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In an interview with The Athletic, former Villarreal and Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla claimed that Xavi Hernández was treated unfairly by Barcelona.
Cazorla played with Xavi in the Spanish team and later was even under his management at Al Sadd in Qatar.
On Xavi’s change from player to coach
The 40-year-old, who currently plays for his boyhood club Real Oviedo, spoke about his past interactions with Xavi and how the Barcelona legend initially had no plans to become a manager.
“Xavi once told me that he had not wanted to be a coach, but when he took the course something woke up inside him” Cazorla revealed.
Xavi coached Cazorla at Al Sadd from the summer of 2020 to November 2021, and the midfielder saw how the transition from player to coach influenced the Barcelona icon’s personality.
“As a player, Xavi was calm, reserved and spoke in a low voice.” Cazorla said. “In his first halftime talk as my coach, he was super angry, banging his fists, throwing bottles. I thought he wasn’t the same guy I knew.
“He told me later: ‘Santi, when you are a coach, everything is completely different. You’ll find out later if you want to do it yourself. You will need to change to be able to manage a group of players.’”
About Xavi’s time at Barcelona
Speaking about Xavi’s time at Barcelona, Cazorla explained how the former midfielder took the reins of the club when they were going through a difficult time and helped them fight for titles again, while discovering talents from The Masia.
And all this, Cazorla believes, was not valued by the club that ended up firing Xavi at the end of last season.
“I know that Xavi feels for Barcelona what I feel for Oviedo” Cazorla said. “He took over at a low time, because of his love for the club and because he wanted to help.
“He put his trust in young players who today emerge as world class, such as Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi. He recovered them by fighting for trophies. But that was not valued.” he added.
Calling Barcelona’s treatment of Xavi “unfair”, he added: “They were unfair to him and he has suffered a lot. I have spoken to him, he has had a very bad time.
However, the former Arsenal star confirmed that Xavi will return to management in the future and said:
“He wants to rest now and spend time with his family. But in the future he will train again.”
