NOT THE WAY YOU TREAT A LEGEND

I consider Xavi Hernandez to be the greatest midfielder of his generation - and possibly the best #6 of all time. Xavi is not only a greater player, but he is a leader who led Barca and the Spanish national team to so many trophies and to a stratospheric level of play. He has also been a tremendous coach during his time at Barca, ending a 4 year trophy drought in the Spanish League when he led Barca to the league title in 2023. 

For all those reasons, it is shameful to witness how the club dismissed Xavi last week. I will not attempt to summarize the affair. Sid Lowe has done that in his piece for the Guardian. However, I can say that any football club that throws such a loyal and transformational employee under the bus is a club that forfeits the right to called itself by its own motto - mes que un club (more than a club). In fact, their action are below the dignity of the club that I once loved and that I have seen torn apart by presidential mismanagement for more than a decade. This is what happens when powerful, dishonest people who lack a clear vision or moral compass are given the reigns of an organization - disaster. I have been unfortunate to witness something similar myself at various stages of my career, and it is an affront to all who care about an organization or who have given so much of themselves to a cause bigger than themselves embodied in such an organization.

To Xavi, thank you for being such an amazing ambassador of football and for never settling or taking short cuts. Your play and your players play brought me so much joy these past 14 years. I hope you come back to Barca one day to restore the club to what it once was and what you helped to make it into. Visca Xavi!