Often when we see a play, read a book or watch television – there is a plot. A series of events that must unfold for it to reach a dramatic ending. An ending that leaves the audiences in tears perhaps or one that makes them scream from the beauty of it all. There are plotlines in football too and the master of those has now hung up his boots for his country. A metronome of passing, a man with a vision four moves ahead, a person off whom taking the ball was as impossible as keeping Romeo and Juliet apart.
That man was Xavi Hernandez. A diminutive Spaniard, Xavi is not the picture of the modern footballer who in all senses of the word is an athlete. Today’s footballers are tall, strong, well-built and have only one weakness – tearing a muscle in that oh so perfect body. For all intents and purposes, the Terrassa-born Xavi was never any of that. He’s a short and lean fellow – but one who can do things with a ball that others can only dream of.
Xavi is one of a generation of players coached at Barcelona’s La Masia – the seeds of which were sown by Johann Cruyff. A generation that above all else made love to the ball. Caressed it on the blades of grass, kissed it with their feet and moved it on to another artiste who could do the same. Today we see the likes of Arturo Vidal, Nigel De Jong and even at Barcelona, Javier Mascherano – they are midfield destroyers. By using harrowing, flailing arms or a slide into the back to regain possession and then play a slipshod pass to a team mate, they are the modern footballer personified. Well-built, largely reliant on strength over guile. Xavi is nothing like that, nor was he ever meant to be.
From day one at Barca, when he almost quit football because of the pressures of succeeding Guardiola, to the day his mentor returned and lavished praise like ‘He’s more complete than I ever was’, Xavi has been through it all with Barcelona and Spain. In 2008, after the ignominy of the 2006 World Cup for La Furia Roja, Luis Aragones rebuilt Spain and tweaked their style and at its beating heart was Xavi. A man who could for all intents and purposes be a midfield metronome. See moves developing ahead of him and either make the ball move to create space or play it through to create a chance. Surrounded by the burgeoning talents of the ilk of Andres Iniesta, David Silva, Fernando Torres and David Villa, Xavi became the fulcrum of a Spain side that many argue is the greatest national squad to have ever played as a collective. There are days when getting the ball off Xavi, even in training, have proven to be a loathsome task as he holds onto it with the tenacity of someone much larger but with the ability to play a deft one-two and create acres of space.