Now without ties, Xavi Hernández was resounding. It goes for the results. For nothing more. He thus wanted to clarify it to the point of satiety. “I am leaving because we are not meeting expectations, not because of criticism from the press or because of mental health. Not at all. If the criticism affected me, I would no longer have come nor would I have played 767 games with this club,” said the Barcelona coach, who remained firm in his opinion that his delayed resignation is what is going to be best for the team. “I still think it is the best for the players and the club.”
From this point of view, he understood as logical Joan Laporta’s statements in RAC1 that he would have dismissed him if he were not a legend. “This is what I have been telling you: if the objectives are not met, then you have to leave. It will also happen to the next coach. In my first season we met our objectives very well, the second season was very good but this season we are not meeting expectations, but we can still improve,” Xavi reasoned.
The coach reiterated that it no longer pays him to be Barça coach. “You don’t enjoy it here. Arrasate, for example, with Osasuna, enjoys Monday to Friday but I don’t. That is why there is wear and tear after two and a half years. I have seen Barça technicians suffer even when they won the Champions League.” But at the same time he assured that he still wants to play football. “I’m not tired at all. I will continue going to Montjuïc and the new Camp Nou. “Football is my life, it is my passion.”
With the same passion he attacked the Real Madrid TV videos, a section in which he also aligned himself completely with President Laporta. “Madrid is conditioning the referees every week, it adulterates the competition a little. The referees are conditioned. The Negreira case has not brought us together at all. I agree one hundred percent with the president’s words, we cannot deceive the Barcelona fans, this is the reality.” He did not stop there and added: “I am surprised that Real Madrid TV videos are allowed, it completely adulterates the competition week after week. Simeone already said it. We are not stupid. He sees it everyone.”
In the most purely sporting aspect, Xavi justified the avalanche of injuries due to the calendar. “No other club has had a calendar with as many trips as we have in January. We have not been able to rest or recover. That’s where the injuries have come, before we hadn’t had so many. “We are doing a good job from a physical point of view.”
