Dani Alves has given his thoughts on Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez after he became the first signing of the former midfield maestro at Camp Nou.
Barca confirmed the arrival of the Brazilian before completing the signing of Ferran Torres from Manchester City this month for an initial fee of £46million, with potential add-ons meaning the deal could rise to £54million.
Alves played alongside Xavi at the Catalan giants for seven seasons after the full-back joined from Sevilla in 2008, through to the midfielder leaving at the end of the 2014/15 campaign.
No active footballer is more decorated than Alves, who won 23 of his 44 trophies during his spell at the Blaugrana – with his return widely heralded.
He has now spoken about Xavi’s coaching skills and why he believes he has what it takes to bring the club back into Europe’s elite.
Have Your Say! Will Xavi be able to turn Barcelona back into challengers at the elite level? Tell us what you think here.
Alves told the Tot Costa program on Catalunya Radio, as per Diario Sport : “With Xavi we talked about football. Now, he speaks for the group.
“I knew that Xavi would be version 3.0 of Barca.
“He has inherited a tough situation but he has the same philosophy as Guardiola, the same style.
“Football is not just about winning titles. Here we seek to revolutionise football.
“Cruyff did it and then Guardiola.
“Barca is love for the game and must return to that.”
The Brazilian went on to say that the current Barca administration has a big job on their hands to ensure that the club’s current slump does not become a long-term decline.
In what appeared to be a thinly-veiled dig at former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu’s administration, the full-back said it was imperative for Barca to bounce back as soon as possible.
Alves added: “It is very painful to see where Barca has been led. But that is where we are.
“It is necessary to find the solution to get Barca out of there. The changes in the club are important to continue in the elite.
“Clubs always have their ups and downs. What you have to do is make them last a short time, a couple of years at most.
“And our challenge here is to convince everyone that they play for the best club in the world, for the team that changed the history of football.
“The people who are part of the club must get this into their heads.”
Alves made his second Barca debut in this month’s Copa del Rey win at Linares, while he also featured in the Spanish Supercopa loss against Real Madrid last week after providing an assist in the side’s La Liga draw at Granada.
“Losing against Real Madrid is always really difficult, but we came out stronger because that is the only way to compete,” he continued.
“The team is going to fight and the results will come, but we have to continue being constant, we can't go down a level.”
Barca currently languish in sixth spot in La Liga and sit a whopping 17 points off league leaders Real Madrid, who have played a game more.
