Johan Cruyff’s advice to Xavi goes viral as Barcelona coach comes under pressure

Managers need to call the shots

• By
  
  Gill Clark
  
• on December 15, 2023 3:00 am

Defeats to Girona and Antwerp means it’s been a tough week for Barcelona and has also led to all sorts of reports flying about.

Amid the usual Barca chaos, a conversation has re-emerged involving club legend Johan Cruyff and Xavi Hernandez, who was a first-team player at the time.

The footage comes from a documentary broadcast by TV3 that shows the Dutchman talking about life at Barcelona – and the quotes feel like they are still relevant today.

“A manager is a lonely person who has everyone at the club against him or in his favour, depending on if he’s losing or winning games,” said Cruyff.

“But you, as a manager, need to call the shots based on your knowledge of the team. The only way to survive at the club is if you can tell the president to p*ss off, leave you alone and don’t let him interfere.

“If that’s not the case, goodbye and have a good night. You need that strength.”

Xavi headed into the game against Antwerp after initially leaving Robert Lewandowski, Ronald Araujo and Ilkay Gundogan out of his squad. However, the trio were then reinstated – amid speculation that it was at the request of Joan Laporta.

Barca have been busy denying those accusations since the game, but there’s no doubt it was a curious turn of events. What’s even more certain is that Xavi is probably feeling there’s a lot of people against him after the team’s run of results.

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