Xavi Hernández's unveiling as the new Netherlands head coach was always going to be one of the summer's bigger managerial stories, but it was technical director Nigel de Jong who supplied the sharper headline — confirming at the press conference that the Spaniard was not the KNVB's first choice, or even its second.
Pep Guardiola was the dream candidate, De Jong said, once the Catalan left Manchester City at the end of last season. The federation moved quickly, but soon learned Guardiola wanted a sabbatical away from the touchline rather than an immediate return with a national team.
Arne Slot was next on the list. The Dutchman, dismissed by Liverpool in May despite delivering the Premier League title in his first season at Anfield, held two rounds of talks with De Jong's team — but made clear he wanted to keep his sights on a return to club management rather than take charge of Oranje.
That left two names: Xavi and Michael Reiziger, the former Ajax and Barcelona defender who assisted Ronald Koeman at Euro 2024 and has since coached the Dutch under-21s. Both held lengthy talks with the KNVB at the start of August before the job went to the Spaniard.
"Results are needed," De Jong said bluntly of the pressure now on his new coach, whose deal with the federation runs all the way through to the 2030 World Cup.
Xavi succeeds Koeman, who resigned in the days after the Netherlands' round-of-32 exit to Morocco at this summer's World Cup. The Dutch went out on penalties after a 1-1 draw — their earliest departure from a World Cup in the country's history.
The appointment ends a two-year absence from coaching for Xavi, who left Barcelona in 2024, and marks his first job outside Catalan club football. It also makes him the first foreign coach of Oranje since the Austrian Ernst Happel guided the side to the 1978 World Cup final.
At his unveiling, Xavi struck a defiant tone. "I want to win, I feel the pressure, but I'm a winner, I'm super ready," he said, before adding of his footballing approach: "I want my team to always hold the ball, but with passion." He closed the press conference more bluntly still: "We are here to enjoy, compete and win. I repeat: to win."
One shadow hangs over the early days of his reign: Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, a cornerstone of the Dutch side, remains sidelined by a knee ligament injury sustained at the World Cup. "I hope he recovers soon, he's very important for Barcelona and the national team," Xavi said.
Xavi's first match in charge comes on September 24, at home to Germany in the Nations League at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam — the first test of whether the federation's fourth choice can deliver what Guardiola and Slot chose not to attempt.
