Xavi 'couldn't sleep' after telling Gerard Pique to 'step aside'
Barcelona manager Xavi reveals how he couldn’t SLEEP after telling old pal Gerard Pique to ‘step aside’ – and how ex-team-mate Jordi Alba ‘got angry’ at him – in a frank admission over what it’s like being the boss
- Xavi has opened up in a television interview on life as Barcelona’s manager
- The Spaniard has had tough decisions with players he formerly played alongside
- He admitted he couldn’t sleep after telling Gerard Pique to step aside last year
Xavi has opened up on the tough conversations he had with Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba, after telling his good friends and former Barcelona team mates to leave the club.
The club legend has given a frank admission over what it’s like being the manager at Barcelona, where he has been put in charge of some of the team mates who he enjoyed incredible success with as a player.
However, Xavi has had difficult decisions to make with the likes of Pique, Alba and Sergio Busquets all reaching the end of their Barcelona tenures under his helm.
In an interview on ‘Gol a Gol’ on Spanish television channel TV3 as per Marca, Xavi said: ‘When you have to make decisions contrary to what the player would like, it starts to be difficult.
‘I had to tell Pique to step aside, that he would play less. It was even hard for me to sleep, because we had enjoyed a lot together.
Xavi has opened up on the difficulties of managing Barcelona in a honest television interview
He revealed that he couldn’t sleep after telling former team mate Gerard Pique to ‘step aside’
Xavi also described how Jordi Alba ‘got angry’ after he was also advised to leave the club
‘With Jordi Alba you have the feeling that you are failing as a friend, but you have to prioritize the team.’
‘It happened to me with Luis Enrique, you don’t understand it, you have the feeling that you have to play after so many years as a starter.’
Xavi then revealed that Alba, who is leaving Barcelona this summer, got angry with the manager over being forced out of the club.
He added: ‘Jordi got angry, you have to understand it. But later there was a group chat and he told us that he was one hundred percent committed one hundred. And that’s how it was, like Pique. They knew how to leave at the right time.’
Pique’s relationship with the club and Xavi was strained by the club’s desire to usher him out the door in the hope of avoiding the need to pay off his contract amid their financial crisis.
The former Spain defender retired suddenly from football in November, playing his last game in a 2-0 victory over Almeria after only announcing his intentions to quit the sport earlier that same week.
Alba has agreed to leave Barcelona despite having one year left on his contract, while Busquets’ current deal expires this summer.
Both Alba and Busquets played their final Nou Camp games during their 3-0 victory over Mallorca at the weekend – with their final match set to take place against Celta Vigo this weekend.
Xavi though did insist that Pique and Alba knew how to leave the club at the right time
Xavi (left) enjoyed great success with Pique and Alba (right) as a player at Barcelona
Sergio Busquets and Alba played their final games at the Nou Camp at the weekend
Xavi also revealed in the interview that the shadow of Pep Guardiola lingers over him during his own managerial career.
The former midfielder’s best stint of his career came under the current Man City boss, when Guardiola led Barcelona to three LaLiga titles and two Champions League trophies from 2008 to 2012.
He said: ‘The figure of Pep Guardiola is weighing on me as a coach. I don’t think it’s fair. It already happened to me when I was a footballer. Everyone has to turn the page.’
Despite the tough job at the Nou Camp, Xavi led Barcelona to the LaLiga title this season
Xavi added: ‘Sometimes you have the feeling of letting people down. When you lose 3-0 you take the children to school and you quickly go back to the car, I am ashamed of having lost.’
He later went on to describe Barcelona as the ‘most difficult club in the world’ as whatever he does ‘is never enough’.
Barcelona have been linked with another of Xavi’s former team mates in Lionel Messi, though the Argentine could instead decide to make the move to Saudi Arabia.
Xavi said Barcelona ‘will do everything’ for Messi to return to the club where he became one of the greatest footballers of all time but that it will depend on what the World Cup winner wants to do.
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