Exactly How GOOD Was Xavi Hernandez, Really?

in 1999 an 18 year old kid would be pulled out of fc barcelona's youth program lamacia and placed as a starter on the men's team where he was expected to replace their injured captain and help save the season for mediocrity sounds crazy right well you're not alone many fans and even some players thought the exact same after all to many outsiders looking in the kid was too small too slow and too weak to play against grown men however that kid would go on to shock the entire country by helping barsa win the late title that year and eventually go on to influence and dominate the footballing world for nearly a decade being remembered as one of if not the greatest midfielder in history his name was javi hernandez until this very day he continues to save barcelona for mediocrity so let's take a look at how godly chavy really was as a player and how he is once again saving barcelona by using his football genius as their coach [Music] javi had footballing dna since he was born probably more so than many other footballing legends his father owned a small local youth club in his hometown and he would be surrounded by the game ever since at the age of 11 fc barcelona scouts had spotted him playing and offered him a chance to be in their prestigious youth program lamacia a place where many footballing legends would be bred one day charlie's youth coach and mentor juan villa asked pep guardiola who was a starter at barcelo's men's team at the time to watch chavy in his training and after witnessing in play guardiola came over to juan villa and jokingly said i should watch out because chavi is going to take my place in the first team and ironically enough unknown to any of them at the time that's exactly what would eventually happen once javi would reach the right age he would finally get a chance to shine bars's coach at the time louis van gaal once said i see everything in this kid and i'm gonna put him in the team immediately he's more than good enough so i don't care about his age so in 1998 at just 18 years old chavi would make his senior team debut while scoring the only goal in a win against mallorca before that match barcelona were 10th in league standings however by the end of the season barcelona would finish as league as champions with a teenager playing a huge role in their success he would then become a national sensation and be named the la liga breakthrough player of the year javi was quite small and slow but what he lacked physically he made up for with his insane footballing iq passing and play making former teammate ballon d'or winner and brazilian legend rivaldo recalls javi being incredibly good especially for his age so much so that he said it was obvious he would have a great career and credits him as one of the most important players for barcelona's success that season also saying chavi kept it simple moving at almost walking pace but as soon as he got the ball he knew what to do with it and almost never lost possession chavy was a natural leader even at a young age and had insane positional sense on the pitch always knowing where everyone was including his opponents almost as if he had eyes in the back of his head or a full 360 view like a chameleon he was so comfortable with the ball that all his teammates trusted him to make the right play and advance the offense and when you have legends like rivaldo and luis figo having such high trust and praise for an 18 year old kid you knew he was special and just like how chavy was always watching where everyone was on the pitch sometimes when you're online someone's always watching you too whether it be your government or other unwanted parties and unlike javi they might not be trying to assist you thankfully today's sponsor nordvpn can be the ultimate teammate and watch your back by protecting your private information wherever you go have you ever wanted to see football clips stream matches or look at any online videos or movies but see that it's restricted for your location or region football is a game that's loved by people from all over the world but they might not be able to freely enjoy watching online because of where they're from nordvpn lets you access data from your laptop phone or whatever device you have from anywhere in the world and use the internet as if you were actually in that country this lets you access and unblock websites and contents that you might not usually be able to see for example premier league content is only available to the us and certain european countries but with nordvpn i can move my location to the uk and watch with no problem from sports youtube videos and even geography locked netflix shows that are only available in certain countries with nordvpn you can see it anytime and anywhere you are they also help hide your ip and information from hackers and unsecured websites and networks so you know you're always safe no matter where you go plus nordvpn is also the fastest in the market so your devices are always running at a maximum speed and finding the best instant connections worldwide so make sure you go to nordvpn.comramar or click the link in the description to try it for yourself for risk-free for 30 days with a money-back guarantee so you have nothing to worry about thanks to nordvpn for sponsoring this video javi would slowly begin to revolutionize not only his club but his country as well the following summer chalvi would make history by becoming the first spanish team to win an international fifa tournament winning the u-21 world championships where he was his country's most valuable player and just a year after in 2000 he would help spain win silver in the 2000 olympics maybe it wasn't a big deal for the rest of the world back then but for spain it was a slight preview of things to come and the beginning of their golden generation of footballers ever since pep guardiola's injury in the 1999-2000 season chavy became barsa's main playmaker being handed the keys to the offense in your club or country at the age of 18-19 is an incredibly rare opportunity but chavy was one of those incredibly rare generational talents after a few years of disappointing seasons with multiple managerial changes and identity crisis for the club in 2004 frank ricard would take the helm as a club manager and barcelona would finally find a style of play and were slowly becoming a force to be reckoned with bringing in the dawn of their golden era that year at age 23 chavez would be named barcelona's co-captain a sign that showed just how important he was for the squad helping them win the spanish super cup and league title once more while being named the 2005 spanish player of the year then in the 2005-2006 season barcelona would famously win the champions league title the la liga title and spanish super cup and become one of the most feared clubs across europe and despite how star-studded their lineup was with players like prime ronaldinho and prime samuel etto chavi was the heart of the offense carlos puyol describes it best when he said when chavi was on the pitch the match revolved around him he knew how to manage the tempo of the game and knew what the team needed at the moment whether to play with pace or keep control of the ball even samuel etto recalls saying what stood out to me was it didn't matter what kind of ball was fired into him he would always control it and always make a good pass he made it look so simple and finally andres iniesta one of his longest teammates said chavi made playing alongside him straightforward and easy for everyone he made the difficult things look simple and that's not an easy thing to do in football and indeed it isn't watching chavi play he might even make you think that you can do what he's doing but trust me you can't he was as unique as they come this was the time that chavi really began to revolutionize the midfield and how teams played football and in 2008 chavi would finally get recognized as one of the greatest maestros in the world before the 2008 european tournament few gave spain any real chance at winning but for those who knew the spanish players and the quiet revolution that was happening in the way football was being played in spain they knew la roha would shock the world with javi leading the way alongside iniesta and david silva the world would begin to know just how much power the midfield in holding possession really had they took the world by surprise with their style of play dominating teams despite their lack of size and athletic ability relying on pure skill technique and intelligence that 2008 spanish team would win spain's first ever major european title in almost half a century and finally the world would be well aware of the golden generation of spanish footballers led by the core of their team chavi who was named the 2008 euros player of the tournament the following 2008-2009 season bayern munich had almost signed javi away from barcelona until pep guardiola chavi's former captain and teammate stepped in because the two of them shared the same football ideologies the same development and even played together javi would trust guardiola's words that with him being at the heart of barcelona's offense they could rule the footballing world and change the way the game was played and thus history was made and the infamous tiki taka playstyle was born that season barcelona would win their fate champions league la liga and copa del rey titles becoming the most feared team in football it was an absolute nightmare to go against barcelona and teams knew it tiki taka made possible from javi's influence that began years back dominating every other playstyle this incredible season would see chavi have his first appearance in the ballon d'or shortlist finishing third in 2009 behind messi and cr7 and just a fun fact javi had more than 90 past completion rate in the 2008 euros and the 2008-2009 champions league season all while playing more passes than anyone else in the 2010 world cup javi and spain would show the entire world the beauty and terror of playing simple football while javi wasn't spain's captain he was indeed the heart of the squad javi was a player who saw everything on the pitch while many people outperformed him when it came to pace and strength only a few in history could compare to his vision and play making iq in fact during the tournament javi had an insane 91 passing success rate spain led by chavi and iniesta at the midfield would win their very first world cup title solidifying the genius and importance of the midfield showing how the dominant possession style of play that chalvi had spearheaded was the new meta for the footballing world chavez would make his second consecutive appearance in the ballon d'or shortlist finishing third yet again behind teammates messi and iniesta in 2010 the 2010-2011 season would again bring insane success for barcelona they would win the champions league title la liga title uefa super cup fifa club world cup and a spanish super cup only missing out on one trophy the copa del rey which they finished as runner-ups to once again javi being a huge part of their success as usual being named the iffhs world's best playmaker for the fourth time which he won consecutively since 2008 and his third la liga midfielder of the year award which he's won every year since 2009. he would also have his third consecutive ballon d'or shortlist appearance finishing third behind ronaldo and messi once again javi would bring glory to his country once more in the 2012 european tournament where he would have another insane performance with a 94 passing success rate higher than any other player in the tournament it's insane how accurate the man was he basically did this in every major international tournament since 2008. he's also the first player to have ever assisted in two european tournament finals helping spain solidify their place in history with a third consecutive major international title being remembered is one of the most dominant international sides in history that euro 2012 win would make javi the most decorated spanish player in history chavez twilight in barcelona was definitely his last year during the 2014-2015 season and what better way to go out than winning yet another travel with the champions league copa del rey and la liga title under his belt one last time javi was so important for barcelona that they haven't even gotten close to winning the champions league without him after that season he would leave barcelona and end his career in qatar playing for three seasons where he still played incredibly well for al-saad until he finally hanged his boots in 2019 chavi's decline also meant the decline of tikitaka altogether many managers and squads thought they could replicate the tactic but it was only possible because of players like chavi and iniesta they were the reason why tikitaka was possible and with the decline of javi also came the decline of spain and their international dynasty looking at javi stats 113 goals and 214 assists in 945 matches it's one of the few times where stats don't actually count javi didn't necessarily always make the assist often times he was the vital pass before the assist or always holding the ball and waiting for the perfect opportunity to set up the play which led to the assist or goal all these highlights made by a.s comps who i think has the best highlights on youtube and link to his channel in the description can describe javi simply better than any assist or goal stat sheet could show his impact to his team was beyond stats and he will be remembered for many generations to come this man helped barcelona turn from mediocrity to one of the best club dynasties in football history javi will be remembered as one of the greatest and most impactful midfielders in history both in club and international level a man who's done it all who very very few players can even come close to reaching i don't even have enough time to read all his accolades because of the sheer number of trophies and recognition he's gotten and even if there comes a midfielder who has more goals and assists in less games the chances of them impacting football or doing as much as chavi did will be very slim when chavi left barcelona suffered their most embarrassing defeats and season performances ever i mean look at barcelona when valverde setsien and coleman were coaching them barcelona is even playing in the europa league right now who would have ever thought that a decade ago barcelona under komen especially after messi left were particularly horrendous barcelona looked like it was going to come way down after the insane heights they reached as a club however after chavez stepped in barcelona is slowly coming back to life again he's made changes that are bringing the club to great form once more especially with the recent signings like aubameyang and developing of young players like pedry ferran torres unsufatti and many more young spanish players after all chavy learned directly from pep guardiola one of the most successful managers in history and looking at barcelona's recent form they might just finish second in la liga and continue to improve each year never count out this man's genius in football he dominated the midfield and the way the game was played for nearly a decade and that knowledge and experience can definitely be used to turn a club around but chalvey still has a long way to go if he wants to make barcelona great again but for what he's doing this season they're definitely headed in the right direction but that's all for me today guys where do you rate chavy in the list of all time great players let me know what you think about him in the comments section below who do you think was better him or iniesta also suggest who you want me to make a video on next leave a like if you enjoyed it's all i really ask and helps me continue making videos like this by helping youtube recommend this video to more people lastly subscribe for more videos like this and thank you to all of my fans for the continued support and i'll see you in the next one [Music] you

Channel: Raymar Football

Views: 904,548

Keywords: Sports, Soccer, Football, FIFA, Raymar, Raymar Football, ronaldo goals, ronaldo skills, cr7 skills, KSI football, logan paul soccer, messi skills, HITC sevens, HITC sports, football daily, ASComps, oh my goal, oh my goal news, cr7 goals, football news, real madrid, soccer stories, messi goals, messi assists, fc barcelona, barcelona, messi leaves, Pep Guardiola, daily dose of football, ohh my goal, xavi, xavi passes, xavi goals, tiki taka, europa league, barca, xavi hernandez

Id: FrueMX9JjxM

Length: 16min 0sec (960 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 18 2022