Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has been forced into a series of work arounds and inventions during his time at the helm, and with injuries hitting hard, he is considering another.
With the likes of Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo in phenomenal form in central defence, it has left Andreas Christensen on the outside looking in without doing much wrong.
Meanwhile injuries to Frenkie de Jong and Pedri have left the Blaugrana short in midfield, while one of their key targets for the January transfer window if there is any money to spend is the pivot position. Oriol Romeu is the only natural option for the position, even if Ilkay Gundogan and de Jong can play there.
According to Sport, Xavi is considering using Christensen in that role, having occasionally been used there for Chelsea and Denmark. It is likely to be a makeshift solution while Barcelona are rotating throughout the season, if it works that is, but the Catalan daily claim he will be tried there. Xavi has emphasized Christensen’s quality on the ball on multiple occasions, and positionally he excels.
Xavi tried the same experiment with Eric Garcia last season, in an attempt to rotate Sergio Busquets and give Garcia minutes. Garcia was fairly grey in the position, using the ball well, but struggling when challenged by sharper opposition. Christensen in theory has all of the qualities to play the role, but Barcelona ask plenty of their pivots, in particular receiving the ball under pressure. While Christensen uses the ball well and understands the mechanics of where it should go, it is an entirely different proposition doing so with the game in front of the player rather than on the turn, which is the key adaptation.
