There is no more room for leniency or second chances in FC Barcelona this season. The Catalan giants are no longer in a position where they can be comfortable with the current situation. As it stands, drastic measures may have to be taken by Barcelona.
Xavi has understandably been put on the hot seat this season, and now more so than ever before. The recent defeat to Real Madrid has caused major problems within the club and even to the club. Hope seems to be a dying virtue for La Blaugrana, but there is still time to make the right choices.
According to SPORT, Barcelona are thus looking to make those changes. While Deco assured that the Spanish Super Cup defeat does not change anything significant in the short-term when it comes to changing the management, there is still reason to believe that some changes are overdue.
One of those is Deco’s preference that Xavi sticks to the more natural 4-3-3. This hybrid formation of using four midfielders does not sit well with the Brazilian head at Barcelona, and he would much rather see the coach deploy a more conventional formation with two wingers.
However, Deco does realize that Xavi has had to deal with some unfortunate circumstances. With Ousmane Dembele, arguably his most potent weapon last season, having left the club, the Barcelona coach has been left with one less key piece this season. As a result, Deco does not hope to interfere too much with the tactics.
Another thing that Deco has reportedly made clear to Xavi is that no one in the team is irreplaceable. If the coach wills it, the club would offload unwanted players. Stars like Frenkie De Jong, who could bring in a sizeable fee, or even Ilkay Gundogan, a free arrival who would generate nothing but profit, are someone they could look at.
Lastly, while Xavi is still contracted as the coach of Barcelona until 2025, the club is open to all options. They are giving Xavi time in order to compete for the three remaining competitions, and hope to evaluate his performance beyond just titles to see what direction to go with next season.
