After advising his close friends and fellow former Barcelona team members to leave the organisation, Xavi has opened up about the difficult conversations he had with Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba.
The club great has been put in charge of some of the teammates with whom he had incredible success as a player, and he has opened up about what it's like to be the manager at Barcelona.But with players like Pique, Alba, and Sergio Busquets all nearing the conclusion of their Barcelona careers under his leadership, Xavi has had to make difficult choices.According to Marca, during a 'Gol a Gol' interview on Spanish television channel TV3, Xavi said: 'It starts to be difficult when you have to make decisions that aren't in the player's best interests.I had to instruct Pique to move aside and cut back on his playing time.I had a difficult time falling asleep because we
When it comes to Jordi Alba, you feel like a bad buddy, but you have to put the team first.It occurred to me with Luis Enrique; even though you don't understand it, you suddenly feel compelled to play after serving as the starter for so long.Then, Xavi disclosed that Alba, who is leaving Barcelona this summer, became irate with the coach at being ejected from the team.Jordi was upset, you have to understand that, he continued.However, he told us that he was fully committed during a group conversation that took place afterwards.And it was exactly like Pique.They had a good sense of when to leave.Pique had a cordial relationship with the team and Xavi.
In November, the former Spain defender abruptly announced his retirement from football. He played his final match in a 2-0 victory over Almeria, having just made the announcement earlier in the same week.While Busquets' current contract with Barcelona expires this summer, Alba has decided to quit the club despite having one year remaining on it.The weekend's 3-0 victory over Mallorca marked Alba and Busquets' farewell games at the Nou Camp; their final game is scheduled for this weekend against Celta Vigo.
In the interview, Xavi also admitted that Pep Guardiola still casts a pall over his own managing endeavours.The former midfielder's best period of his career was from 2008 to 2012, when Guardiola, the current manager of Man City, guided Barcelona to three LaLiga championships and two Champions League medals."The Pep Guardiola figure is weighing on me as a coach," he claimed.It doesn't seem fair to me.I experienced it once before while I played football.Each person must turn the page.
"You sometimes feel like you're letting people down," Xavi continued.When you lose 3-0, you drop the kids off at school and dash back to the car, saying, "I'm ashamed I fell short."Later, he continued by calling Barcelona the "most difficult club in the world" because "nothing I do is ever enough."Lionel Messi, another ex-teammate of Xavi's, has been mentioned in connection with Barcelona, but the Argentinean forward may decide to relocate to Saudi Arabia instead.Barcelona, according to Xavi, "will do everything" to entice Messi back to the team where he first established himself as one of the greatest players in history, but it all depends on what the World Cup champion wants to accomplish.
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