How much would Haaland change Xavi and Barcelona’s style of play?
Barcelona are on the up, with Xavi having turned the team’s situation around in just a few months. Not only are they winning again, but the Blaugrana are scoring again too, having net four goals in each of their past three games: 4-1 vs Valencia, 4-2 vs Napoli, 4-0 vs Athletic.
The next steps in this rebuild will be taken in the 2022 summer transfer market and president Joan Laporta has been clear in stating that Erling Haaland is the main target. If the Norwegian striker does move from Borussia Dortmund, though, how will he fit in with Barça’s style?
Xavi was asked about meeting with Erling Haaland ... 👀 pic.twitter.com/BMxWXwVp3F
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 5, 2022
Haaland is a special player, but he doesn’t have the famous “Barça DNA” that Xavi talks about so much. While Barcelona have played some false No.9s up front over the years, Haaland isn’t that. He is very much a true No.9.
At Borussia Dortmund, his job is to put the ball in the back of the net, a task he executes to near-perfection. It’s not expected for Haaland to take a leading role in the team’s build-up and, whenever he is involved in setting up goals for teammates, that’s usually on the counter attack.
You have to wonder, then, how Haaland would fit in at Barcelona, where they enjoy fewer counter-attacking opportunities and where they have a much more patient build-up. Xavi arrived with the promise of re-establishing the thrilling Barcelona football of the past and he is on the way to achieving this, even if there are some significant differences to the style used a decade ago when Xavi was on the pitch and Pep Guardiola in the dugout. The arrival of Haaland would certainly make Barcelona and their results better, but would it help or hinder Xavi in his mission to restore the Barça style?
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Haaland and the footsteps of Eto'o, Villa and Suárez
As much as Xavi wants players with “Barça DNA” in his team, the centre-forward position at Barcelona has become one area where the club imports ready-made stars. From Samuel Eto'o to David Villa to Luis Suárez, Barcelona have had success with centre-forwards who didn’t come through La Masia and who were signed first and foremost for their finishing ability.
In each of those three cases, though, Eto'o, Villa and Suárez learned on the job how to play the Barcelona way. Xavi the player won a Champions League with each of those strikers as his side’s centre-forward, so he knows better than anyone how players who arrive at the Camp Nou as pure centre-forwards can add new elements to their game and fit in.
Perhaps Haaland can be the next out-and-out centre-forward to arrive at Barcelona with the mission of scoring goals, before going on to become a master of juego de posición in the process.
