{"id":70112,"date":"2026-08-13T13:34:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T13:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/70112\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T13:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T13:34:53","slug":"xavi-to-netherlands-predicting-barcelona-legends-preferred-xi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/70112\/","title":{"rendered":"Xavi to Netherlands: Predicting Barcelona legend’s preferred XI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Barcelona<\/a> manager Xavi Hernandez<\/a> has sensationally been named as the next coach of the Netherlands<\/a> national team. He becomes their first foreign coach in almost half a century.<\/p>\n

The likes of Arne Slot, Erik ten Hag and even a return for a 75-year-old Louis van Gaal had been mooted, while Roberto Martinez also entered the frame, but Xavi came somewhere out of left field.<\/p>\n

Thinking on it, though, Xavi ought to instil the \u2018Total Football\u2019 dogma that goes back to Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff. The Catalan is a staunch ideologue, having played under Pep Guardiola, exemplifying a playing style that went back to Cruyff.<\/p>\n

This will be the second time he\u2019ll succeed Ronald Koeman, and the last time he enjoyed great success, leading Barcelona to a La Liga title after a relatively fallow period.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could say that I am a bit of a son of Dutch football,\u201d Xavi said after being unveiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther great coaches, especially Louis van Gaal, under whom I made my debut at Barcelona, \u200b\u200band Frank Rijkaard, also played an important role in shaping me as a player and coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Netherlands has a rich football culture and a clear vision that also appeals to me enormously: attacking football, based on possession, with creativity, passion, and conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koeman had been criticised for switching to a more defensive back five in the Netherlands\u2019 World Cup elimination to Morocco, and you imagine that Xavi will go back to their more traditional possession-dominant style.<\/p>\n

With all that in mind, here\u2019s how we imagine that Xavi will set the Netherlands up:<\/p>\n

GK: Bart Verbruggen<\/p>\n

Having cut his teeth under Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht, Verbruggen went on to catch the eye in Roberto de Zerbi\u2019s press-baiting Brighton team.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s very comfortable starting attacks and looks every bit the modern-day ball-playing goalkeeper. Ideal for a \u2018Total Football\u2019 coach.<\/p>\n

Verbruggen is already a dependable, reliable Premier League goalkeeper at the age of 23 and surely has plenty more major tournaments in him.<\/p>\n

Sunderland\u2019s Robin Roefs is another to consider. He\u2019s a spectacular shot-stopper, but you\u2019d rather see him in a more possession-heavy side to get a handle on what he can do with his feet.<\/p>\n

RB: Jeremie Frimpong<\/p>\n

The Liverpool right-back was controversially left out of Koeman\u2019s 2026 World Cup squad. Evidently, he has a lot to prove for the next boss.<\/p>\n

The next two-year cycle could be defining for Frimpong\u2019s career. Can he put his poor start at Liverpool behind him and prove he belongs at that level?<\/p>\n

He theoretically has the skillset to excel as an attacking full-back. On paper, he\u2019s probably the closest profile of what Xavi would be looking for. We just need to see a bit more of his quality and consistency.<\/p>\n

Real Madrid\u2019s Denzel Dumfries offers a perfectly solid, defensively sound option if Frimpong fails to kick on.<\/p>\n

CB: Virgil van Dijk<\/p>\n

The long-serving captain is a no-brainer. He\u2019s made a career out of being a supremely unrufflable ball-player and rarely panics out of possession.<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t hinted at retirement plans just yet, which suggests he\u2019ll be good for the next Euros, although the next World Cup at the age of 39 is probably a stretch.<\/p>\n

Tottenham\u2019s Jan Paul van Hecke represents a solid alternative option if Xavi is looking ahead to the future already.<\/p>\n

CB: Micky van de Ven<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very hard to talk about the Tottenham centre-back without using the words \u2018recovery pace\u2019.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s such an immediately striking thing about his game, while it makes him the perfect fit for a manager who wants his team to push up. It\u2019s also a nice complementary asset if he\u2019s lining up alongside an ageing Van Dijk.<\/p>\n

There was some logic in Koeman using Van de Ven at left-back, but he\u2019s best in the middle. Who couldn\u2019t love those fearsome forays into midfield?<\/p>\n

LB: Jorrel Hato<\/p>\n

Hato\u2019s debut season at Chelsea left a lot to be desired, but the departure of Marc Cucurella and the appointment of Xabi Alonso could be huge for his future at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old came through the Ajax academy, and his technical quality reflects that upbringing. He has enormous potential and the versatility to make him a fixture in Xavi\u2019s future squads.<\/p>\n

DM: Frenkie De Jong<\/p>\n

Friends reunited. De Jong was one of Xavi\u2019s most trusted lieutenants at Barcelona, having already made over a hundred appearances under the coach.<\/p>\n

Recent injury woes and the imminent arrival of Rodri put the 29-year-old\u2019s career at something of a crossroads, but he possesses too much class to be written off.<\/p>\n

CM: Ryan Gravenberch<\/p>\n

Last season showed that Slot\u2019s masterstroke of turning Gravenberch into an all-action single pivot was a bit of a sticking plaster and not a long-term solution.<\/p>\n

The Ajax academy graduate was superb in Liverpool\u2019s title triumph in 2024-25, but asking him to singlehandedly dominate the midfield was always going to be a bit too big of an ask.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, De Jong is in theory a very good and complementary partner in midfield.<\/p>\n

CAM: Xavi Simons<\/p>\n

If De Jong is the controller of this midfield trio, and Gravenberch is the box-to-box runner, that would leave Simons to be the main creative outlet.<\/p>\n

It was a crying shame that the Tottenham playmaker missed the World Cup after suffering an ACL injury back in April. That\u2019ll surely keep him sidelined as his namesake \u2013 who he was literally named after (football is amazing sometimes, isn\u2019t it?) \u2013 names his first squads in September and November.<\/p>\n

Long term, though, Simons will surely have a big role to play.<\/p>\n

FWR: Donyell Malen<\/p>\n

The Roma forward endured a really disappointing World Cup after going into it in sensational form<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s found a club environment that seems to get the best out of him. Fifteen goals and three assists in just 20 appearances since joining the Giallorossi in January is a sensational return.<\/p>\n

Keep anything like that output up, having since made the move permanent, and Xavi will have no option but to select him.<\/p>\n

ST: Brian Brobbey<\/p>\n

For a nation so synonymous with elegant, technical football, the Dutch have produced their fair share of rough-and-ready No.9s. Pierre van Hooijdonk, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Big Wout Weghorst.<\/p>\n

Brian Brobbey is the latest in that lineage, bringing bags of physicality to the forward line.<\/p>\n

You might expect Xavi to favour a more floaty, ethereal striker, given his own footballing lineage, but he clearly appreciates the value of a more physical No.9. Luuk de Jong was a useful option for him at Barcelona back in the day, while Brobbey\u2019s strength and hold-up play would bring the wide attackers into the mix.<\/p>\n

FWL: Cody Gakpo<\/p>\n

We\u2019d have had Crysencio Summerville as a lock for the left wing after he looked the Netherlands\u2019 most exciting and incisive attacker at the last World Cup.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d imagine that moving to the Saudi Pro League at the age of 24 might harm his chances going forward. Still, Xavi himself played out in the Middle East and you\u2019d imagine he won\u2019t be as headstrong as his predecessor, who froze out Steven Bergwijn for not playing at a competitive enough level.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d expect Gakpo to get the nod, given he\u2019ll be at a Premier League club (Spurs?) in the coming years. He can be a bit frustrating, undoubtedly, but there\u2019s a reason managers like him.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Trying to understand how Xavi ended up winning the lottery in Qatar<\/a><\/p>\n

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the top 20 Dutch goalscorers in Premier League history?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has sensationally been named as the next coach of the Netherlands national team.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,4966,13934,2938,4298,5536],"class_list":["post-70112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-latest","tag-lists-and-rankings","tag-netherlands","tag-popular","tag-xavi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}