi knows more than one of them is on Laporta’s black list. And was close to leaving last summer. But in the end the revolution did not happen in full, and the four captains remain. Xavi must live with them. And demand more from them than the rest. For what they earn, for their veteran-ship, and because they were team-mates. Xavi knows they have the quality to add to the new project, but only if they are committed and thinking only about Barça.
That’s where Xavi has to manage Pique’s vision of professionalism. The rules of the new coach are in absolute contradiction with the defender’s rhythm of life. He has already had to cancel appearances on El Hormiguero and at the Davis Cup presentation. Pique seems like he has understood. And yesterday he was the first to arrive at training, when he’s usually one of the last. To be a captain you have to be an example. On and off the pitch. Above all off it. Some of his attitudes in recent years, permitted by presidents and coaches, do not fit the code at Barça now. Nobody can question Pique’s Barcelonismo, but his dedication to football exclusively can be. With Xavi on the bench that will change. It has to.
