Txiki demands immediate reaction

The FC Barcelona director of football has analysed the state of the team following the defeat to Betis and what he wants is an immediate reaction.


In an interview on the ‘Gol a gol' programme on TV3, the director of football spoke about the situation regarding the team following the 2-0 defeat in Seville. Txiki Begiristain made his message clear, saying “Rijkaard has not left his job in the hands of the board and his position does not depend on what happens on Tuesday. But we have told the team that we want to see an immediate reaction on the field. We need sacrifice and solidarity from the players”, he reiterated before later adding that “there is a mood of reflection and analysis in the squad. I understand that people don’t want to hear words, they want to see a reaction.”

But Txiki also made it clear that “there is no crisis. That is what happens when you are incapable of doing anything and I don’t see that. The team has shown it can overcome difficult situations like the Cup games in which we were able to defend a result.”

The future

When there are still two months left of the present season, Txiki Begiristain was asked what plans had been made for the next. He replied that “I am convinced of our project for next season. It will be a winning project. The board has always made an effort to give us what we ask for. I don’t like speaking about cleanouts. You have to evaluate the performances and the progression and build a strong squad that is keen to win everything.”

The way forward

All of the problems boil down to what happened in the second half on Saturday. “The team touched the sky in the first half and then showed its failings after the break. We saw that they were unable to respond to the setback. There was a feeling of a lack of control and allowing things to take their course.

”But from now on we need to get all of the players heading in the same direction. We have to think more about the players we do have than the ones we don’t.”

The league

Barça had wanted to put more pressure on the league leaders, but instead slid below Villarreal in the table. Txiki Begiristain admits that “it hurts to look at the table”, but also recognises that “Villarreal is the most regular team. I don’t know which is more irregular, us or Real Madrid, but the team that wins the league will be the most regular of the three.”