One and a half years after leaving FC Barcelona, Xavi has broken his silence. Invited to speak at ESIC Universidad, the former Blaugrana coach made a rare confession: he shot himself in the foot.
Xavi as a player was historic. Xavi as the Barça coach, much less so. Three complicated seasons that the Spaniard has been able to analyze calmly in recent months, since he has not been coaching since then. According to him, it all started from a management mistake he had never publicly acknowledged:
“My fault was maintaining high standards for only one year. After our titles in La Liga and the Supercup, I lowered my level of demand… and the players did too.”
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Xavi describes a locker room that, once the bar was lowered, lost in attitude, respect, and effort. A negative spiral he never managed to reverse, culminating in a final season without any trophies. “The standards continued to drop until, in my last season, we won no titles,” Xavi states.
“I had to do my self-criticism”
He summarizes: “I had to do my self-criticism. I learned a lot.”
Since his departure from Barça in 2024, the World Champion has yet to find a new coaching position. His admission today sounds like a lesson… and perhaps a message to the clubs that are still watching him.
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