It’s only been 24 days. Three weeks ago, on April 25, “It is wise to rectify,” said the coach, when in January he had announced that he was leaving the club at the end of the season because of how “cruel and unpleasant” it was to be Barcelona coach. This Saturday, with the same cruelty and displeasure in the atmosphere, after it was unofficially reported from the club’s leadership that Laporta had stopped believing in the sporting project, Xavi appeared in front of journalists. “The president has not conveyed that to me. He gave me peace of mind and that I had to think about Rayo. Deco’s confidence [director deportivo] and Laporta is still intact,” highlighted the Barcelona coach.
Xavi appeared with a half smile. He didn’t seem nervous, or at least he hid it. “I can’t give you anything,” he explained; “We continue with enthusiasm, ambition to face the remainder of this season and the next. Working hard, we have a project. The club gives me peace of mind. I understand the environment, the noise, but it doesn’t change anything.” Although something had changed, not only in the offices of the Joan Gamper Sports City and those of the Camp Nou, but also in the press room. Xavi’s press conferences usually last around 20 minutes. And there are about 20 question times. Sometimes more, less than 18 have never been counted. This Saturday, only 12 were given (11 minutes), among them the club’s television, the only one that made reference to this Sunday’s game against Rayo Vallecano (7:00 p.m.) .
There were missing questions, of course: “You said that the delayed resignation had helped the team, but has it hurt them in the offices? “You said that you are a club man, what will happen with the settlement?” Will he charge?”, “If he continues, is it a clean slate?”, “The cruelty he referred to in January is not in the environment, but in the club?” Questions that were not asked do not disappear, on the contrary. They become speculations, conjectures and even hypotheses. That is, in noise. “I don’t focus on whether I deserve it or not. This is Barça and these things usually happen,” commented the Barcelona coach.
And, as these things happen at Barcelona, Xavi on Friday afternoon, when the noise about his departure had become practically unbearable, wanted to talk to Laporta. He could not. Only a couple of messages were exchanged, according to Mundo Deportivo. This newspaper was informed by the club that the president had scheduled a meeting between him and Xavi for next week. In the Camp Nou offices they insist that the fatigue with Xavi is not only political but also sporting. The coach’s entourage denies it. “They were angry about the press conference on Wednesday,” underlines the people close to the coach, in reference to Xavi’s appearance before the duel against Almería, in which he said that “the culé must understand that the situation It is very complicated and has nothing to do with the one from 25 years ago.” And he highlighted: “Now, the coach cannot ask ‘this one, this one and this one’. The goal is to change, if not, we will stay the same.”
The words fell like a bomb on the managers and also on the sports management. At dinner at Laporta’s house, the day his continuity was confirmed, the president had asked him if he trusted the squad. “Yes,” Xavi had resolved the day they agreed that he would fulfill his contract until 2025 in Laporta’s penthouse. Already in public, the next day, he added: “I see myself with strength and capacity.” This Saturday, Xavi sent the same message. “I have zero doubts that things can go well with me as coach, I have an extraordinary base in the squad, especially with people from home. Next year we can compete in a better way. I continue with desire, enthusiasm, ambition… and with this news more.”
The news that gives strength to Xavi is not manufactured in the newsrooms but in the offices of Barcelona. But the coach says he doesn’t know anything: “These are stories that no one has told me.” This Sunday we will have to know the verdict of the fans in the duel against Rayo. The dilemma is the one of the entire season: What fans are there in Montjuïc? And what do the Barça players, who are fighting for second place, think? “I always try to convey complete peace of mind to the footballers. I have said the same words to them as to you. I don’t have to deceive anyone,” concluded Xavi.
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