There is no question about Xaavi’s level of expertise and capability; nonetheless, his track record puts him in a precarious situation. The Terrassa native holds the record for lowest win-loss percentage among all Barcelona managers who have maintained their position for at least 50 matches. The fact that he is the only player on his team who has not had Lionel Messi play for him in any of his matches is a key component that helps to understand this tough predicament.
Xavi was about to take command of his 50th game (37 last season and 13 this season) on the bench in all competitions as the match against Real Madrid began. However, because of the loss against Carlo Ancelotti’s team, which was the Catalans’ first of the new LaLiga season, he now has the poorest record of any of the recent managers who have reached that amount of games with the club.
The former midfielder had a record of 28 wins, 11 draws, and 11 losses during his whole career. The record of Frank Rijkaard was fairly comparable to that of others, but it was somewhat superior: the Dutchman began his career with the same number of wins, but he managed to draw one more match and lose one less match. On the other side, Luis Enrique has had the most successful beginning to his time on the bench. He now has a record of 42 victories, three draws, and five clean sheets.
In between are Pep Guardiola, Tata Martino, Tito Vilanova, Ernesto Valverde and Ronald Koeman. The City manager and the Argentine coach had 37 victories, eight ties, and five losses in their first 50 matches together as head coaches. When Vilanova took over as head coach, the team’s record stood at 36 victories, eight draws, and six losses. The current coach of Athletic Club has won the same amount of games as his predecessor, but he also has 11 draws and three defeats to his credit.
Koeman, Xavi’s predecessor, won 33 of his first 50 games as manager, got one point from seven games, and lost 10 of those contests.