"It's not a bad position after Guardiola and after Slot. Third position. At least we are on the podium. I don't care." That's Xavi Hernandez, unveiled as Netherlands head coach on Tuesday, and already showing he's not losing sleep over the hiring process that led to him.
Pep Guardiola was asked first. Then Arne Slot, who hasn't worked since Liverpool sacked him in late May. Both said no. Michael Reiziger, who runs the Dutch youth setup, was also on the list. Xavi was option four on a shortlist of four. He got the job anyway, and frankly, the Netherlands could do a lot worse.
What Xavi actually brings
The 46-year-old hasn't coached since leaving Barcelona in May 2024, so there's rust to shake off. But his credentials don't need defending. At Barca, he played at the center of a midfield that won four Champions Leagues and eight La Liga titles. With Spain, he was the engine behind back-to-back European Championships in 2008 and 2012, plus the 2010 World Cup — which the Netherlands lost, ironically, in the Johannesburg final.
He's replacing Ronald Koeman, who left after the Netherlands went out to Morocco on penalties in the World Cup round of 32. The tournament exit was bad enough. The style was worse — a defensive, cautious setup that felt completely at odds with Dutch football tradition. Xavi clearly got the brief.
"We want to dominate the game, to take the initiative with the ball," he said. "Our goal is to show everybody a team with passion, with desire and ambition." It's almost word-for-word Johan Cruyff. Whether Xavi can actually make it happen with this squad is the real question — the Netherlands have reached three World Cup finals and lost every one of them.
Germany first, with Klopp in the dugout
Xavi's first match is September 24 in Amsterdam against Germany — who also have a new coach in Jürgen Klopp, replacing Julian Nagelsmann after another underwhelming World Cup. Two new managers, two rebuilding nations, one marquee fixture. Netherlands odds for that one will be worth watching as both camps start to take shape over the coming weeks.
There's a neat full-circle quality to Xavi's appointment. Louis van Gaal gave him his Barcelona debut. Cruyff's footballing DNA runs through everything Xavi has ever done. Now he's taking charge of the country that produced them both. Whether that heritage translates into results is something 18 million Dutch supporters are about to find out.
