Xavi called Barcelona 'the most difficult club in the world' and coach's sad exit proves him right
The club's legendary midfielder has announced he will walk away at the end of the season amid mounting pressure following a disappointing run of results
Barcelona’s players lay slumped on the turf. Dejected, disillusioned and distraught, they had worked so hard to come back from 2-0 down at home to Villarreal, only to concede a late equaliser and then a sucker punch deep into added time. Something seemed irreparably broken with that goal. And it was.
The players picked themselves up and there was time for yet another goal. But it went to Villarreal, not Barça, as the visitors sliced through the Blaugrana defence like a knife through butter. Xavi’s side had lost 5-3. At home. And after the match, the 43-year-old announced in his press conference that he would be leaving his post at the end of the season.
This was not how things were supposed to be. Xavi had returned amid much optimism in November 2021 and led Barça to a Supercopa title and then to LaLiga last season. It looked like the start of something and it should have been. Instead, it’s the end. Or the beginning of the end.
Previously, Xavi had said that if Barça did not win a trophy in the summer, he would leave. The hope of silverware in May now appears to be fading fast, with just LaLiga and the Champions League left to play for. In the league, FCB are 10 points off the pace, while the club’s recent form in Europe suggests a Champions League triumph is a pipe dream right now.
Overall, results this season have been mainly good. But in the big games, Barcelona have been found out defensively. When it mattered most, Xavi’s side have not stood up to the test. In October, Barça lost 2-1 at home to Real Madrid. That can happen against an opponent of such quality and was somewhat unfortunate too as FCB conceded late on. But things have gone dramatically downhill since.
At home to LaLiga’s surprise package Girona in December, Barça conceded four. Against Real Madrid in the Supercopa final in January, Barça conceded four. Away to Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey, Barça conceded four. And versus Villarreal, Xavi’s side shipped five.
Any coach from Barça’s recent history would be feeling the heat following such a run of results. And while Xavi is a club legend who does not deserve the toxic treatment to which he is being subjected by sectors of the press and fans on social media, nor did Ronald Koeman, Ernesto Valverde or others.
Both Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique, treble-winning Barça coaches, ended up leaving the club because they were worn out by constant criticism. It is a hard job, almost an impossible one. Xavi said so himself – and he has been proved right.
Barça coaches are expected not only to win matches, but to play with a suitable style of football and that must include players from La Masia. Even then, there is criticism.
“Being Barça coach is very difficult, Xavi said back in 2015. “I have seen Guardiola, [Frank] Rijkaard, [Louis] van Gaal and Luis Enrique really suffer. It’s a very complicated job.” And at his presentation in 2021, he said: “Barça is the most difficult club in the world.”
Xavi’s impending departure has been described as a cultural failure at the Catalan club and it is. But he is not the first Barça legend to find himself hounded out and he will not be the last. What should be remembered is that he took the job with the club in severe financial and institutional difficulties, with prospects bleak and when many others would have stayed away, and led the team to LaLiga against all odds.
From the outset, the worry seemed to be that he might burn out too quickly if things did not go well. And that has happened already. Recent results and performances have clearly not been up to standard, but there are other reasons for the team’s problems.
Barça lost midfielder Sergio Busquets in the summer and he was not properly replaced. He too had faced criticism in recent seasons for his decline, yet his importance has perhaps been seen in his absence.
In addition, all of Barça’s big defeats this term have come without goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen. With the German in goal, FCB conceded three only once in his 17 games earlier in the season and never four. In his absence, Xavi’s side have shipped more than three goals on four occasions with Iñaki Peña between the sticks. It is telling. And it is also worth remembering that when Valverde lost his job back in 2020, Ter Stegen had been out injured with Neto deputising in the 3-2 defeat to Atlético Madrid in the Supercopa.
Perhaps the team should not be relying on the goalkeeper to save them, but that is partly what the goalkeeper is there to do. Meanwhile, the form of Robert Lewandowski and Jules Koundé has dipped drastically. Two years ago, Barça made a huge effort to sign those two – among others – as the club activated financial levers, selling off future television rights and part of their in-house production company to fund the transfers. It seemed like a short-term solution even then and a high-risk strategy. And one of those payments has not materialised, leaving the Catalan club in financial trouble still now.
Meanwhile, Barça have been playing away from Camp Nou as renovations take place at the club’s famous home. Moving to another stadium is never easy and while the atmosphere at Montjuïc is intense, it is not as imposing for visiting teams as the old place. It is hard to imagine FCB losing 4-2 to Girona or 5-3 to Villarreal at Camp Nou. In LaLiga last season, Xavi’s side lost just one game there, and they were already champions by the time that 2-1 defeat to Real Sociedad came around.
On top of everything else, Barça’s all-action midfielder Gavi suffered serious injury with Spain on international duty and in his absence, the team lacks intensity. While he has made mistakes, much has also gone wrong for Xavi.
“The feeling is that being Barça coach is cruel, unpleasant, there is a real lack of respect,” the Catalan said on Saturday. “Your energy decreases and it affects you, it leads you to this decision.”
It is a shame it has come to this – and so soon, as well. One of the greatest legends in Barcelona’s history deserved a better team and a proper project but, given the way he has been treated, he might think twice about coming back in future.
The dumbest thing is... who will replace him? No one better is going to want to touch the club with a 10-foot pole, not that a “better” manager is any guarantee of success. And Barça likely can’t afford a better one, anyway. The board, media, and vocal parts of fanbase have all shot themselves in the foot completely.
I think we’ll ultimately see Rafa Marquez promoted from Barça B -- even less experienced than Xavi and with less cachet as a club legend -- to run this hamster wheel all over again.