‘People only remember the results’ – Former Barcelona director on Xavi’s departure

Eric Abidal is best known for being one of Barcelona’s greatest-ever players who fought through the worst to see the highs at the club. His stint in the club’s administration, however, almost tarnished his image and legend status in Catalonia.

Some strange transfer moves like the sale of Malcom, not trusting young players from the academy and unnecessary clashes with dressing room heavyweights including Lionel Messi, after all, made him face backlash at the time of his departure as the club’s sporting director.

Abidal spoke to MARCA in a recent interview where he dived in deep over Barcelona’s managerial situation, Xavi’s sacking and how to saw the Catalan manager’s stint at the club.

He began by addressing Xavi’s tenure in Catalonia and what he took away from the team’s performance last season.

“Complicated season. People only remember the results. They were in a more difficult, more critical situation. Then there was something positive when it happened in the Champions League [first leg win vs PSG], then it was a disaster.”

“You have to trust the people who are at the club. The financial situation is not the same as before, but I think that difficult situations make you make better and more careful decisions. I think they have understood it and I hope they do it well,” he added.

When asked about Joan Laporta’s decision to sack Xavi and the embarrassing manner in which the cards played out, the Barcelona legend said,

“I’m not in the club, so I don’t know anything about the decisions that are made in private.”

Explaining how the situation appeared bizarre from the outside, Abidal said: “He recently said that he would leave at the end of the season, then he changed his mind because he surely saw the potential of the team and what can be done. Only he and the people of the club know what happened.”

Xavi departed from Barça this week. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

“Now the club made another decision that is different, now only the future will tell us if it was a good decision or a bad one,” he added.

The legendary full-back then went on to praise Xavi for his work at the club and acknowledged that he had left a special mark.

“As a coach, he did a great job, it was not easy. He was lucky to have a great generation of young players who made a difference. They were very important within the team, Gavi, Pedri, Ronald, Lamine, you could see the difference when they played and when they didn’t.”

Abidal then went on to add that the rise of the young La Masia stars could well have been the reason Xavi changed his decision to leave the club in June.

“This gives you many possibilities for the future of the club knowing that they are almost ready for the future. I think that changed Xavi’s idea of leaving. You learn from difficult situations.”

Finally, the French legend was asked if he contemplated a return to Barcelona in the future to which he admitted that he had not given much thought.

“No, no, I’ve been there and I saw what I had to see, I love this job, people who know me know how I ‘acted’ face to face with the players.”

“Everyone has an image, I know that the world of football is complicated. Many interests, my personal interest is that the player grows, and tries to do the best for the club,” he added, reminiscing about the criticism he faced on his way out of the club.