Barcelona were in 9th place in La Liga when Xavi took over as manager five months ago.

Barca are of course one of the biggest football clubs on the planet, but they have had a challenging time for the last few years that saw some key players retire or leave, as well as the departure of Mr Barcelona himself Lionel Messi.

Things were starting to look worse when there was some financial difficulty and the team was in mid-table. The legendary player who has won eight Spanish titles and four Champions League trophies, as well as the World Cup and two European Championships with Spain, was appointed as the man to turn things around and get Barcelona playing the amazing football they are known for yet again. Xavi was at Barcelona for nearly 20 years as a player, before he went to Qatar to finish his career.

He became manager of Al Sadd and there were clips online of the Qatari club playing football that was similar to the famous Barcelona play under Pep Guardiola. Barcelona liked what they saw and that would have been a factor in their decision to bring the club legend back in a managerial role.

Barcelona have been focused on bringing back their old culture that was lost, as well as re-inventing the team with young talent, and surrounding that talent with some experienced players.

It’s a club built on great and beautiful history led by its members, and they needed to make a lot of changes to be more innovative about how they earn money as a club, not just through the classic football ways but through advertising and other channels too. This is also why they appointed President Joan Laporta to help build Barca back to the club that people love watching.

Now after 5 months of hard work from Xavi, Barca are 2nd in La Liga and the football they are playing is inspiring to watch. Xavi was the kind of player who it seemed had eyes in the back of his head so as a manager you know he has a good idea of where all his players should be and his tactical mind is already ahead of many more experienced managers.

Players like Dembele are playing better than they ever have for Barca, and one young talent who is impressing a lot is Pedri, who scored an amazing goal to help Barca beat Sevilla at the weekend.

Barca was always a team that players would never think twice about joining, and they’re getting back to that by building a great structure again. They’re keeping their young, key talents by making them feel appreciated and needed, and that’s something a lot of teams forget about.

If you follow up on promises players will trust you, and trust creates a feeling of wanting to stay longer to keep enjoying their time at the club. The joy and smiles are back because the trust is back. #mmlove