Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has been open about the necessity of winning titles at the Blaugrana, and frank about his potential departure if that does not happen. Yet he also had some pointed words for his bosses in Catalonia.
Xavi has on a number of occasions said that Barcelona are ‘under construction’ despite being two years into his tenure there. This has drawn plenty of criticism, but looking at his options of the bench during their Copa del Rey defeat to Athletic Club, only Fermin Lopez, Oriol Romeu and Vitor Roque were serious alternatives left out.
“We play with boys, we are in construction, we have a very short squad. It is the beginning of something important, whether I am coaching or not. There is a future,” he noted on a positive to Diario AS.
Xavi had said on multiple occasions that he was proud of how they competed too. There is no doubt that he should be getting more out of the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha when fit, but this year his options feel much fewer than they did last season. Xavi clearly thinks the same, and has made it public in front of his bosses that they have not given him the best chances of success, even if they did their best under the circumstances.