“My feeling today is that I’m going to the university of football.” Those were Xavi Hernández’s opening words at his presentation as the Netherlands coach on Tuesday. “I learned a lot from this university of football during my career as a player and as a coach. I have many connections with this country.”
Those connections date back to when Xavi was drafted as a youngster into La Masia, the famed Barcelona academy whose fundamentals are rooted in Dutch total football, inspired by Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff. Xavi’s first-team debut came under Louis van Gaal, and he spent many years under Frank Rijkaard before becoming one of the main pillars of the dream team under Pep Guardiola, who was hugely inspired by Cruyff.
Xavi opened a Cruyff court – a multifunctional sport space for children – with Cruyff in his home town of Terrassa in 2014, and on Tuesday shared special memories of his time with Cruyff, who died in 2016. “With Johan in the last period of his life I had some meetings,” he said. “And he was always positive. Even when he was sick, he was positive. This is what I learned: always smiling. This is what I want to show here to the players. My first goal is to help them, and then enjoy the process. And we will be in a process to win.”
Xavi says he wants to “dominate the game, to take the initiative with the ball and at the same time our goal is to show everybody a team with passion, with desire and ambition. And this is very important for me as a coach.”
In the Netherlands, there has always been a strong emphasis on attacking football, which is why Xavi fitted the bill. The Catalan was asked whether he would use five defenders, as Van Gaal and Ronald Koeman did at times in recent years. “That this is not my idea,” he said. “We want to play in another system [like] 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3. In those systems we can dominate the game more.”
Xavi said he had spoken to Frenkie de Jong – whom he coached at Barcelona – and Virgil van Dijk. He added that he would speak again to Van Dijk, the captain, in the near future to hear his ambitions with the team.
The 46-year-old was also clear he is willing to select players from the Saudi Pro League, something more relevant after Tijjani Reijnders moved from Manchester City to Al-Qadsiah last week. Two years ago, Koeman was clear when Steven Bergwijn moved to Al-Ittihad that the forward would no longer be selected because the league did not match the level he expected from his players.
“It’s a good league as well,” Xavi said. “Maybe we choose some players from Saudi, from Eredivisie, Premier League, La Liga. I don’t care about the leagues, I care about the performances and the players.”
Nigel de Jong, the director of elite football at the Dutch football federation (KNVB), had earlier been open about the process that led to Xavi’s appointment. He said he had first tested the waters with Guardiola, who indicated he did not want to take a job in the near future, before holding two meetings with Arne Slot, who eventually chose to remain a club coach.
De Jong then invited Xavi to Amsterdam for a meeting also attended by Clarence Seedorf, a member of the KNVB’s supervisory board. The following day De Jong and Seedorf spoke at length with Michael Reiziger, the Netherlands’ under-21s coach, who played alongside Xavi at Barcelona for several years.
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They were considering promoting Reiziger in a way similar to Luis de la Fuente’s journey with Spain, his knowledge of the country’s upcoming talents regarded as a major plus. When the meeting with Reiziger became known in the Dutch media, there was an assumption the former full-back would become the national team coach. But then, on 12 August, the KNVB announced Xavi, a decision that seemingly came out of the blue.
Xavi said drily that he was fine with the process. “Well, it’s not a bad position, after Guardiola and after Slot, no? At least you are at the podium. I don’t care if I’m the third [choice] or I’m the 10th. It’s a big honour to be here. He [De Jong] explained to me, very honestly: ‘We need your philosophy, we need to change with ambition, with passion.’ And we will work in this way.”
First up for Xavi is a Nations League game against Germany in Amsterdam on 24 September, when he will face Jürgen Klopp, who is also starting a new job. “I feel excited, I feel motivated,” Xavi said, “because we are playing against Germany, one of the best teams in Europe, one of the best coaches in recent years.”
Xavi, speaking in front of his staff, including Ruud van Nistelrooy, wants his team to adopt the Dutch style he saw as a young boy. “I remember when I was a kid, watching the Netherlands and watching good football,” he said, “and this is my way, this is my target.”
