Why Xavi wants to leave?

Last summer, Xavi Hernández decided it was time to leave his team because he didn’t feel good enough, but in the last match against Espanyol, he was able to make 125 passes with 95% of accuracy, better than anyone else during this season. This aren’t numbers for someone not good enough.

The reason why Xavi was thinking on leaving Barcelona is just because he wasn’t good enough, but because he thought he wasn’t; is the lack of self confidence.

When he was a kid, he dominated the pitch, something that only him could not see and when Barcelona called him for a try-out, he couldn’t understand why. Maybe was the fact that his father only told him what he did wrong during the games, maybe something else, but Xavi has never been a self confident player. And this is the reason why during all this years he gave everything in the games.

Xavi almost left FCB before, in 1999 he got a big offer from Milan while having trouble entering the first team, with everybody comparing him to Guardiola. Going to Italy seemed like a good option but his heart couldn’t let go the dream to play for Barcelona so he stayed.

And here we are, 15 years and many titles later again having doubts and thinking on leaving.

Being as humble as he is, he never cared about individual awards, but he is still disappointed not to win 2010 Ballon d’Or, maybe because he was hoping to get the award as a proof to himself, something to remind him that he is not that bad after all.

This time was Luis Enrique who convinced Xavi to unpack the bags and to be of great importance for the team, and the current season performance on the pitch is showing this point.

Maybe he is not the same player as he used to be, but this is far from telling that he is not good enough for Barcelona. He is 34 and probably not fit enough to endure three games a week, but he still can produce magic in the much needed Barcelona midfield.

Read more about March Break, Training in Barcelona from FCB Canada.