Ilkay Gundogan’s comments after FC Barcelona were defeated by Real Madrid last Saturday have been a major talking point at the Catalan club. After the defeat against their eternal rivals, the German midfielder criticized the team for not showing enough anger and leadership on the pitch.
These comments have opened up a debate among Barcelona fans, as part of the fanbase agrees with these comments while others argue that Barcelona came into this match with so many players without full fitness and still the match was lost only at the last possible minute.
More grief than anger
Mundo Deportivo has consulted several individuals in the Barcelona locker room to identify the ultimate source of these comments.
Firstly, there is a group that believes that despite the players being fully committed to the club, Gundogan saw more feelings of sadness and regret, rather than those of anger or rebellion after the match.
He also saw players accepting defeat because of the absences of Pedri, De Jong, and Roberto, and the lack of match rhythm of Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Kounde.
This is one interpretation of what actually bothered Gundogan, who came out with full guns blazing after seeing these emotions in the locker room.
Lack of strong leadership
Another group of people consulted by Mundo Deportivo were of the view that the German sees the team as one that is lacking strong leadership. The first captain of the team is Sergi Roberto, who himself is not a regular starter and is currently injured, along with another captain, Frenkie de Jong.
This latter injury, compounded with the injury to Pedri, has also resulted in Gundogan playing too many minutes this season, and also having to adapt to different positions in the midfield.
German’s ability to handle pressure
Lastly, another group in the dressing room believes Gundogan sees himself to be in a position to make these critical remarks because he himself has handled a lot of pressure at Manchester City and with the German national team, where he is now the captain.
He saw how a lack of pressure on Madrid players led to Barcelona conceding goals in the end and had to call out the players for this costly mistake.
For now, only Gundogan himself knows why he made the comments, but from the perspective of the dressing room, it is clear that Gundogan believes that some of his colleagues are not good leaders.
He might have been justified in making these comments after El Clasico, and Barcelona will have to react strongly to dispel such a notion in the match against Real Sociedad this weekend.
