In a surprising and unprecedented speech in his two years at the helm of Barça, Xavi Hernández put the spotlight on the press, and he did it ad nauseam, again and again. According to him, if his soccer players are blocked, especially the younger ones, it is because of the criticism that comes from the media. To try to protect his players, the coach pointed insistently at the journalists, whom he blamed for putting excessive pressure on his players and creating a harmful breeding ground for their performance: “I'm not saying that about the environment because of the fans.” I say this because of the press, which is very exaggerated. It is more the criticism from the press that affects the footballers, and that is why we do not play as well; I told them during the break to calm down, they don't eat anyone here. They were more tense than normal because of everything surrounding the team. All this doesn't add up. This generates nervousness and makes them not show the best version.”
Instead, the Blaugrana coach took responsibility away from the fans, despite the fact that isolated whistles were heard among the public, and turned it over to the media. He sought and therefore addressed the external enemy.
“What the press says affects the team's game, scenarios are generated that are not real, negativity is generated that is not good. This has affected the first part. They also told me that it was Barça's cancer, and I am here as a coach,” the man from Terrassa said about a phrase from his days as a footballer.
The coach specifically referred to the effect that, in his opinion, criticism has on newer players. “They need more peace of mind. I don't get nervous. These players deserve credit. Last year we were much worse than now. I want my players to enjoy themselves again, but with peace of mind. Above all, this dynamic affects the youngest; Iñigo Martínez, Lewandowski, Gündogan or Cancelo, who are more seasoned men, are not affected. We must protect them. That's why during the break I was softer than ever. The team needed order and love.”
Only in the last response did Xavi admit that those responsible for the bad game are the footballers and the coaching staff. “It's our fault for playing badly, it would just be missing, but especially the young people feel a tension that I didn't see a month ago.”
With this cocktail in his speech, the coach agreed that the national team break will be great for his team. “It will be very good to disconnect.”
On a more footballing level, Xavi did admit that his team is still far from good performance. “We have improved a little, but we have to improve much more. We must continue to be self-critical. But we had to bring out the caste and the personality, and that's how it was." Of course, what he criticized the most was the start of the game with an early goal against, as had happened previously in Granada: "It has already happened to us other times, we can't give away so much."
Paradoxically, the press also received from the Alavés coach, Luis García Plaza. In this case because in the preview, Xavi was not asked any questions about the Vitoria team: “I was surprised and I told the players.” Wow, he used that as encouragement. Here everyone plays their game.
