Xavi Hernandez interview: Collecting 400 shirts, watching eight games a day, wanting to coach in the Premier League

“Papa, did you really play with Messi?” asks Xavi Hernandez’s son, Dan, aged six.

“Yes.”

“Neymar?”

“Yes.”

“Pele?”

“No, no, no.”

“Cristiano?”

“No, but I played against him many times.”

“Do you really know Messi, Papa? Do you have his number? Do you have the number of Cristiano? Do you really know Lamine?”

Xavi Hernandez, 45, is walking around a museum-like section of his family home in central Barcelona amid hundreds of football shirts that he’s either worn or swapped with opponents. One of few people in football to play more than 1,000 professional games, 767 of them for FC Barcelona’s first team, there’s a lot to go at.

Then there are the shirts acquired in his 133 games for Spain. And the trophies, so many trophies, individual and team. He’s there in France Football’s all-time Ballon d’Or Dream team with Ronaldo, Messi, Maradona, Maldini and the Brazilian Ronaldo. And yes, he knows or knew them all, in case his son asks again.

“My children started to realise that papa was involved in football,” he says.

“We didn’t talk about it too much, we wanted them to have a normal life. But then they have FIFA and see the players. And at school, the kids said, ‘Your papa was the coach of Barcelona!’ And my son would reply: ‘Is he? I don’t know.’ So he came home and asked me. I couldn’t lie.

“My son loves Lamine Yamal and Pedri. He loves Barca. Our daughter is nine. She loves (Robert) Lewandoski and Raphinha. We are a Barca family. If the team play, we watch the men and the women’s team. The kids collect the stickers for both men and women. We’re happy that Barca is doing so well. Many people think that I wouldn’t be happy because I’m not there anymore. But I’m very happy that the team and Hansi Flick is doing well.

“We have a very good team that is only going to get better because it’s so young. Hansi came here to see me here and we spoke for two hours. We have a good relationship and he said, ‘Thank you so much. What you helped create here means I’m happy. The players train hard and they get some of their mentality from you’.

“And then you have what the media and the board members say. It can be difficult in Barcelona. That if you say something positive about the current coach then that’s negative to the former coach — me. It doesn’t need to be like that. I have a good relationship and respect for Hansi and his players, just as I had for Ronald Koeman before me. Koeman should be credited for bringing in Gavi, (Alejandro) Balde and other young players, which I benefited from, and he won the Copa del Rey.

“But if you ask if I’m happy and proud to have given debuts to Lamine and (Pau) Cubarsi, of course I am. Lamine is a genius. He will become the best.”

Today and tomorrow on The Athletic, we are running a two-part interview with Xavi, conducted in his home in Barcelona in April. Today, he speaks to Andy Mitten about his football obsession, the players and clubs he loves to watch, the coaches he admires, the style of football he likes to play and his feelings about Carlo Ancelotti’s treatment at Real Madrid.

In the second part, running next week, he tells Pol Ballus the full story of his time coaching the club, his dealings with Lionel Messi, developing players like Yamal and the realities of life in the Barca hotseat.

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“These are my memories, mostly good memories,” says Xavi, happy to show us around his memorabilia. “I want my children and my family and friends to see this. I was so privileged to have this life. I never thought I would have the career I had. My goal was to play in La Liga. The dream was to play for Barca but in my mind it was impossible to do what I did. To win a World Cup with Spain. Argentina and Brazil and Germany won the World Cup, not Spain.

“Better than that, I enjoyed it. I was playing in the World Cup final without any tension or nerves. I’d felt tension before the game, but in the game I was relaxed. I was at the top of football, I cannot complain.

“It was the same in the Champions League final. Against United both times, especially at Wembley, I was thinking, ‘Give me the ball, give me the ball!’ These are my best memories. Not just winning, but enjoying the game. The mentality of Johan Cruyff (the doormat outside the famous home has the words: ‘Salid I Disfrutad – Johan Cruyff: ‘Go out and enjoy’).

“And we did enjoy. The two Champions League wins against United were among our best performances, individually and collectively. Wembley (in 2011) was almost the perfect performance. At half-time in that game, I was really angry. We deserved to be leading 3-0 and it was 1-1. I destroyed a bottle of water and shouted, ‘What is this, it’s impossible!’ I wasn’t like this normally. I felt we were being stupid. We were much better in the first half.

“In the second half, we got two more goals and deserved to win. I remember Wayne Rooney’s face 10 minutes before the end. He looked at me, he’d had enough. I think they felt that we deserved to win. After, in the press conference, Sir Alex Ferguson said that it was the best team that he’d ever faced. That was amazing to hear.”

“In Rome, 2009, United were fantastic in the first 20 minutes. We suffered a lot. Three chances. Cristiano Ronaldo and then a rebound. Pique and Park. If United had scored, then it would have changed everything, but after Samuel (Eto’o) scored we controlled the game completely.”

We walk past the awards. Three times, Xavi was named in the top three players of the world in an era dominated by two, Messi and Ronaldo. Then there are the shirts worn in the finals for Barcelona and Spain.

“I kept my own shirts for the finals I played in,” he says. “For other games, I swapped shirts. I have more than 400. Towards the end of my career, when I was 33, I decided to swap more shirts. My mother had called me and told me that I had more than 200 football shirts at my parents’ house. I was surprised, so I collected them and brought them all together. I got the idea from (Javier) Saviola’s house.

“But before my mother called me, I would walk towards the dressing room at the end of the game. Sometimes I’d intentionally swapped with close friends – Saviola when he was at Madrid or Malaga, Fernando Navarro at Sevilla, Casillas, Fernando Llorente, Joseba Exteberria. They would say: ‘Hey, let’s change shirts’.
But in the last two years, I would think, ‘I want the shirt of Luka Modric’, so it was me asking him or (Jeremy) Toulalan from Malaga.”

Then there are books and binders.

“My father, at home in Terrassa, used to collect all the newspapers that wrote about me from the age of 15. Then, a guy from Pamplona, who is a professional, put them all together in albums. Sometimes, when I’m bored, I look at my cuttings from a certain year. It’s interesting to read back at the amount of criticism I got.

“In 2007, when it was difficult in the last years of Frank Rijkaard, the criticism was incredible. They said I couldn’t play well, that I wasn’t a modern footballer, that I was too slow, that I could only pass the ball sideways. But then Guardiola took over and the criticism stops. There are so many memories.”

Though he left Barcelona at the end of last season after two and a half years as coach, football remains a huge part of his life.

He says: “I still love football, it’s my passion. I’m watching it 24 hours. My wife complains to me: ‘Again!’ she says. ‘Yes but it’s the Europa League,’ I reply. Did you see the game between Manchester United and Lyon? It was 4-2 to Lyon. I was thinking, ‘Oh no. Very difficult now for Amorim!’ And then, 10 minutes later, it was incredible.

“Football is crazy. And now [we speak before the first leg] I think United are favourites with the second leg in Old Trafford. If the second leg was in Bilbao, it would be so difficult. They are like lions. Playing football in Bilbao is like being in the theatre, it’s like in England. There’s a respect for the opponent, for the referee.

“Bilbao is not like the rest of Spain. I have won games there with Barça and the home supporters have applauded. They have respect for the opponents. Valverde at Athletic, tactically, he’s doing so well. 4-4-2. They press with Sancet and a No 9, they block with the two midfielders working a lot – one jumps and another balances.

“The maximum number of games I’ve watched in one day was eight. I like to analyse teams. I might put into my computer ‘Atalanta’ and then watch them four games in a row. Why? Because I might be interested to see what Gasperini is doing. Man to man, 90-minute duels for every player, that’s why they sign strong, physical players.

“Or (Roberto) De Zerbi at Marseille. Or Nuno Espirito Santo at Forest. I love to see the different styles of football and what coaches are doing. But I must have a break from it. I went with my family to Qatar recently and didn’t watch any football… just all the Champions League games.

“I watch on a screen. It’s difficult to go to a stadium. My son wants us to go and watch Barcelona but it’s difficult to sit in the stand. So I watch on TV and enjoy Hansi’s team. They press from the sides, with Raphinha and Lamine jumping at the same time, the full-backs too. Defenders Inigo, Cubarsi and Araujo read the offside so well.

“Inter Milan. Not my style playing with a line of five, but they’re doing so well with Inzaghi. They’ve played together for a long time, they balance the team well in the block, then they break with Lautaro, Dumfries, Thuram or Dimarco. It’s amazing. The three midfielders Mkhitaryan, Barrella, Calhanoglu don’t lose the ball. They quickly connect a defensive team into a totally offensive one.”

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What is the style of Xavi Hernandez, the coach?

“My style is 4-3-3 but we can adapt the attack to 3-4-3. We can use 4-2-3-1, it depends on what players you have. But I use wingers and not full-backs to attack. When you have full backs, the opponent can dominate the game. That’s just my opinion. I’m sure the coaches who play five would disagree,” he says.

“My philosophy is the four Ps: Possession, position, press, perception. You need possession to win the game. You need the good positions. If you lose the ball you must press. And you must have the perception to know what is going on around you, to understand the game. But I add one more P: passion. Without passion, you cannot play football. Casado, for Barcelona, might not be the most incredible player, but he has so much passion that he can play for Barcelona.

“And I watch a lot. When you rest — and I am resting one year – you must follow what is happening. You must see what your colleagues are doing. What is Pep doing and how did he change a team that wasn’t winning? He knew they weren’t in a good moment to press for 90 minutes so he adapted the team, City stopped pressing too high too much.

“Luis Enrique is doing so well at PSG. He’s obsessed; everyone must run for the team. The PSG games against Aston Villa were amazing and Unai Emery is doing well. This has been the best moment for Spanish coaches. Iraola, Arteta, Xabi Alonso. Lopetegui was at West Ham, which was difficult, but he’s an amazing coach. Sometimes the dynamic changes against you in football. I watched Jude Bellingham in a game against Athletic Club and he had three chances, but didn’t score. The same player would have scored three goals last season. It doesn’t make him a bad player.”

Which players does he like watching? “Pedri. He doesn’t lose the ball. He makes the best decisions each time when he has the ball,” says Xavi. “He always takes the best option. Frenkie (de Jong) is in a good moment, this guy Vitinha. I always focus on midfielders. Bruno Fernandes is another top-level player. He’s a warrior, his mentality is only to win. He has the talent and the passion. Him, Rashford, Fred, Lisandro and Antony played so well when they played my Barca team (in 2023). In the first half of the second leg at Old Trafford, we controlled the game a little bit. But in the second half they were amazing. They played with passion. Fernandes was against me during the game – passion.”

Which leagues does he follow? “La Liga the most,” he says. “Then the Premier League. Not so much the French league but sometimes I’ll watch PSG or Marseille, especially Paris. Italy, I follow Como because I have a couple of friends there, Sergi Roberto and Cesc Fabregas. I have good friends in Saudi and Qatar so I follow the leagues there. I watch a lot. I love football. I also follow Panama because my friend is there. And sometimes the Indian League because many Spanish coaches are there.”

Xavi is a football anorak, an obsessive. He literally once asked me why Charlton Athletic’s stadium was called The Valley.

“When Guardiola was our coach, we played against Hospitalet (usually a third or fourth level team) in a Copa del Rey match,” he recalls. “In the team meeting, Guardiola said: ‘Xavi can tell you about these players more than me’. So I did. I started with David Prats, a good striker, then I went through the team. That was because I had friends there, but also because when I was single, I used to watch all the lower-league games on TV3 in Catalonia.

“Even my parents watched with me, my brother too. This is our passion, watching football. I’ll got to see my parents on a Sunday and they’ll be watching Lleida v Terrassa on TV.

“My sister didn’t watch too much, but she was a really good player. She played in the park with me and my friends. My sister had the best left foot, like Messi. The problem was that there were no real women’s teams when she was younger and now there are many.”

So would he like to work again in football?

“Of course? Where, I don’t know,” says Xavi, who speaks Catalan, Spanish and English, which he conducts the interview in. “There’s no hurry for me but I’d like a good project. Like, ‘You have four years to work and make a project.’ I’d love to work in the Premier League because I love the passion there. In Spain, it’s too much about the result.

“Look what has happened to Ancelotti and people criticising him. It’s not fair. He won 30 trophies in 10 years and he’s criticized like he’s not won anything. Valverde said it perfectly when he said: ‘If Ancelotti is criticized, what hope is there for the rest of us?’

“But the pressure in Spain is difficult, especially at Barça and Madrid.

“Chelsea with Maresca. Good project. Arteta with Arsenal – it’s his sixth year with Arsenal and there were seasons when it was difficult but his club trusted the process and continued. He’s doing well. That doesn’t happen in Spain.

“Or a national team, that would appeal. When I dreamed about being a coach I dreamed about being in a World Cup or European Championship.”

What about Spain? “Why not in the future? Or another one. I’m not anxious. I don’t have an obsession where I need to work. I’m calm watching football, being with my family.”

What was it like to play in England? “I loved playing with Barcelona and have no regrets, but I would have loved to play in a different European league too,” he says. “The Premier, Italy. The Premier League is pure football. People respect the profession. Respect the coaches, the players – if you put everything on the pitch.

“I loved to play at Anfield or Old Trafford. The atmosphere. It’s the roar when their team attacks. And I played at Celtic many times. Incredible.”

Who do you keep in touch with from when you played? “I’m friends with so many and in touch with them. Cocu, Iniesta, Kluivert, Figo, Casillas, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho. I played with so many.”

What does this photo mean to you? “I saw it on Instagram. It means to me: ‘This is Barça’. We think about football in the same way. The main reason we are coaches is because we understand football. We feel that we can help the players. The first thing I say to players is that ‘I am here to help you’. Because I got a lot of help when I was a player,” he says.

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Guardiola, Arteta and Xavi 🥶 pic.twitter.com/nUCjRiFwjp

— 90s Football (@90sfootball) February 13, 2025

“But you need time. Even now, Barcelona is in construction. I was criticised when I said that when I was coach, but Lamine in 17. Cubarsi is 18. Pedri is 22, Gavi 20, Balde 21. But if you don’t win something for a season then people panic.

“I know Manchester United has a difficult year but I can see what Ruben Amorim is trying to do. He’s at the start of his project but I see one thing, that the players are fighting for him. And that is so important. They run for the team. Simeone – whether you like his style or not, his players will run and fight for him. He has a team. And if you have a team you have a chance.”

What’s it like coming up against these coaches? “Valverde is calm. I’m calm but when I feel it’s not fair — a player not doing what we said or the decision of the referee, I get angry. Even at half time, I can destroy things,” he admits.

“Ancelotti. Calm, but he complains! He’s a gentleman. Marcelino; calm. Imanol; respect. Unai Emery cannot stop. Full of passion. The same as Luis Enrique. I have huge respect for them.

“I’m proud that as Barcelona coach we played against the best coaches. I didn’t play against Guardiola, apart from one friendly. Normally after the game I spoke to the coaches. It’s relaxed but the coaches tell you how they are suffering. Many coaches suffer. I am ready to suffer again but I don’t think I will suffer any more than I suffered at Barça.

“It was too emotional for me because I was a supporter too. It’s different for Hansi. He’s not speaking Spanish; he’s not a Barcelona supporter. I said to him: ‘Don’t follow anything in the media or you will go crazy. Just concentrate on the team because if you are from here you suffer a lot’.

“You feel your energy going down because you and your family are from here. If we go somewhere else, I said to my staff: ‘We will win with commitment and passion’.”

And the passion for football bursts out, the games, the trivia, the past, the future. He wants to learn more and more so we ask him more. Like where do Everton play?

“I was going to say Elland Road, but that is Leeds United. I used to follow Leeds too because of Marcelo Bielsa and Ivan Torres, my fitness coach, was there, but I’ve not followed. I’ve not got time to follow the Championship so much.

“Everton. Everton. (Long pause). Everton?”

For the first time, Xavi Hernandez is stuck when it comes to football. But not for long … “Goodison Park!”

(Top image: design by Eamonn Dalton for The Athletic; photo via Andy Mitten)

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