Barcelona parted ways with one of the most important staff in their club’s history, Joan Villa. Joan Vila is a La Masia trainer who was an integral part of the Catalan club for over four decades.
Vila was involved in the development of a host of generational talents such as Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique and a few other players from the golden generation.
Xavi once placed Vila on the same pedestal as Pep Guardiola and praised his trainer as one of the best.
Barcelona legend, Xavi
“Guardiola and Luis Aragones are the coaches who I have been closest to, personally and in a football way,” said Xavi.
“Along with those two is Joan Vila, in terms of development I owe him for being what I am”, Xavi said.
It is said that Barcelona and Vila reached a disagreement over the type of players the club needs to promote, with the former preferring physicality over technique.
Xavi has expressed his concern over the future of youth development at the club after Vila’s dismissal.
“The situation with youth football at Barcelona worries me,” said Xavi. “It’s bad they have sacked Joan Vila. What’s going on at Barcelona? He’s the person with the most knowledge of Barcelona’s positional play. I don’t understand it,” he told Catalunya Radio.