Xavi wept the primary time he bid goodbye to Barcelona. These had been tears he shed for parting with a slice of his soul, the membership he has devoted all his life for, the membership he spent his time from adolescence to center age. The establishment had outlined him, as a lot as he had outlined it. These had been tears of pleasure too, for he was departing as a winner, with the European crown on his proper hand on the modern Olympiastadion in Berlin.
The separation, although, appeared fleeting. At some point, some day, hope fluttered, that he would return, to be Barcelona’s once more, to be Barcelona once more. His was a training life foretold. Like Pep Guardiola; like Luis Enrique; like Johan Cruyff. He did, earlier than he left once more.
It was the proper marriage; the supervisor made for Barcelona, respiratory and dwelling its idealistic ethos.
However Xavi didn’t weep the second time he bid farewell. He was sombre, relieved {that a} ache was eliminated off his chest. He might smile now — however he didn’t. The phrases he used implied as a lot. “Merciless”, “disagreeable”, “liberation”, he sprayed the phrases somebody does after a bitter divorce.
“It wears you down terribly, by way of well being, of psychological well being, your temper, your emotional state. I’m a constructive man however the power goes down, down, down, till the purpose at which you say: it is senseless.”
The phrases appeared too unreal for somebody who barely spoke something half-bitter or acerbic in his profession as a midfielder grasp of area and time. The go metronome would go something remotely with a fireball potential. However Xavi had had sufficient, he had misplaced his love for the membership. Like all bitter marriages, the belief had begun to wane. The president would intervene, the sporting director would intrude, the media would interrogate.
“The [media] create conditions and eventualities that, for me, aren’t actual,” Xavi as soon as stated. The 250-odd classes a yr with the media had been taking a toll on his poise. He might have tackled questions on techniques, outcomes, and people; even politics, moreover coping with gossip and leaks to the media. “Half of the questions they might ask you wouldn’t be on soccer,” Guardiola had as soon as sniped.
Even Guardiola misplaced a few of his love for the membership in his fourth yr, and earlier than the ties turned bitter, he parted methods. “I felt I wanted a change of setting, a renewal. The depth, the strain, it’s one thing else right here,” he would then say. So did one among his successors, Luis Enrique, regardless of successful a treble. Guardiola would sympathise with the talisman of tiki taka, Xavi: “We are able to’t evaluate the strain in England with the strain in Spain, in my expertise. It’s a thousand instances tougher there. Six press conferences per week, a number of video games. The strain you’re feeling in Barcelona will not be similar to anyplace else,” he instructed the English press.
Managing any elite membership is tough; shepherding Barcelona much more. It’s not only a matter of accumulating trophies. In his second season, Xavi did win the league and the Tremendous Cup. But it surely’s additionally about how they win. Xavi would dwell on this as soon as: “You beat Actual Madrid 1-0 and plainly it’s not convincing sufficient, whereas if it was the reverse there could be a nationwide get together. At Barcelona, it’s a must to win and persuade, to have 70 p.c of possession and create 16 probabilities whereas the opponent makes three.”
Greater than a membership
The politics — Barcelona is a robust worldwide image of Catalan identification, its identification with Catalonia is a part of what offers the membership a socio-political dimension — amplifies the strain on the supervisor. When the clock reaches 17 minutes and 14 seconds, commemorating the yr town fell to Felipe V, the followers would chant for Catalan independence. It’s a membership that appears for greater than three factors from a sport, a staff that values aesthetics and philosophy as a lot.
Idealism appears to be like grand on paper, however in modern-day soccer, to attain every thing is close to not possible. Being a Catalan himself, Xavi might establish with politics, however not when the questions of independence confronted him at a press convention.
One might empathise much more with Xavi. The staff he inherited was a large number. Lionel Messi had gone; Neymar and Luis Suarez had lengthy gone. There was each chaos and confusion. He was empowered with a treasure-chest to rebuild the empire. Xavi himself would know that his membership doesn’t go about setting empires and eras. However he did all he might to sew a staff — by hasty accumulation quite than cautious nurturing.
Every part fell into place within the first full season; then every thing fell aside within the subsequent. The central pillar, the final hyperlink to the golden period – Sergio Busquets – left, a spate of accidents kicked in; ageless veterans started to age, opponents revived. Xavi might take no extra. It may not have been the Barcelona he had seen and sensed as a participant. It might need felt like an odd and distant place. However that’s the way it was.
The world one sees as a participant is completely different from the world seen by a player-manager. Xavi will not be the primary legend to return to the membership he performed for and discover it a completely completely different place. Solely a handful of true greats have succeeded as managers.
Zinedine Zidane was, however not Diego Maradona, Andrea Pirlo or Frank Lampard. Contrastingly, most distinguished managers, Jurgen Klopp, Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger had undistinguished careers as gamers. Maybe, the player-turned-manager is deluded by the success of the previous, maybe he could be underneath much more strain due to the previous.
No less than, Xavi didn’t undergo the humiliation of an axe. He might have, however for his stature as a participant, president Joan Laporta would say. The president was not solely at fault both, as Barcelona had regarded uninspired previously few months.
Perhaps, his departure was for the great in any case, however this time there lingers little hope of a reunion. Xavi remains to be Barcelona, however Barcelona is not Xavi. It maybe by no means could be.