Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has been clear that while his side might have come away with three points from their battle with Real Sociedad, he will not settle for similar from his players again.
The Blaugrana scored in stoppage time through Ronald Araujo to steal a game in which they had been dominated for the first 75 minutes, struggling to deal with the Real Sociedad press and ball movement. Xavi was not content with his side, despite their win.
“We always summarise what happened. In terms of football, we lacked a lot of things. We lacked intensity that La Real put in, and the superiority. We must have more control of the game and that means using a more aggressive high press. Beyond the fact that Real Sociedad are a great team. In the end we had faith. The first half was not acceptable but without being good we reduced the disadvantage with Madrid and Atletico and hopefully that can be a turning point, above all in terms of intensity.”
Xavi was also content that he would be getting his injured players back, and said that they were bound to bring an improvement too.
“Surely we will notice their impact for the better. Pedri, Robert, Jules, Rafa are vital for the team beyond the level of football. We have been getting the best out of the games we could. If we are honest, against Real we did not do well in terms of play, against Madrid, yes, also against Athletic and Sevilla. Against Shakhtar, not the whole game, but I’m sure that with the return of these players we will improve.”
He was also asked if the aim was to put the play from the game against Real Madrid together with the results, but he was clear that his side would not play well every week.
“Putting things together is the ideal scenario but we know that it won’t happen in every game. We want to play excellent football and win by a landslide. This is the image we want but it won’t always happen. There is an opponent and we must find the formula. That won’t always happen, I will tell you that. They will make it difficult for us. It is a process and it will be difficult for us. From that ideal scenario, we will win things. We must continue to be humble and patient. There are very good moments of play and results and we must continue working on that path.”
His main objective was to see his side recover their identity.
“It’s not the goal. What we have to achieve is to dominate the game like in the Clasico, when we were good. But we cannot stop at the result there. We have to give it continuity. The goal is to play well and win.”
It has been a problem that has plagued Xavi throughout his time as Barcelona manager. In his first campaign, Barcelona played some excellent football after the arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, before drifting towards the end of the season. Last year they looked as if they had found the formula during the Spanish Supercup against Real Madrid, and even briefly this season, 5-0 wins over Real Betis and Royal Antwerp gave Culers reason for optimism. In spite of Xavi’s success last season though, sustaining their good play remains a tough challenge.
Having 8 key players injured and out of action at the same time can tend to have an effect on a club’s overall performance and consistency.
Xavi hasn’t been perfect, but he’s had to do an awful lot of juggling.