Special Edition Barça Tour USA 2024 | Page 20

FOOTBALL ANALYSIS

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played on the right to provide the Basque defender with his favoured side . His video work has also been significant . No comment has been made on his boldness or on the choices made in the past , because these qualities are already consolidated , but he has been given guidance on which areas to prioritise and how to coordinate them so that his third man runs work well . His talent led him to achieve some very good results , which he improved little by little . His participation rose from an average of 61 passes in the first five matches to 75.53 per match from the fifth onwards . It was the same in the qualitative aspect : the number of progressive passes per match increased from 19 to 24.63 . In other words , almost five more successful passes per match that at least break the rival team ’ s line going forward .
FERMÍN LÓPEZ The third example is the case of Fermín López . This player went from being an unknown to finishing the league as the most in-form player in the championship . He is another example of a player clearly and directly influenced by Xavi
Hernández . Not only because of the decision to commit to him as a member of the first team after coming from a transfer to Primera RFEF , but also because of the improvement in his football . The young Andalusian midfielder ’ s energy caused him to be overly volatile in his positioning . For this reason the work with him focused mainly on video tasks and the improvement was spectacular . Fermín still retains his forceful style of play but is more patient in his reading the game . His plays have decreased slightly in number , but have gained in quality . While in his first few matches he made an average of 31.8 touches per match , he went down to an average of 28.84 from then until the end of the season . But his passing accuracy went from 82 % for the first ten matches to 84.72 % after that . He is a better footballer today than he was at the start of the season . It is no coincidence that he was the team ’ s second top scorer , with eleven goals .
The subtlety with which Xavi Hernández managed to bring forth Lamine , Cubarsí and Fermín , three top-level footballers , is undoubtedly his best legacy .
Lamine Yamal , Pau Cubarsí and Fermín López : their names are synonymous with good news for Barça .
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