After an unforgettable time as manager of the red and blue club, the Barcelona and Spain legend is looking forward to new challenges in the near future. Football France took the opportunity to talk to Xavi about his exceptional playing career and time as a coach.
“For me, football is first and foremost a game,” Xavi told France Football. He reiterated the philosophy he has followed since joining La Masia at the age of 11 in 1991.
“Of course, our aim is to win, but if you play well, winning will come naturally. My philosophy is based on the four Ps: pressure, possession, position and perception. Pressure is regaining possession as quickly as possible, because we must consider the ball ours; possession because if I don’t have it 90% of the time, I’m in trouble; position because everyone occupies an area and knows where their teammates are; and perception is the judgment to understand the game and make the best decisions. I would even add a fifth P: passion, because if the players are satisfied, they will feel success more naturally.
Expected to return soon
After three seasons as Barcelona manager, during which he tried to live up to his principles, the coach, who turned 45 in January, decided to take some time off. Despite being on “holiday”, Xavi continues to follow football, as he is determined to return to the team next summer.
“I like to watch teams playing in different ways, with coaches like Pep Guardiola, Ancel Slot, Vincent Kompany, Xavi Alonso, Mikel Arteta and others. I also follow Tottenham, Newcastle, Nuno Espírito Santo at Nottingham Forest, Robert Delpierre at Marseille and Luis Enrique at Paris. And the championships in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Portugal…”
Is there any team in particular that appeals to Xavi? “No, I’m open to everything. Why not manage another Spanish team? I’m looking for an interesting project and I have the ambition to win titles. That’s the main goal. I’ll listen to different offers. Why not manage a national team and take part in World Cup qualifiers?”
Religion and Bernd Schuster
As a player, Xavi won all the most prestigious titles with the Spanish national team and his beloved club FC Barcelona. “I will never forget the day my grandfather invited the whole family to watch the Joan Gamper Cup at the Camp Nou. For us, FC Barcelona was more than just football, it was almost a religion. I was stunned when I saw the blond Bernd Schuster.”
Xavi’s love of football was almost as much a family passion as it was a family affair.
“My three siblings would chase the ball around the house all day, sometimes breaking things. Our house was full of footballs and we talked about football almost all day. My father played really well, my grandfather was the director of a football school and my mother also loved the sport. Whenever I had free time between classes, in the morning or afternoon, I would go to the square to play football, and then go to practice in the evening,” says the man from Terrassa, about 30 kilometres north of Barcelona.
Seven years at La Masia
In 1991, Xavi received a phone call that would change his life forever. The legendary Spanish footballer shares: “The day Barça called me was one of the best days of my life. From then on, I became almost a professional, dedicating all my energy to football: from the schedule to discipline to diet. It wasn’t too hard for me, because my family was very strict about these things.”
After seven years of training at La Masia, just after his 19th birthday in 1998, Xavi was called up to the first team by Louis van Gaal.
“I was small, lightweight and not very strong or fast. But the ‘Cruyffian’ philosophy fitted perfectly with my footballing qualities,” emphasises the four-time Champions League winner. “My playing style is based on thinking, on finding space on the pitch, on looking for areas with fewer opposing players to attack. I’m in the right place at the right time. I’m very grateful to all the coaches who have believed in this philosophy, especially Louis van Gaal, who had high expectations of me and constantly told me that I had outstanding talent. He believed in me, sometimes even more than I believed in myself.”
However, the first few years of Xavi’s time at Barcelona were not easy. Due to the team’s poor performance, the fans often booed the team and demanded the coach’s resignation. The club failed to win any championships in the five seasons from 1999 to 2004.
Xavi analyzed, “Luis Figo’s departure in 2000 was a huge shock. Imagine it was like Lionel Messi leaving the club at the peak of his career after winning the Ballon d’Or. Figo was our captain, our best player, and then he joined our arch-rivals. Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes, Iniesta, Xavi and I, the club kids, we went through a lot of difficulties. It took us three or four years to get back on our feet. Looking back, I feel I’ve experienced the worst and the best times in Barcelona’s history.”
Rebirth through the desert
In the barren desert, Barcelona found the path to renewal, a path that began in 2003 under the leadership of Frank Rijkaard. This legendary Dutch footballer was recommended to the new president, Joan Laporta, by another legendary Dutch footballer, Johan Cruyff.
“Frank came from the Dutch school and followed similar principles to Cruyff. We gradually restored the order that had been lost during those turbulent years. At the same time, great players like Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Deco, Guri, Rafa Marquez and others joined the team… They helped us academy players to grow and find our way to success,” said Xavi.
Under the leadership of the former Dutch captain, Barça won two Spanish league titles and one Champions League title. “It was also a turning point for me personally,” the Spanish legend emphasises. ‘We players from the youth team were criticised a lot. People said we didn’t have the mentality to win titles. That was tough. But after those titles, we had no limits.”
In the summer of 2008, Pep Guardiola’s arrival set Barça on a different trajectory, one that made football history. ’It was two years after we won the last title. Several coaches were mentioned at the time, Brazilians and Portuguese. Then Cruyff was asked who should take over at Barça. Without hesitation, he replied: ‘Guardiola’, who was coaching the reserves at the time. I said to myself, ‘With him, we can do great things’. I played with him and I knew he was a perfectionist, obsessed with the team’s philosophy, a hard worker… I believed in him.
Under Pep, Xavi became the conductor of Barça and a great champion. “Until I was 24, I felt small and vulnerable. When we played against Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool, Frank Lampard’s Chelsea or Andrea Pirlo’s Milan, I said to myself, ‘Wow, this is going to be tough. But that season I realised I could compete with any team and that I could reach the peak of my career. I knew the competition, I was in the best physical condition and we were in perfect shape. That Barcelona team will always be remembered. We had the best generation in Spanish history, training at La Masia, and we had the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi. I don’t know if we were the best team of all time, but to be in the top four or five teams is a great honour.”
The Ballon d’Or and a unique team
Even though Xavi has reached the pinnacle of his career, he has never won the Ballon d’Or. Xavi is not upset about this. He says: “I don’t think I’m better than Messi or Ronaldo, who have won the Ballon d’Or. I’m a central midfielder, but I’m not capable of deciding the game on my own. I’m proud to have finished third three times, even though I was never officially awarded the Bronze Ball. That’s a pity. I hope the French football magazine will give me some exposure.”laughs.
Like Andrés Iniesta, Xavi would like people to remember the moment when the three best students at Barça took first, second and third place in the 2010 Ballon d’Or. “The photo of me with my friends Andrés and Leo is a very historic photo. For me, it is a philosophical victory and a unique recognition of our style and tradition.”
Alternative football in Qatar
Barcelona won the treble again in 2015, led by the Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio. After that, Xavi decided to retire at Al-Sadd.
“First of all, it’s a big project, a peaceful country with hardly any pressure. My children were born in Doha, and we consider Qatar our second home. I was also involved in the preparations for the World Cup, which also prepared me for a career change. Coaches such as Massimiliano Allegri, Pep Guardiola and Hans-Dieter Flick visited us, and I attended seminars and received training.”
After four seasons at Al Sadd, Xavi retired in 2019 and immediately began his coaching career as the team’s head coach. “There I discovered a different style of football, completely different from the principles of Cruyff. Some coaches emphasized counterattacking, deep defending, zone defending and quick transitions, things I had never practiced in my career,” Xavi said.
The young coach valued this learning experience, as it encouraged him to step outside his comfort zone. “They made me think about my own view of the game,” says Xavi. “As a coach, you have to master all aspects of the game: transitions between attack and defence, set pieces – according to FIFA research, set pieces account for a quarter of all goals scored worldwide – and physical fitness. Players have become athletes and the pace of the game has increased: in three seconds, a tackle can turn into an attack. At Barça, we dominated our opponents and very few coaches used high pressure. Now everyone does it to quickly regain possession. So we can’t afford to neglect any detail.”
Back at Barça, getting things straight
It was La Masia and the position he played that shaped Xavi’s footballing thinking. “La Masia and the midfield position gave me an advantage: I always look at football as a whole. I don’t just think about defence or attack, but also organisation. For me, the best coaches are former midfielders: Pep Guardiola, Louis van Gaal, Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso, Mikel Arteta…”
So when Xavi returned to Barça in November 2021 after six years away as a player, it was something many had expected.
“Barça had approached me twice before I got the call from Laporta, but I didn’t feel ready. I had just spent two and a half seasons at Al Sadd, where I could coach, try out various things and win a title.”
Barcelona was in the midst of a crisis at the time, in terms of finances and personnel. “We had to put everything back in order,” the Spanish legend emphasises. “My first year and a half at Barça was very good. We worked well with Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff, we finished second in the Primera Liga, then won the league title and the Spanish Supercup. After that, the results were not so good. The departure of Jordi and Mateu was a huge blow.”
Isolation
In the 2023/24 season, Xavi found himself seemingly isolated. His team lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals, while Real Madrid won the Spanish league title. President Laporta had persuaded Xavi to stay until the end of his contract in 2025, but a few weeks later decided to fire him.
“Looking back, we achieved a lot, because the club was in one of the most difficult and worst situations in its history, even worse than at the beginning of the 21st century. Expectations of the club were high. My deep affection for Barça sometimes worked against me, and maybe I was sometimes too emotional, but the adventure was really a great learning experience.”
Xavi continued: “I admit that I made some mistakes during my time in charge. The departure of Busquets forced us to rethink our playing style. I opted for a midfield of three attacking players, but that didn’t always work. Apart from the title, I’m proud to have been able to trust a new generation of players like Fermín López, Raminé Yamal, Paul Coubalci, Alejandro Valderrama…they represent the future of the club.”
Before concluding his conversation with France Football, Xavi looked back at his trophy cabinet and relived the dramatic moments of his life. “I’ve been lucky enough to fulfill a childhood dream,” he said. ”People recognize me wherever I go. It reminds me of my time at Barça, when we won the World Cup as a national team. I’ve won every possible title, I’ve played in the Champions League final, the World Cup final, the European Cup final. It’s like playing football in the park as a kid, it’s priceless. It’s an incomparable feeling that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
