to take that sort of role. I can’t take a Ferrari
- I have to start with a small car to try it and
get experience.”
So far, so good: Xavi took Al-Sadd back to
the Asian Champions League semi-finals in
his first months, and also managed them at
the Club World Cup in Doha – they had been
invited to take part as representatives of the
host country, defeating Hienghene Sport of
New Caledonia before losing to Monterrey.
By January, he was approached about
replacing Ernesto Valverde at Barcelona –
because as it turned out, Xavi’s old club
hadn’t continued to be great without him
after all. But he sensed the timing wasn’t
perfect – the mood around the Camp Nou
was toxic, with unpopular president Josep
Bartomeu still in situ.
“I’d like to return at the right moment,” he
later revealed. “I made it clear to them that
I saw myself in a project that started from
zero, in which the decision-making was
mine. I’d like to work with people in whom
I have confidence.” Without explicitly saying
it, he was ruling out taking the Barça job
until Bartomeu had gone.
Al-Sadd finished third at the end of his first
season in charge, before Santi Cazorla was
recruited from Villarreal. In December, Xavi
guided his club to victory in the Emir of Qatar
Cup, while they’ve also motored towards the
domestic title – well clear at the summit of
a league which has also contained Laurent
Blanc, Slavisa Jokanovic, ex-Iceland boss
Heimir Hallgrimsson and former Nottingham
Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi this term.
Meanwhile, Xavi has been watching and
waiting on the result of Barça’s presidential
election, interested to learn the identity of
Bartomeu’s permanent replacement. Ever
since his final appearance for the club, as
a substitute in their Champions League final
victory over Juventus in 2015, Barça have
been in decline.
“One day Xavi and Barcelona will meet,”
declared his old pal Andres Iniesta. “I don’t
know when, but I have faith. It will happen.”
“I didn’t come here to be second,” said
Kompany, after being appointed as the
player-manager of Anderlecht in May- He definitely didn’t go to be 13th.
That, though, was where the Belgian
giants sat nine matches into his debut
season – nine matches which delivered
only six points. Anderlecht had won the
league on no fewer than 34 occasions –
now they were fourth from bottom.
To begin his coaching career, the former
Manchester City captain was returning to
his first club as a player, before being sold
to Hamburg aged 20. But he was rejoining
Anderlecht after they’d just finished sixth –
they hadn’t finished lower since 1938.
Kompany’s tenure began so disastrously
that by late August, he’d already made the
decision to step down from managing the
team on matchdays, putting City’s former
elite development squad coach Simon
Davies in charge while he skippered his
team on the pitch.
That didn’t go very well either, however,
so Davies was moved aside and replaced
by ex-Anderlecht boss Franky Vercauteren- despite the fact Kompany was injured by
that stage and not playing anyway.
When the defender returned to fitness,
Anderlecht’s results improved significantly,
but they still only finished the curtailed
campaign eighth. After a pre-season loss
to Lille, fans painted ‘Kompany Out’ on the
road outside the club’s training ground.
Within a fortnight, he had retired from
playing but signed a new four-year deal, as
Vercauteren exited. Mercifully, Anderlecht
have been challenging for Europe this term,
and sat fifth by late February – though the
campaign has featured more frustrations.
“I didn’t come here saying that Anderlecht
were going to become Manchester City,”
complained Kompany. “You have to stop
comparing with Guardiola.”
Even for the most experienced managers,
only one man wins that comparison.
VInCEnT
KOMPAnY
AnDERLECHT
Below Kompany’s
team have toiled,
but have a place in
Belgium’s key title
play-offs in sight ImagesGetty Images; PAn EXT-GEn
MAn AGERS