At the moment, FC Barcelona is arguably more disjointed than it has ever been since Xavi’s arrival. Even though the coach arrived at a point when Barça was struggling, hope was still alive. Now, however, it seems that Barcelona are beginning to lose themselves more than ever.
A once great institution of the sport continues to take hits after hits. The fans of the club have long since stood by it but it seems that even they demand success now. Yet, the problem at Barcelona is actually rooted even deeper. Beyond just external mistrust, there are issues within as well.
As highlighted by the Barcelona correspondent over at The Athletic, Pol Ballus, several of the club’s players have had their respective issues with Xavi Hernandez. Even more worryingly, some of those stars are ones who hold a major role within the dressing room.
Here are the eight different players who reportedly have had issues with Xavi for one reason or another.
Eric Garcia and Ansu Fati
Both of the two Spaniards had seen themselves lose a lot of importance under Xavi. They realized that Barcelona would not continue to trust them, and they naturally left.
Being put on the transfer market, neither of them appreciate this gesture. Now, one of them is thriving at Girona and the other looked to be regaining his spark at Brighton.
Ferran Torres
Similar to the cases mentioned above, Ferran Torres was annoyed with him being put up for sale. Moreover, a direct conversation about it with Xavi never took place.
Pedri
Pedri’s case, however, is a bit different. The Spanish midfielder was rather unhappy about being rushed back from his injury last season. This was made even worse due to the fact that it caused him to have a major setback when it came to a relapse.
Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo:
In the case of Jules Kounde, and even Ronald Araujo, there were some positional disagreements. Neither of the two central defenders ideally wanted to be deployed as right-backs, and they were certainly not too happy with being told to return to that position whenever someone was unavailable.
Andreas Christensen:
The former Chelsea man is another one of those who reportedly has an issue with Xavi’s mismanagement. In the case of the Danish defender, he remains annoyed at the fact that whenever Xavi has his players all fit and available, it is usually always the Dane who gets sacrificed irrespective of form or merit in his mind.
Robert Lewandowski:
While not too much detail on this end is present, it is reported that Robert Lewandowski’s relationship and dynamic with Xavi has changed significantly this season. His position at the club has also been highlighted as having not remained the same as last season.
