PLEASE READ
Oscar Hernández, Xavi's brother๐ฃ:"Xavi’s Relentless Journey: The Unseen Challenges Behind His Barcelona Tenure"
Oscar Hernández, Xavi's brother, shared the following:
"When Laporta called Xavi to coach Barcelona, we were in Qatar where Xavi was coaching Al-Sadd. Xavi was living a happy life with his family in Qatar. When Xavi learned that Barcelona was going through a difficult time and received the call from Laporta to return to Barcelona, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He gave up everything for Barcelona, not even discussing salary. He simply said to me, ‘Let's go to Barcelona.’ I told him the challenge there would be tough, but he replied, ‘I won't abandon Barcelona; I will return.’
We went to Barcelona where Laporta was waiting. When we met with the management and technical staff, we were shocked by the dire situation Barcelona was in. The chances of success with Barcelona were only 5%. This was the reality, but Xavi insisted on the challenge. Barcelona was unable to make even a free signing or a loan deal, so we turned to La Masia and some modest names. With some basic loans, we won the Supercopa and La Liga.
Laporta would tell us who to sign, and we were surprised when he signed a young player from Brazil named Roque. Xavi was upset and said we needed a defensive midfielder, and signing a young player from Brazil was a risky move. Xavi requested the signing of more than one player at reasonable prices, but he was turned down.
The arrival of Cancelo and Felix was not Xavi’s decision because those positions were not his priority. Those players didn’t fit into Xavi’s game plan. Even with Cancelo in that position, Barcelona struggled, and Joao Felix was a moody player. But Xavi had no alternative but Felix in that position.
We knew that competing in Europe would be tough, and domestically it was almost impossible with these names, especially since Real Madrid was loaded with strong players and Atlético also had a competitive team. But we accepted the challenge and won a domestic league title with names that would make it difficult for anyone to compete. We also won the Supercopa.
However, we knew that the fans' ambition was always for more titles. The situation didn’t improve; Aubameyang, who was a key player for Xavi, left, and we couldn’t find a suitable replacement because Felix wasn’t at the required quality level. Xavi had names of players at reasonable prices, but we were surprised by other names instead.
Barcelona has become toothless in the transfer market because Laporta is selling illusions to the club and the fans. Xavi left Barcelona because Laporta wants to compete for the domestic league and the Champions League with these names and a bench devoid of alternatives. We went through difficult days with harsh criticism. Everyone laughed at us when we celebrated victories over teams like Cadiz, Levante, or any mid-table team because we knew that winning against such teams with the current squad was a great achievement. We were always afraid of any player getting injured because there was no replacement.
In the end, the club’s management told us that we were not fit to coach the club. When Xavi made a statement telling the truth, that the team couldn’t compete with Real Madrid and other clubs, and that the team wasn’t fit to play in the Champions League with these players, and that the situation was difficult, he was sacked. But the most important thing is that he didn’t hesitate to tell the truth. When he left, he said, ‘If Barcelona needs me again, I won’t hesitate to come back.’"
PLEASE READ
Oscar Hernández, Xavi's brother๐ฃ:"Xavi’s Relentless Journey: The Unseen Challenges Behind His Barcelona Tenure"
Oscar Hernández, Xavi's brother, shared the following:
"When Laporta called Xavi to coach Barcelona, we were in Qatar where Xavi was coaching Al-Sadd. Xavi was living a happy life with his family in Qatar. When Xavi learned that Barcelona was going through a difficult time and received the call from Laporta to return to Barcelona, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He gave up everything for Barcelona, not even discussing salary. He simply said to me, ‘Let's go to Barcelona.’ I told him the challenge there would be tough, but he replied, ‘I won't abandon Barcelona; I will return.’
We went to Barcelona where Laporta was waiting. When we met with the management and technical staff, we were shocked by the dire situation Barcelona was in. The chances of success with Barcelona were only 5%. This was the reality, but Xavi insisted on the challenge. Barcelona was unable to make even a free signing or a loan deal, so we turned to La Masia and some modest names. With some basic loans, we won the Supercopa and La Liga.
Laporta would tell us who to sign, and we were surprised when he signed a young player from Brazil named Roque. Xavi was upset and said we needed a defensive midfielder, and signing a young player from Brazil was a risky move. Xavi requested the signing of more than one player at reasonable prices, but he was turned down.
The arrival of Cancelo and Felix was not Xavi’s decision because those positions were not his priority. Those players didn’t fit into Xavi’s game plan. Even with Cancelo in that position, Barcelona struggled, and Joao Felix was a moody player. But Xavi had no alternative but Felix in that position.
We knew that competing in Europe would be tough, and domestically it was almost impossible with these names, especially since Real Madrid was loaded with strong players and Atlético also had a competitive team. But we accepted the challenge and won a domestic league title with names that would make it difficult for anyone to compete. We also won the Supercopa.
However, we knew that the fans' ambition was always for more titles. The situation didn’t improve; Aubameyang, who was a key player for Xavi, left, and we couldn’t find a suitable replacement because Felix wasn’t at the required quality level. Xavi had names of players at reasonable prices, but we were surprised by other names instead.
Barcelona has become toothless in the transfer market because Laporta is selling illusions to the club and the fans. Xavi left Barcelona because Laporta wants to compete for the domestic league and the Champions League with these names and a bench devoid of alternatives. We went through difficult days with harsh criticism. Everyone laughed at us when we celebrated victories over teams like Cadiz, Levante, or any mid-table team because we knew that winning against such teams with the current squad was a great achievement. We were always afraid of any player getting injured because there was no replacement.
In the end, the club’s management told us that we were not fit to coach the club. When Xavi made a statement telling the truth, that the team couldn’t compete with Real Madrid and other clubs, and that the team wasn’t fit to play in the Champions League with these players, and that the situation was difficult, he was sacked. But the most important thing is that he didn’t hesitate to tell the truth. When he left, he said, ‘If Barcelona needs me again, I won’t hesitate to come back.’"