Luis Enrique’s former assistant on Xavi’s Barcelona: “They didn’t have this level of confidence since our time”

Speaking in an interview with MARCA, former Barcelona assistant manager and ex-Spain head coach Robert Moreno has claimed that the Blaugrana seem to be heading in the right direction under Xavi Hernandez.

Moreno spent three years at Barça between 2014 and 2017, serving as the assistant to then-manager Luis Enrique.

After that, the 46-year-old also served as Enrique’s assistant with the Spanish national team before taking over the job himself for a brief period. Since then, Moreno also had stints with AS Monaco and Granada as the head coach.

On Barcelona under Xavi

The former Barcelona assistant manager was asked about what he thought of the club under Xavi, to which he replied:

“I see it as a good thing. Despite the Fair Play circumstances, an excellent job has been done. Nobody could have thought that they would end up with such a complete squad.

“I like Xavi, he has the tactical ability to change things during the game and to prepare for them. He knows the club. He’s going to do well and will be a candidate for the title like Madrid.”

When asked if he ever foresaw the possibility of Xavi becoming a manager, Moreno replied: “Yes, I could see it. I remember once when he was our player and it was his last year at Barça, we were walking to the coach and I said to him: ‘How difficult it’s going to be when you become coach.’

“He asked me why. “Because you’re not going to have Andrés Iniesta or you”. But look, now Gavi and Pedri are coming along and they bring a huge amount of talent to the table. Your talent as a coach is not enough, without players it’s impossible.”

The former Barcelona assistant also commented on breakthrough prodigy Lamine Yamal and how Xavi is handling the youngster, saying: “Lamine has an enormous talent. He is differential, but he is 16 years old and needs to improve a lot of things.

“Only Xavi knows what happens to Lamine on a day-to-day basis, whether he has physical issues, personal issues, or anxiety. Xavi is going to do what is best for the kid and for himself.”

On Barça’s UCL woes

Moreno was at Barça during the time when their last success in the UEFA Champions League came. Since then, it has not always been smooth sailing for them in Europe’s premier competition.

With a huge game against FC Porto coming up for Barcelona later this week, Moreno was quizzed about the Catalans’ chances in the Champions League.

“In the Champions League the team will go through the group stage because the opponents are not the same as in other years,” Moreno said.

“Bear in mind that in the previous season, one of them was the finalist and the other was Bayern who at that time were at a great level. It was not easy to get through the group.”

The former Spain boss also cited the injuries that Barcelona had to deal with last season which played a part in their group-stage exit, saying:

“Also, during the group stages, there were several injuries at the back with Araujo and Koundé. Now the squad is better to deal with injuries like that. They’ll get through the group stage and then it depends a lot on who they play.

“There are very strong opponents. Madrid you can never count out, City are the champions, I want to see how PSG and Mbappé are, Bayern are strong, with Kane they have changed a lot of things…. And Barça could be one of the candidates for the Champions League.”

Moreno was also asked about Barcelona’s woes in away matches in the Champions League, to which he responded by saying:

“Well, I don’t have an answer. These are things that happen and that can be created in the players’ heads and condition them. You are with that rumble in the head that can affect you. I think it will change.”

But Moreno insisted that the team was showing a great level of confidence of late, pointing out the 5-0 win over Real Betis as an example, as he said: “The team is at a level of confidence that it hasn’t had since our time. Maybe a little with Valverde, but no more.

“The other day against Betis they played a great game and you could see how the team was flowing. And they haven’t had that high level of confidence for a long time.”

On the new signings and their impact

In a short time at the club, Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo have already become important players for Xavi’s Barcelona. When asked to give his two cents about the impact that the two Portuguese internationals have had, Moreno said:

“Even if it goes against the grain, I think Cancelo is more important than Joao Félix despite his goals and assists. What Cancelo is giving is something really uncontrollable for opponents because he doesn’t play as a full-back, he plays whatever he wants.”

But he did warn that Cancelo’s style could be an issue defensively for Barça, something that Celta Vigo and Mallorca tried to exploit over the last week.

“I’m also telling you that it’s something that Xavi has to control because both Benítez and Aguirre set up the game for him to counter-attack against two defenders, something that didn’t happen last year because Koundé didn’t go up so much. The structure was not good and Busquets was missed,” he said.

Moreno also sang praises of Ilkay Gundogan, highlighting how his game oozes quality and simplicity, as he said:

“He’s a player who does a lot of things well, but hardly any of them are very eye-catching. He’s like Busquets, who doesn’t attract a lot of attention, but everything he does is excellent.

“Gundogan has a last pass, a goal, a second line arrival, he doesn’t lose the ball, he helps to press…. But he doesn’t have the dribbling of Lamine, the finishing of Lewandowski or the passing of Joao Felix.

“He does it without so much flair, with an apparent Zidane-like simplicity. He is a player that any coach wants to have in his team.”