74. "even if Xavi doesn't succeed, it's so obviously the right choice" In response to In response to 73
1. he's tied to the recent era of success, so he'll get a much longer period to fix things, which the team needs
2. as you say, the strength of the team is the young midfield potential, but Koeman refused to play some, overplayed others and didn't give them clear tactical support to learn on the job. and xavi has to, at least, be good at teaching up barca midfielders given he did it while also playing midfield with them before.
3. his desired style of play fits the talent the team has and he has the credibility to bench high priced but bad performing players and to demand better pressing effots from others.