Xavi Hernandez reveals secrets of Barcelona's success
Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has opened the door to the club’s training academy to reveal the secrets behind the club’s enormous success over the last few years.
The Catalan giants have won the last two La Liga titles and enjoyed an incredible year in 2009, which saw them lift no fewer than six trophies. While most clubs would achieve such success in the modern-day era through expensive signings and bringing in a
manager with a proven track record, Barcelona has done it the hard way, through developing their own players and coach.
Xavi has been at the beating heart of the Barcelona midfield for years and told
Champions, the UEFA Champions League magazine, how he had learned his trade at Barca’s academy La Masia, claiming that a philosophy of playing well had been drilled into him from a young age.
"I was 11 when I arrived, and the football philosophy of this club was drilled into me from the off. The most important thing is a willingness to learn. The philosophy is that the result is not important. We were taught to play triangles and move the ball
around."
“You pick up good habits like learning the strengths of your teammates and always playing with your head up. Playing intelligently, passing to the right foot of a right-footed player or the left of a player who prefers the left. Before you get the ball you
have to know what you are going to do with it. You can see the results of that development, with eight or nine key players in the Barcelona first team having come through the ranks. They are the base on which the team is built."
Other prominent graduates of the academy include Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique (though his first club as a professional was Manchester United), Bojan Krkic and current FIFA World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi. Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas has also come through
the youth set-up.
With the exception of Messi, all of those players have gone on to claim international honours with Spain, as the national team is the reigning world and European champion, having won the UEFA 2008 European Football Championship and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
First-team manager Pep Guardiola also came though the ranks as a player. While he left the club to play for various teams in Italy, Qatar and Mexico, he returned to coach the Barcelona B team before stepping up to take charge of the senior team in 2008.
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