Barcelona manager Xavi warns successor about 'impossible' job ahead of exit - 'It makes you feel worthless'

Outgoing Barcelona head coach Xavi has warned his successor that managing the La Liga club is an "impossible" task and "it makes you feel worthless".

The Barca legend made the shock announcement that he was going to step down at the end of the season following their 5-3 home defeat against Villarreal on Saturday.

At the time, Xavi claimed that "the battery levels keep running out", he didn't feel valued and the job was starting to wear down his mental health.

Speaking in his press conference ahead of Barcelona's league game against Osasuna, Xavi doubled down on his comments and described the difficulties about working for the club.

"It is a cruel and unpleasant job," he said. "It makes you feel worthless on a daily basis. Pep [Guardiola] had already told me; I saw Luis Enrique suffer.

"We have a problem in terms of the level of demand. You don't enjoy it. You're playing for your life all the time. It's cruel.

"The job we have done has not been sufficiently valued. We arrived in 2021 at one of the most difficult moments in the club's history."

When asked about what advice he would give to the next person in charge of the club, Xavi replied: “It’s going to happen to them, this is the problem. My advice is for him to be natural and not let himself be influenced, I almost managed it.

"My dream was to coach Barcelona and win and it has been achieved. I have a clear conscience that I have done the best for the club. I’m proud of the work, and I’ve been a man of the club, I always will be. My advice would be to enjoy it, but it’s impossible.”

Barca have struggled to find consistency this season and find themselves 11 points behind surprise league leaders Girona, having played a game less.

The Catalans were also dumped out of the Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage against Athletic Club, while they suffered a humbling 4-1 defeat at the hands of Clasico rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.

Despite their poor run of form this season, Xavi made it clear once again that he doesn't believe he gets enough credit for winning the league title with Barcelona last season.

"In general I am not valued," he added. "That generates a certain amount of wear and tear, especially when it's your club.

"I have the feeling that whatever I do, I won't be valued. It's not to do with putting up with the pressure. We came in at such a difficult moment and I don't think our work will ever be valued.

“When I appear here in front of the press, I said what I thought. When I said that we were under construction you killed me. I also said that we do not have the Barca of 2010.

"I have the feeling that they are not going to buy anything that I say, not even winning La Liga.

"It's an issue to do with the club, the environment which circulates it, the demands... and that's why the feeling I had was that this is the right moment to leave."

There is still a chance of Barca giving Xavi a fine send-off as they prepare to face Napoli in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds and they could still overturn Girona's deficit in the league.

Although Xavi didn't rule out returning to the club in the future, he emphasised that his main focus was to get the best out of his squad for the remainder of the campaign.

"I made the decision now because we need a reaction," he said. "My priority is to finish on a good note. Barcelona need a reaction and I think this is the best decision I could have made.

"We have a lot to play for against Osasuna. We want to finish as high as possible. I am really up for it. I have let the players know that. I am going to give even more so that this keeps working."

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