In interviews with Catalan sports papers El Mundo Deportivo and Sport, Barcelona midfielder Xavi (28), who can tomorrow play his 100th European game with Barcelona, also talked about the present.
Which progress did you make as a player over the last years?
I feel better what the team needs at a certain moment, if you have to play faster, to push more forward, to touch the ball one or two times.
You feel more pressure now you have been elected MVP of the European championships?
Now I'm even more motivated to keep on being important at this club. Maybe the fans will ask more from me but I like challenges. At Barcelona there has always been pressure. The only thing I notice is that the opponents are now more aware of me and cover me better when I go forward.
What is the comment that has hurt you the most over the years?
That I don't feel the colours. I've read that and it hurt me a lot. Maybe some could be up there with me but there's no one who is more 'culé' than I am. I know you cannot be loved by everyone but still... They have also always said that I was too horizontal but people houldn't forget that I grew up playing as 'pivote' (creative midfielder before the defense) and from that position it's more difficult to give an decisive pass.
Alves and yourself are the only players who have started all games. You feel you're a fixed starter?
No, nobody is vital in football. But I do feel very respected and very comfortable in Barcelona.
You are responsible for taking the corner kicks. There are now more possibilites than last season?
Before we had one strategy, which was getting the ball to the first post for Márquez to head it. Now, with Guardiola and Vilanova, we're working with more options and we already scored some goals.
This was the first part. You can read a second part here tomorrow, with Xavi talking, amongst other things, about Guardiola and the Shakhtar game.
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13 comments:
Scary reading that they only had one tactic at the corners last year :S.
No doubt that Xavi is extremely important to the team. When he plays bad, 2nd half againts Betis, the whole team plays poor. I also think that he has devoloped his plaing the last year. From always plaing the safe ball he now looks for the killer pass behind the defense alot more. Faboulous pas to Henry against Espanyol at the first goal.
I loved that Marquez quote, by the way.
That's what I have been saying over the last two years with every corner we've taken: "Do they really have only this one strategy: looking for Marquez' head???!!!" Apparently they had... :)))
I love this guy. I really do.
Hehehe! Yep, that's one thing we won't miss. The impotens att corners. Now I feel a bit optimistic when Barca creates a corner. Previous seasons I used to think that the best thing were to aim fore Valdés, and begin from the start again. =)
Xavi just makes football seem so beautiful.
I know in 10 years when he's not playing we're going to look back and reminisce on how wonderful it was to watch him play.
Pep keep up the good work. The amount of work you put into this is amazing. I don't know where you get the time.
Also for stat tracking, there's a Wikipedia page for Barca's 2008-2009 season. It's not always up to date but it might be a nice starting point. I keep seeing people bug you about statistical info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Barcelona_season_2008-09
The new plan is, James: set the buggers (although I don't feel it like that, it's good people give their opinion) to work. We're gonna make our own stats and they're gonna be the best around! Coming soon...
"pivote (creative midfielder before the defense)"
Isn't the pivote the defensive midfielder?
The pivote was a kind of playmaker playing not behind the strikers (the classical number ten) but playing before the back four on the position of the defensive midielfder.
Rijkaard took the pivote away half-way his first season and brought in a real "defensive" midfielder (guys like Marquez, Edmilson, Touré played there under Rijkaard).
i love xavi, he is immense, glad to see that he is finally starting to get the credit he deserves from those outside barca.
i guess guardiola was the pivote when he played, pep do you reckon that he is grooming busquets to resurrect that role, as defensvely yaya is probably more effective but sergio is more skillfull and better passer?
btw pep let me know about your 2nd comment here.. i added some thoughts..
I'll get back to you, kempe!
Before the season that was my big question, sjp: will the pivote be back, but apparently not. There were some rumours about Guardiola having plans to pull Iniesta back one line and play hom at that position but that's not the case.
Busquets is like making the opposite movement as Iniesta or Xavi. While the latter two grew up as pivote but have now moved up the pitch, Busquets actually was more an attacking midfielder and is now being pulled back. With a lot of playmaking qualities higher up the field, I doubt the pivote will be back like we used to know it.
Guardiola was actually a perfect Pivote - now that I am talking about it, I miss those old days,I was too young and that was the time when my Barcelona obsession started to grow...
But with all the changes in the game, and keeping in mind that Barcelona play the 4-3-3, I think a pure DM is crucial for the stability of the team.
One thing for sure, no team in the world create as many players having that quality as Barcelona, it seems like The Cuba cigar, of the game.
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