Barcelona present Xavi Hernandez as new manager

In front of a contingent of supporters, Xavi Hernandez was officially presented as the new Barcelona manager at the Camp Nou.

President Joan Laporta accompanied the club legend where the contract was signed on the pitch. Xavi took the opportunity to say his first words as the new boss.

"“Well first of all I’m very emotional about how the fans have received me,” Xavi said. “I am really thankful to the club for the effort … I am really excited. I want to start working tomorrow morning.“Tomorrow morning we will start and I am really, really excited. I am back at home, we are in a tough situation in the club, financially, also we are not in out best sporting moment. But we have the ambition, we have to go together with all our fans, and we have to grow.”Source Diario AS"

The discourse from the new Barcelona manager was nothing but positive

One of the things that marked the Ronald Koeman era was the pessimism coming from the Dutchman in nearly every press conference or after every defeat. The way Xavi spoke was the complete opposite.

"“I have really clear ideas. In Al Sadd, in Qatar, it has worked a lot, with our rules, being a team, enjoy, train a lot … we have to be really excited and our idea, of course, some of our players already know it, and this is the best way to get good results. And results are going to mark our era, we are not in our best moment but we want to play good football and get good results. That’s our idea.”Source: Diario AS"

One of the concerns with Xavi’s appointment was despite the fact he left the club six years ago, a number of his teammates from his last season are still there. What’s more, they are veterans who carry a lot of weight.

The issue was brought up to the new manager but Xavi stated that knowing some of the veterans was an advantage. He knows their strengths but also knows their weaknesses.

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Another thing Xavi is going to establish is order in the dressing room. He made certain to stress there needs to be order, not discipline, as it was something integral when he was at Barcelona under Pep Guardiola.

"“I think at first, it’s important that we put rules in place and be more demanding with ourselves,” Xavi said when asked how he would try and turn things around.“After that, we can talk about values, about respect and attitude, because if we don’t have values, we don’t have a team. Then we can look at the model, how we play, how we attack, how we defend.“At the end of the day, the idea is the same as [Johan] Cruyff’s. My first defender is the striker and my first attacker is the goalkeeper. We have to work tactically, press high and dominate the ball.”Source: ESPN"

Xavi knows the poor state the club is in on the pitch. Recuperating and trying to ensure players who return from injury don’t relapse is also going to be a priority. Improving and instilling a new training regimen is a certainty.

Xavi’s arrival represents a new era for Barcelona. It is not a coincidence that Guardiola was also at the unveiling. There is a parallel there but it’s also a completely different situation. Xavi is going to have a lot more work to do considering he is coming in the middle of the season to a team stuck in midtable and low on confidence.

He said all the right things in his press conference and his enthusiasm spread to those supporters in attendance and around the world. The sense of optimism is back and that is something that was missing under Koeman.

Xavi is set to be in charge of the first training session on Tuesday morning. It is the international break so he’s only going to have a couple of first team players at his disposal.

Nevertheless, the work starts now. Barcelona must recover its identity. The Catalan Derby against Espanyol will be his first test.