The Sunday Mail
To best understand what it is that makes Xavi tick and also why he has already decided this will be his last season as Barcelona boss, it is worth looking back at what happened back in 2008 when Pep Guardiola was appointed first-team coach.
Then, Xavi had just returned to Barcelona from a hugely successful European Championship that Spain had won and where he had been voted player of the tournament.
But mentally he was not in a particularly good place.
There had been no titles in the previous two seasons, a lack of synergy at the club and the disappointment of seeing talented players go to waste.
Xavi did not want to go, but neither was staying an option unless he received reassurances from Guardiola regarding his plans for this most demanding of clubs.
His one-on-one with Pep was as brief as it was defining.
Xavi: I won’t beat about the bush, Pep. I have one question for you: Do you count on me?
Pep: I don’t see this team without you in it. I just don’t see this working without you.
Meeting over; the rest is magnificent history.
Total, unconditional support from his new boss, in fact, in some ways the opposite to what he has received since taking over as coach at Barcelona in November 2021, even after winning La Liga in his first full season at the helm.
He became Barcelona boss at the second time of asking, having previously turned down the job after the sacking of Ernesto Valverde in January 2020 — believing it was not the right time to assume the role he became a manager for.
Xavi finally returned as a living legend who was loved by everyone, but he senses now there were doubts coming from the top and from the start.
New president Joan Laporta never really saw him as the ideal man for the post, partly because of Xavi’s links with Victor Font, his main rival for the presidency, but also because he believed that two-and-a-half seasons in Qatar were insufficient training for taking on the task of managing a club like Barcelona.
Laporta even suggested privately Xavi should have gone to Barcelona B, like Luis Enrique or Guardiola had done.
Laporta hired Xavi for a number of main reasons.
He was the popular choice and hiring a “legend” is never going to be a bad look for your own profile, given it works as a shield when things do not fully work.
In Xavi’s first full season, though, the team won the league by a clear 10 points.
It was won because of the team’s strength in both boxes but not fully in the style that Xavi or most of the supporters would have wanted.
Eleven out of the 28 victories were 1-0 wins and, worryingly, financial difficulties that showed no sign of disappearing meant he could not reinforce the team how he wanted.
Xavi met Erling Haaland but soon realised he was out of Barcelona’s financial league. Bernardo Silva told Xavi he was happy to join Barcelona but again finances made it impossible.
Martin Zubimendi was wanted to replace Sergio Busquets, but that was not even negotiated. So, last summer, the squad was revamped with Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix (both players represented by Jorge Mendes, the second of which Xavi did not want).
And, instead of the central midfielder the manager wanted, a deal was done for the young forward Vitor Roque, who did not join the team until January.
These days Xavi feels isolated.
He lost authority when directors Mateo Alemany and Jordi Cruyff, allies with whom he had a very good relationship, were taken away from him in the summer and in came Deco, closer to the president’s way of thinking.
It has been said Deco shares misgivings regarding Xavi’s ability to do the job and is not afraid to state them privately.
But when he meets the manager and they are both next to the president, the support for Xavi is unanimous.
Laporta even hopes he can change his mind to remain in the post longer — or so he tells the manager. — BBC
