Luuk de Jong has grown in a short time at Barcelona from a reviled substitute to an attacker who will run one on one in 2022 for the time being. The attacker hired from Sevilla seemed to be the biggest victim of the coaching change at the Camp Nou, but after three goals in three matches, Xavi sees no reason to take him from the base and even called him ‘an example for everyone’. Fans are suddenly ecstatic. “I can put it into perspective, the euphoria and the scorn in top sport. But it’s nice of course, the positive reactions now,” De Jong acknowledges on Saturday in conversation with the General Newspaper.
De Jong scored his first goal for Barcelona on September 26 against Levante (3-0). That was also his only goal for the Catalans in twelve matches in 2021. The Dutchman made the winning against Real Mallorca (0-1) on January 2, also scored against Granada (1-1) six days later and was also on January 12. accurate against Real Madrid (2-3 loss). “If you score two header goals against Mallorca and Granada, it helps in how your fellow players think in the next game against Real Madrid. Before half time I was also able to head out twice on goal from the flanks. Thibaut Courtois made two saves now, but what I mean: if those crosses come in two games and you don’t do anything with them, your teammates think in game three: I’m not going to do it anymore. That’s how it works everywhere.”
“Although I like to think that you can always enforce something by working really hard and being positive.” De Jong has always been of the opinion that he could not only play as a pinch hitter for a European top club. Also as a striker for the base, at a large club in a top competition. “I think Xavi was a bit surprised at how I fit into his game. That I can also be a ‘9’ for him with whom you can make triangles and thus play out under the pressure of an opponent. Xavi wants his striker to be a point of contact and to hold balls and combine them with midfielders. He always says: lure the central defenders away to make room for others to dive into the hole.”
De Jong emphasizes that he has never been a striker who will wait for a chance. “At Barcelona, players are increasingly involving me in combinations, including on the ground. At Sevilla I was often lonely in the front. Compete against three central defenders. The midfielders there stayed further away.” Xavi has a clear vision of how he wants to play with Barcelona: using spaces and aiming for more than seventy percent possession every game. “Because if we have the ball, the opponent cannot score.”
After the arrival of Xavi, De Jong did not play in the beginning. The attacker trained extra and that had an effect. “It was funny: the other day we played with Barcelona against Sevilla and I faced Diego Carlos, my former teammate. ‘So’, he says, ‘you have become a bit wider and stronger.” De Jong does not know whether he will still play for Barcelona after this season, although that is his approach. “We have been here with the family for half a year, I don’t want to move again now. And yes, even if I were to become a substitute again, I could still be of value. But the club has not yet made an official statement. We’ll see. I am also still owned by Seville. My contract will run for one more year after this season.”