Xavi, a coach with the winning habit

28 May 2019 was the start of a brand new era in Xavi Hernández’s life. He became head coach of Al-Sadd and the two and a half years that followed have brought nothing but success.

In 102 games in charge of the Qatari club, the Catalan has an impressive 67-17-18 record. That’s a 65.68% win record.  

All this has resulted in an impressive haul of seven trophies, which were all part of the learning curve for a newcomer to the managerial role. Al-Sadd won the Qatar Stars League in 2020/21, where the famous Barça style was very apparent in the way the team played as they marched to an incredible run of 36 games without defeat. 

The team is all about building plays based on possession, moving forward from defence with the ball on the ground, and always seeking for the right pass to the forwards and immediately applying tight pressure whenever control was lost. 

"My philosophy as coach reflects the style we developed for so many years under Johan Cruyff and at La Masia” said Xavi on the day he retired as a player. “I love to see teams take the initiative on the field, playing attacking football and returning to the essence of the kind of football I played as a kid – the possession game.”

And that is exactly what he has achieved at Al-Sadd. And now it’s time to take things up a level, and do the same at his beloved FC Barcelona.