Barça’s X factor

THE boy from Terrassa was just 11 when he turned up at Barcelona’s Masia training school and received his first lesson in what the club expected from him.

“I remember it well,” says Xavi Hernandez. “It was shaking hands. I was a kid from a small town, and I wasn’t used to it. I thought it was a thing that grown-ups did. But Juan Manuel Asensi, who was responsible for youth coaching back then, explained to me that you should shake hands with everyone: team-mates, opponents, the referee, the man in the stores. To start with my fingers were bruised but then I got used to it.”

Tonight in Milan, Xavi can expect to receive a few more bruises, and not to his hands. For he is the player targeted for special treatment by Inter in their bid to reach the Champions League final for the first time. Close down Xavi, believes Jose Mourinho, and you are half way to stopping Barcelona tick.

Xavi doesn’t agree.

“More than anything else I’m a midfielder. In football the glory belongs to goalscorers, and all things considered that’s fair enough.

“I am a passer: the effectiveness of my game depends on the fact that my team-mates are in the right positions. On my own I’m not enough.”

In the past there were those in Spain who saw him as a luxury player. Now he’s become central to the way both Barcelona and Spain play. He puts it down to a change in his role, but also to the fact that the team is more successful.

“I was playing deeper previously, in the holding position like Yaya Toure or Sergio Busquets do now. It’s a tremendously important role, but people wanted me to lay on assists and from that position it was impossible.

“Then Frank Rijkaard came along and asked me to play 10-15 yards further forward. At the beginning I was a bit doubtful about it. I was concerned by the fact that I couldn’t see play developing in front of my face. But in hindsight it’s obvious he was right.

“Then we began to play well and win. While the collective wasn’t functioning I was considered useless; when it all started to gel, the individual awards poured in. I’ve matured but not to the extent to change the judgments about me so radically. Maybe it has to be one thing or the other for the critics.”

It is not false modesty that makes him speak this way.

“You want to know the truth? I’ve always felt very sure of myself as a player. But I’ve also been lucky with coaches. Van Gaal, Serra Ferrer, Rijkaard – but above all Aragones and Guardiola.”

For many, Xavi is now the player who most typifies the Barcelona style. But he says this is something that is drummed into everyone at the club from the moment they arrive at Masia.

“There’s one key word: responsibility. When you have the ball you must guard it as though it were your child. For the way we play, losing the ball is the worst thing that can happen. For the most part in training we don’t even have goals: they are sessions of keep-ball.”

His partnership with Andres Iniesta and the way the two link up with Lionel Messi enables them to put that philosophy into practice when it comes to games.

“Andres is fantastic. He never loses the ball, he’s quick, he’s intelligent, he creates superiority, he always provides an outlet during the game. Really it’s a sort of telepathy with him, I don’t need to look to know where to find him. It’s a privilege to play alongside him.

“Messi is just crazy. I’ve never seen anyone like him on the pitch. He has it all: shooting, speed off the mark, speed, dribbling, physical strength, he can even head the ball despite his lack of height. They’ve tried to compare him with others: Aguero, Robben, Cristiano Ronaldo. None of them can touch him.”

The other factor, says Xavi, is management continuity. It’s a complete contrast with Real Madrid.

“Real’s problem is that for the past 20-25 years they have nearly always opted for foreign coaches, each of whom had his own ideas which often didn’t coincide with what was being taught in the academy.

“By contrast at Barca since the time of Cruyff we’ve only had our own coaches or those from a similar school such as Ajax. And that’s why Real Madrid have to bring out the cheque book every summer. Because ours is the way to win and they don’t have the patience to adopt it themselves.”