How Barcelona’s toxicity forced Xavi out

[@108u9]

Barcelona after the announcement has cancelled Xavi’s Spotify Premium subscription

[@Montycat78]

That is unbelievably petty, but I’m not 100% surprised by it.

[@ellemarr7234]

@@Montycat78 it’s a joke … I think? Lol

[@William_Daryl]

@@Montycat78bro…

[@ktm4042]

LMAO good one!!

[@Andres-db4jm]

​@@Montycat78 that's the bull, never heard about it

[@kjetilknyttnev3702]

Barcelona has been badly ran since Laporte's first term.
But Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and Iniesta carried the team for 10 years, masking the problems. Much like how Ferguson carried United for the poor Glazers ownership.

[@jelle5859]

Barcelona literally paid a company for social media posts to protect Bartomeu and to attack club legends like Messi, Xavi and Pique. That's shocking, and the fact that people sort of forgot about this is insane. After I read that I thought, I would never join Barca as a top player (if I had comparable options). After all that Messi has done, to pay a company to slander him online in order to benefit Bartomeu and Barca in contract negotiations is just insane. A club board without any sort of integrity.
Combine that with the millions or euros paid to referees... for "advice", meanwhile you have things like the scandal of Stamford Bridge happening. Barca is rotten

[@Yob365]

what are you on about lol Bartomeu and his board are literally exiled from the club. And of course how can we forget about the massive bribery scandal of €7.3 million paid over 18 years to bribe the referress lol Yes, it took ONLY 500K a year on average to bribe the referees. use your brain

[@user-zq7vi8lm4z]

@@Yob365 thats why i never take negreira case seriously. the price are just too cheap even the poorest la liga club could afford it. laporta statement that it just consultation fee is more plausible for that price. if its actual bribery they should found more than 7m but its been 2 years and not even a single evidence found.

[@teddymthembu123]

It doesn't take even 2 brain cells to realize that 7.3 Million over 18 years isn't enough to bribe referees. Especially during an era where Barca were comfortably the best team in the world. The Stamford "scandal" is always a point of reference for many but they somehow forget the diabolical calls against Barca as well.

[@ibfahad]

The amount of disrespect that Xavi is receiving on this show is insane. The guy just won the league last year with a shit management and a shit team. You compare Xavi to Ole? The level groupthink in the discussion is crazy

[@barstar888]

It’s the English and Madrid media combined so don’t take them seriously. These same clowns didn’t give Barca their due last season when they won the league because the “going broke” narrative was shattered.

[@BeBe-vh4ry]

​​@@barstar888this isn't 'the English media' it's some random guys on a podcast, and why would the 'English media' be concerned about Barca and xavi? Do you people even think these comments through?
P.s the guy on the left is irish, and the guy in the middle is African 😂😂

[@barstar888]

@@BeBe-vh4ry what, these guys represent “The Athletic” in the UK and they’re concerned with Barça the same way they’re concerned with Madrid because they’re the biggest football clubs in the world like it or not….
listen you can go believe what you want but I’m not going to waste my time exchanging back and forth with someone who can’t comprehend the “English” media is in reference to the publications or outlets not the individuals who broadcast representing their platforms. Like when Wenger or Jose are working for BT or Sky for segments do you exclude them from representing the network they appear on because they were born elsewhere? C’mon man, wake up.

[@BeBe-vh4ry]

​​@@barstar888lmfao, by your logic the Irish media is also the English media because it's in English and Jose somehow becomes English when he's on BT 😂. 10/10 logic.
Barca and Madrid might be huge but don't make any headlines in England mate, sorry to burst your bubble.

[@randomcon123]

In comparison, Real has been run so well by Perez even though they are no longer world football’s richest club. It is still competitive in champions league and things are looking bright with Bellingham and Endrick

[@therealking6202]

Tell Dermot the light goes is front of you, not behind you.

[@RLM-ji6jm]

Xavi's position gets so romantized. All the guy did was complaining about referees, about Real Madrid, about everything he possibly could. And when he had to do his job (win matches) he failed, time and time again.
Weak and way too unexperienced for Barca

[@curtischarles5299]

Xavi has failed as a coach . All this BS about him not treated well. Xavi is the first manager in about 6yrs that have been fully fully supported by president and every fan. The club mortgage everything to give him the best team he could get and he has a very good team. He made this team regress . Xavi needs to man up and accept failure

[@Cruyff1899]

Everything started going downhill with the departure of Jordi Cruyff , Mateu Alemany and when Xavi was forced to call up players he was resting, Barcelona vs Amberes. Laporta was going behind Xavi’s back and undermining him and was limiting Jordi Cruyff and Alemany’s decisions when it came to new players. Xavi was left alone. He trusted Jordi and Alemany.

[@train_xc]

Jordi Cruff is horrible at best

[@jacobfield4848]

Barcelona have not been the same since they could not choose their own referee's. As for doping their own players for 40 years, that is still being covered up.

[@prod.bysrsly9083]

i think we can debate this endlessly, but the fact remains that as much as i love xavi and would love to see him as coach at HIS club, results are still the key to knowing if someone can still be considered as coach or not. of course barca fans have been spoiled with generations of footballers over the last 2 decades, but in the end, if xavi sees the results aren't there, it's the most normal thing in the world to say he will leave. every year or season earlier that we find a new manager who is able to turn things around is a win for barcelona. imagine if xavi held on to his coaching job until 2026. and just with the status he has at barca, I could easily see laporta keeping him on forever despite poor results simply because of cost and legend status. as we all know, laporta often wears rose-tinted glasses, which doesn't always have to be a bad thing, but just to be mentioned.

[@ktm4042]

More consistent journalism from rhe Athletic. Not many other "news" outlets/pundits talking about the massive toxicity created by Deco and Mendes. Good job Athletic

[@flyingaviator8158]

Great Video, I wish The Athletic goes more often into depth of spanish football. Keep it up!

[@momcilom.stojanovic8404]

... GREAT VIDEO ... GREAT GUESTS ...

[@gigiperih]

Xavi once picked Sergi Roberto in the flank while Felix and Lamine were available on the bench, and it was against Madrid. We played like a 10 men, we fucked. Who do you think Barca fans or boards will support that decision? None. It's not toxicity, it just Xavi is that bad at tactical decisions.

[@b.alexanderjohnstone9774]

If I was a Barca fan I would blame the chairman, if it’s true that he was interfering with team, squad selection. No manager can or should accept that with honour. You guys have total clowns running your beautiful club. They are like politicians constantly trying to make themselves look good first, ahead of the collective.

[@whsqueiroz]

don't think it's a matter of xavi not stepping up or not having enough personality. to be honest, that feels like a very shallow and fan-like perspective of all this. i mean, come on... since laporta was first elected, barcelona completely changed direction. bartomeu became barça president because of laporta in the first place. the grip laporta has over the club right now must be insanely tight and institutionally speaking, everything at barça right now has laporta's or his associates fingerprints all over it... xavi was brought in by... laporta. how could he ever "win politically"? i don't think any manager at barça could ever do that, not even cruyff in his days.

[@gentleken7864]

As an Arsenal fan, who's witnessed how sneaky and cheaty Barca are for decades, all I can say is, 'good'. Adding in that La Liga is a joke that is basically run by two teams. Barca have been 'criminally' run for decades, but because they're Barca, nothing will happen.

[@GarthMarenghiMD]

I'm a Man Utd supporter, but how Barca pursued Fabregas really turned me against them

[@Jorge-lh6px]

Well, if you’re using Negreia, a court recently ruled that no such thing occurred.

[@Jorge-lh6px]

@@GarthMarenghiMD lol, Man U quite literally did that with every other team in the Prem during SAF’s reign…

[@gentleken7864]

@@GarthMarenghiMD Never forgotten, while Cesc was at Arsenal, Xavi and Iniesta during international duty and their 'Cesc has Barca DNA' again and again and again. At that time from 2007-2010 Cesc was posting crazy numbers and to then go, after being suspiciously injured, and our captain, and then playing straight away for Barca after the move, will always sour it for me. 34 million euros? In 2007/08 in all competitions, Cesc scored 11 and assisted 22. Ronaldo by contrast scored 34 and assisted 7 that season. But Ronaldo went for three times the amount of Cesc due to Barca's sneaky fookery. In the four seasons from 2007-2011, Cesc made 72 assists in all competitions. That's ridiculous.

[@b.alexanderjohnstone9774]

​@@Jorge-lh6pxah, the good old days when we deserved to be hated. I will say though that SAF didn't do it publicly or disrespect fellow managers (that I can remember anyway).

[@user-nv9ig6po1d]

Ayo is such a great host.

[@chinmaypurohit3431]

Why does Ballus look like Iraola

[@raqoonn]

I think xavi is not a special coach at the end of the day.. smart to announce this rather than getting sacked.. it's better for his career..
I think Barcelona mngmnt respects him.. they must have told him to pack his bags before summer 😆

[@saifobaid6849]

The coaches job is to manage with what he is given, he failed, so he “left”.

[@williammonteiro6278]

The institution needs change and it starts by letting the manager implement their style and make decisions.

[@willgoins218]

Everyone involved has inflated expectations. They have spent massively on players over the last decade and developing another academy golden generation was an anomaly.
Barcelona need to fix their finances and develop their squad. Playing fun, attacking football is a luxury and sometimes you need to grind.

[@Yob365]

"Playing fun, attacking football is a luxury ...". Literally Brighton, Girona, and Leverkuson beg to differ.

[@rere9991]

@@Yob365 Girona the City group owned club? Brighton the selling multiple players for 60M-100M+ a year club? Leverkusen a financially stable club that 100% supports the manager decisions? Hmmm I wonder if they have the Luxury or not 🤔

[@algfourty9185]

I get the feeling that Barca thought they were getting what Real Madrid got with Zidane. Aside from their different personalities, the difference is that Zidane went and learned under Ancelotti, then he toured europe learning from the best, asking questions of the brightest minds; there's a level of organization to that methodology and inheretence planning that Barca have completely missed. Xavi going to the middle east was never going to prepare him for the job, now who do they turn to?

[@saurabhtiwari9961]

Zidane had world class players at his disposal.
Stop the comparison

[@Yob365]

Not one Barcelona fan thought Xavi was the next Zidane. Stop making up scenarios lol

[@tusharsirohi5792]

​​@@saurabhtiwari9961even if Xavi had Messi or a similar squad pre pandemic, he would never in a million years win the UCL, much less three in a row.
Put some respect to Zizou's name, sure he had a world class squad but keeping those egos in check is never easy.

[@saurabhtiwari9961]

@@tusharsirohi5792 I'm not comparing the UCL wins.im saying that to flourish you require a good squad.anyways not much sense in debating you

[@paulcrossley9812]

The fact Barca where in so much debt and having to hock the future of the club tells you how badly the club was run and now the FA have put a stop to them earning 100 and spending 120 hence the mess and it as not happened over night its been going on for years its like city cooking the Books both have one thing in common is it a pep thing?

[@rustyshackleford6957]

Most of the big clubs now won't have patience. There won't be Fergies and Wengers of the past.

[@petermarkovits-ke2gp]

In all soccer clubs one could find opposing clans, intrigues, differences of oppinions, etc.. Xavi was not a child when he agreed to take over the job. He was not born yesterday. Xavi dig his own grave because hecwas not prepared for such a job. He lacked skills in true leadership and he allowed his sentimentality to take over. As a coach you cannot afford to show that you favor certain players no mater what. That works against you a la long as a manager no matter the field. Xavi should go for 2-3 years tobwork ascan assistant manager for Guardiola, Klopp, Ancelloti, Morigno, etc...He must learn the art of being a manager not a faimous former player. On that regard Xavi has a lot to learn in the immediate future.

[@Rodney231]

Xavi is a horrible manager....he was given the job because of sentimental reasons and is still with the club because of those sentimental reasons....in all aspects of management Xavi is bad in....

[@tanvirchoudhury4118]

Thought that was Fabrizio Romano

[@user-bi1yw1du7q]

The barca posession style is outdated.

[@Yob365]

"posession style"
- You mean what City and Arsenal are doing, where they suffocate teams with possession. Just talking nonsense at this point. Its literary an altered version of tiki-taka

[@mayankjauhari878]

Valverde never managed Xavi, Xavi left after the UCL final when Luis Enrique was the manager.
Expect better from Athletic to get the facts right.

[@walterdacruz9567]

27:48 What are this guys talking about? They did change the direction of the club with those levers YES. Are u forget they are the actual CHAMPIONS 🏆?? of la liga?

[@patcoughlin1987]

No one wants to talk about how la masia has made a comeback. They have so many players coming into the first team this year. They do have a good future on the horizon

[@ifldiscovery8500]

no cuz they are broke.

[@santijunior6482]

I don’t think this has too much to do with Laporta. He’s always getting blamed but you can’t put a whole 40 minute podcast oriented around a president who’s made Barca come back from those difficult issues. The problem is journalists like you, like Munda Deportivo, bringing so much toxicity around the club.

[@user-cq9uj4ov9y]

Xavi is great manager he is being treated like a foreigner in a club he grew up in and became a legend at. Laporta and Deco are ruining the club.

[@jelle5859]

Remember how they treated Koeman, a club legend?

[@blahqwe]

But awful manager.

[@jelle5859]

@@blahqweNo he's not, he had a bad team

[@barca-vibe]

Finally calling spade a spade..there is a lot of toxicity around the club

[@1cvsr]

Pol has to stop saying the word like so many times. It’s driving me crazy

[@JamailvanWestering]

Xavi the best man to lead Barcelona? says who? based on what?
Xavi could have easily done his homework first by calling Pep and
asking him about the job as manager at Barca.
Xavi was the manager in blood oil country before he
came to Barca? tf would make you yhink he is read for the job at Barca

[@anneeq008]

Roma would be an interesting destination for Xavi 🤔

[@Yob365]

Hes going to Ajax. He's odds favorite

[@john-tr8jy]

it became too much of a Hypebeast club and not a serious one. I mean they rode the "innovation" wave to actually creating a "hub"...for what? This has really been a managerial disgrace. Messi's time, after all he did, didn't even end on a sweet note. ffs

[@joelhighlight6231]

That why I hate barca fabs are just bad Fam

[@davidgillespie4674]

Bob Moncur

[@rememberthatdude848]

No one forced him out: He's just a quitter.

[@ellcaa4220]

Toxicity didn't force him out. The bad results did. The fact that Xavi is a bad manager did. Look, you can say what you want about how bad the toxicity is, but it's not what forced Xavi out. It's not like he's 10 points ahead, winning in every competition and is leaving because of toxicity. He's leaving because the results are atrocious, and the style is even worse.
Xavi is a bad manager. He's not good at his job. And it's okay, not everyone can or has to be Guardiola or Klopp. We don't need to be toxic towards him, he was a wonderful footballer who brought a lot of joy into the game. But the idea that he's being forced out by toxicity is just a very sad attempt by Xavi to distract from the fact that he's a bad manager. On the last press conference Xavi said that everyone would hate on him no matter what, even if he was 14 points ahead in the league. Okay, I'm sorry, but that's dumb. That's just a dumb thing to say.

[@treyb7937]

Bad is a stretch he's done an okay job did the bare minimum excepted

[@ellcaa4220]

@@treyb7937 That's not true at all. Maybe last season, when ter Stegen was in form. But this season? The defence is a joke. The results on paper look bad, but if you actually watch the matches, it's even worse.
Look at the last el classico. Xavi used to put Araujo as rightback to deal with Vinicius. And it worked. So he did it again in the last match against Real, even though Vinicius was no longer playing on the left wing, he was playing more centrally. It was not a like this was an invention Ancelotti came up 2 days before that match. It's just bad match prep from Xavi.

[@wdred]

Was he a bad manager last season?

[@Karg537]

Bad manager who won you the league. Barca fans really arrogant huh

[@duyanhng8430]

he won the damn leauge u bozo

[@Razormiller]

Interesting podcast. Couple of points Id take issue with or werent mentioned/focused on enough
1. The injury crisis: I dont think this was even mentioned but in Xavis defence Barcelona have an unbelievable injury crisis going on all season. This season a lot of clubs seem to be going thru this but Barca would probably be one of the worst.
2. Xavis style of play: This was mentioned but not focused on enough. That for me is one of the biggest problems with his tenure. Even when winning La Liga we did it with so many 1-0s. It was boring. It was antiBarca style football. Xavi got the job promising better football then Koemanball but it never really happened. I dont see how Xavi can return to the club as manager with that style of football.
3: Pol said that Laporte/the club shouldnt be saying this team can win the champions league. Why not? We are in the knockout stages. We are the reigning champions of La Liga. We have a great squad(and we do). If we can get some injured players back and get players back in form then why cant we win it??????? Of course we can. No team in the knock out stages of the Champions League should be thinking they cant win it
4: Pol says "Barca can play badly and still finish in the Champions League spots in La Liga but you couldnt do that in the Premier League".. Disappointing to hear him slating La Liga like that. A league that regularly produces non top 4 sides that win the Europa league. Its a tough league with some excellent no top four teams. It deserves respect. Barca do have to play well to get top 4. Im surprised to hear a La Liga fan say otherwise. Its what Id expect from a PL snob.
5: The guys said Real Madrid have a "much better squad". I totally disagree. Sounds like recency bias. We are reigning champions. We battered Real last season. This season Xavi hasnt kicked on/improved the style of play plus we have a massive injury crisis but when we have a fully fit squad its as good as Reals.
What I want from the club is more joined up thinking. The signin of Lewa and Gundo was very shortsighted. We are in financial meltdown so DONT sign 34/35yr olds on long contracts + huge wages. Dont spend 70mil on Raphinha. He was never worth that. Same for Kounde. He seems error prone. And Felix is a player we didnt need. A waste of wages. We needed a good defensive midfielder. We had a great opportunity to save money with so many great youngsters coming thru and yet still the club pulled the "levers"(gambling our future) and splurged on players who were overpriced/over the hill. Those decisions really disappointed me.
I was glad we brought in Xavi but his style of football is just not right for the club. He has a great squad so he should be able to get a good style of football out of them but he hasnt. I dont mind us struggling this season coz of the injury crisis but I want to enjoy watching us play and under Xavi, 95% of the time, I havent. I see no creativity or imagination in our style of play. He had to go. Id kinda like him to go now tbh but we dont have the money to do that.
I hope the next manager keeps giving La Masia players game time but also plays good possession based attackin football. IMO most Barca fans want us to compete and play good football. We have some unreal youngsters at the club so the club doesnt have to make wholesale changes. Sell players like lewa, gundo, rapha, de jong or kounde and use that money to finance signings that are needed. IE a defensive midfielder. We need to be a lot smarter/more frugal in the transfer department.

[@jimbojimbo6873]

Arteta needs to join them

[@CatGPT_]

arteta not joining a small club

[@juz882010]

like

[@nigefal]

Even the advertised "Best sports journalists in the world", now use the phrase "toxicity"not only in general conversation but taglines on videos.
I have no idea when that phrase stopped been used for chemicals and started being used to describe an atmosphere related to feelings. But i still find it odd. American origin, or just an internet trend? Surely top journalists have a more expansive vocabulary than this?

[@CatGPT_]

never been in a toxic work environment? it's toxic.

[@duyanhng8430]

you are arguring semantics, such pathetic behaviour

[@sanmateoflights]

Barcelona is unmanageable.
Xavi is a fantastic manager - he won La Liga beating Real Madrid - let that sink in.