It’s only been a few weeks since Xavi Hernandez reversed his decision to leave Barcelona after Joan Laporta managed to persuade the legendary midfielder that good things were around the corner.
A series of poor results since that announcement certainly haven’t helped the coach to enjoy the support of the full board and, reading between the lines, it would appear that not everyone was keen to keep hold of Xavi in any event.
All of a sudden, a really tense situation has developed at the club because of a few words the manager said prior to Barca’s win over Almeria, and it’s so fraught that it could see Xavi sacked either immediately or at the end of the season.
“It’s been an incredible, incredible story at Barcelona over the last 24 hours. Something really strange already happened as the president, Joan Laporta, and the sporting director, Deco, didn’t travel with the team to Almeria,” Fabrizio Romano said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive Daily Briefing.
“Why? Because Laporta was really furious with Xavi for several reasons, but two reasons above all. The first is that the president was not expecting Xavi to go public in the pre-match press conference and say that it’s really difficult to do important things in this moment, because of the financial situation at the club. Laporta was always expecting Xavi to support the club and to keep things private.
“Secondly, Laporta and other people at the club didn’t appreciate Xavi saying that the original plan was to bring Vitor Roque to the club in the summer rather than in January. That it was Xavi who wanted to do the deal earlier.
“[…] This is a really, really complicated situation at the club, and so let me say that there is a chance that Xavi and Barca will part ways.”
Xavi will say that he was simply responding to a reporter’s question, however, it seems abundantly clear from Laporta’s ire that he expected any words relating to the club’s financial situation to be kept in house.
Whether that’s because he is trying to ensure a certain message reaches the club’s less-than-patient fan base, when the opposite is true, isn’t clear at this point, but it’s just another crisis that the club can do without.
Barcelona will end the season with no trophies, and it’s fair to say that some of their football this season, especially in the big games, hasn’t been close to the level expected.
In his relatively short tenure in charge of the first team, Xavi has managed to accumulate two red cards and 22 yellow cards, indicating that, perhaps, he isn’t ready for the top job at the club of his life. That he’s a loose cannon who can’t deal with the pressure, and that filters down to his players.
Whatever the issue, it’s clear that something big is brewing at the club.
The post Exclusive: “Really furious” – Barcelona could part ways with Xavi says Romano appeared first on CaughtOffside.
