La Liga coach defends Xavi amid Barcelona’s poor form: “He needs time”

Villarreal manager Unai Emery has praised Xavi for the work he has done since being appointed Barcelona’s manager in November 2021, saying that the former midfielder needs some time to get things in order at Camp Nou.

Despite being at the club for almost a year, Xavi has largely failed under crunch circumstances, losing against Bayern Munich, Inter and Real Madrid this season alone. And for the second season running, the 42-year-old is starring down at the possibility of being demoted to the Europa League.

Regardless of that though, Emery says Xavi has the full support of the backroom management and the club will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

“Xavi has very broad shoulders. He is doing a great job. He has been at the club for a year and will need time to settle it. He has the support and the patience of the club to do it. They have a lot of security internally, beyond the noise generated by the press and the environment,” Emery is quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

Emery added that he does not want to see the best version of Barcelona on Thursday. He explained that although the Catalan-based team is coming on the back of consecutive defeats, they will want to return to winning ways and this makes them even more dangerous.

“The best version of Barcelona is tremendous. We are going to try not to see the best version of FC Barcelona. We want to be optimistic from the regularity that we want to find.”

He also explained that he is looking at the fixture in two possible ways. “The pessimistic one in which Barcelona’s ability is revealed and it’s a game in which, even if you play well, it’s difficult to achieve something. 

“Or we can focus on the great challenge that it entails, bringing out all your personality, being above the qualities that they can have and face it with the optimism of enjoying the match and going for the result.

Adding further, the Villarreal coach said that in order to score against Barcelona, his men will have to show solid character by winning the duels.

“We have to compete well, have character, personality and the ball. We have to win duels to go for their goal. 

They will look for us one against the wings and they have Lewandowski who is a born scorer. We have a good experience of last season, but tomorrow it will be a great challenge,” he added.