Xavi Hernández, the historic midfielder of FC Barcelona and the club’s coach from November 5, 2021 to May 24, 2024, self-criticized his last year as a coach at the ESIC University Leadership Conference.
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My mistake was to maintain those high standards for only one year, from the time I arrived until we won La Liga and Supercopa…Over time, I can become self-critical.
“My mistake was maintaining those high standards for just one year from the time I arrived until we won La Liga and the Super Cup… Over time I became self-critical and said to myself, ‘Damn, what happened to me?'” said the 43-year-old.
Xavi Hernández, who joined Barcelona’s bench after Koeman’s departure, recalled: “When I started my coaching career at Barça, I had high demands for the players and for the club. The club came from a time when there were fewer demands.”
Xavi Hernández: “The high standards were gone and the players no longer had the same attitude”
The 45-year-old manager believes that lowering the bar after winning La Liga and the Super Cup ended up costing him at Barcelona. “Because I lowered those high standards, the players no longer had the same attitude, the same respect, the same effort. The standards got lower and lower and in my last season we didn’t win anything.”
“I’m very proud of what Lamine Yamal is doing and that we were able to give him the opportunity to make his debut. I saw that he was very prepared despite being only 15 years old,” he said.
“I learned a lot from this. I had to be self-critical,” said Xavi Hernández, who declared he wants to continue his coaching career.
