“I will not continue as Barcelona coach after June 30,” Xavi Hernández surprised, after Barça’s tough defeat against Villarreal. He surprised the press, not the board led by Joan Laporta. The coach’s appearance was delayed at the Montjuïc Stadium, a delay that put club employees and security members on alert. While the expectation increases in the press room, the lights in the box remained on. From the outset, as soon as the game ended, the message from the offices was of support for the coach. “We close ranks with the coach,” they warned. However, something changed after Xavi attended to the television stations with rights.
The coach met with Laporta, Deco [director deportivo]Alejandro Echeverría [hombre de confianza del presidente]Rafa Yuste [vicepresidente deportivo]Bojan [coordinador del área de fútbol] and Enric Masip [comisión deportiva]. And, after a conversation that lasted almost half an hour, he announced: “As a culé I cannot allow this situation, a change of direction and dynamics is needed. I relax everything with this announcement, today you will kill me less… Being in office for another year you will burst me.”
His brother Òscar, who accompanies him as second coach, and his wife Nuria, attended the conference. “Being Barcelona coach is cruel, unpleasant, you feel disrespected,” said the coach. “It is a terrible drain on mental health, mood… To the point that you say there is no point in continuing.”
Xavi had found an enemy in the press, rarely comfortable in appearances, closer to excuses than self-criticism. “Xavi’s decision has been accepted and shared by Laporta, who praises the coach for his Barcelona support,” was the message sent from the offices. As explained in the Camp Nou offices, the president did not want Xavi to leave the bench; But, on the other hand, those closest to him tried to convince him to stop it.
“The president has understood it and has even been half moved,” Xavi revealed. According to the Barça coach, the decision will not change even if the team manages to win the Champions League. “I have made the decision for days, I don’t want to be a burden for the club,” said Xavi. However, everything was precipitated against Villarreal, especially after talking with Laporta and his trusted people. The president did not attend Xavi’s press conference. Neither did anyone on the board. Xavi’s decision to announce that he will leave the club at the end of the season could become a boomerang for the coach, but above all a headache for the board. If the locker room does not free itself as Xavi hopes, Barça puts its qualification for next year’s Champions League in jeopardy. Today Barcelona is in third position, three points behind Atlético (one game less) and Athletic.
Xavi, in any case, predicts a better future, essentially for the locker room. The three players who passed through the mixed zone had supported the coach. “It’s the players’ fault,” De Jong assumed. Along the same lines, Araujo stressed: “What is the coach’s fault if we clear badly?” “They were the worst 45 minutes of my career,” Cancelo concluded. Xavi’s reflection was different: “I understand that they feel guilty, but I am the one most responsible.” The coach has known for a long time that his relationship with the locker room, mainly with the heavyweights, is not the same. He heard Lewandowski complain about training and knows that Gündogan was not too happy with the work method either.
The players found out about Xavi’s decision on television. From the conversation with Laporta, Deco and Echeverría, the coach jumped directly to the press room. “Today they were very touched. Tomorrow I will talk to them,” he commented. And he sought to find an answer to the team’s streak that totaled 26 goals conceded in 22 days. Last season, in the same number of games, the team had only conceded seven goals. Barça is also the team in Europe’s five major leagues that has conceded the most goals in 2024 in all competitions, 18 (in eight games) ahead of Sevilla (13 in six) and Frosinone (13 in 4). . “I feel like I’m doing the right thing, acting with common sense, the dynamic is very negative and many times I can’t find an explanation,” concluded Xavi. And he broke free. He now hopes that the players will be freed from him. He needs it, at stake is nothing less than qualification for the Champions League.