Xavi Hernandez, a historic midfielder for FC Barcelona who was the club's coach from November 5, 2021 until May 24, 2024, made self-criticism of his last year as a coach in a conference on leadership at the ESIC University.

My mistake was to maintain those high standards only for a year, from when I arrived until we won La Liga, the Supercopa... Time later, I could be self-critical

Xavi Hernández

"My mistake was to maintain those high standards only for a year, from the time I arrived until we won La Liga, the Super Cup... Time later, I could be self-critical and I said to myself: 'Damn, what happened to me?'" said the 43-year-old.

Xavi Hernandez, who arrived on the Barcelona bench after Koeman's departure, recalled that "I started my career as a coach at Barca with high demands for the players and the club, as the club was coming from a period where there were not many demands".

Xavi Hernandez: "It had dropped those high standards and the players no longer had the same attitude"

The 45-year-old coach believes that lowering the bar after winning La Liga and the Super Cup ended up condemning him at Barcelona: "I had lowered those high standards and the players no longer had the same attitude, the same respect, the same effort. The standards were getting lower and lower to the point that in my last season we didn't win anything."

"I am very proud to do what Lamine Yamal is doing and to have given him the opportunity to make his debut. I saw him very prepared despite being 15 years old," he said.

Xavi Hernandez made it clear that he wants to continue his coaching career: "I learned a lot from this. I had to be self-critical".