Barcelona fell to defeat on Sunday against the best team in Spain to date, but their defeat to Royal Antwerp was regarded as a failure of not just tactics or cohesion, but attitude. The Blaugrana conceded just a minute after levelling things through Marc Guiu on Wednesday night, with heavy criticism directed at Xavi Hernandez for their performance.
‘I’m worried’ Xavi admitted after the match, calling on his side to look at their own performance and see what they could improve. One of the criticisms of late has been that his press conferences have often lacked a self-critical approach, containing excuses rather than solutions.
That was again the case in Belgium, as Xavi called out his players rather than his plan.
“The footballers were at a lower level today. Today. But I don’t like to speak in public about bad things on an individual level. They have a higher level than what they are showing. Today the feelings are not good and individual errors cost us dearly.,” he told Marca.
“It is a matter of of confidence. It’s a question of being inspired. And this shirt is heavy. The objective has been achieved, but the feelings are not good. You have to be self-critical. You have to improve to win things. Saturday is a final. We have to win the people back. Although an unnecessary tension has been generated. We are in the round of 16. It is a credit to the club and the team. We have to remember where we come from. But we are alive. It is time to enjoy tha, and think about where we came from.”
Xavi raised further eyebrows by declaring that he was feeling positive after arguably their worst performance of the season.
“The bad feelings end by winning on Saturday. But we don’t have bad feelings from within, it’s something from outside. The decision [to change the squad] was agreed on. Lewandowski tells us that he’s fine, and Gundo, too. We all decided it, we talked about it with the group. Today I have been talking for two hours with the president and with Deco… the defeat that hurts is that of Girona, not today. We are in the next round and it is something to be satisfied with. We must improve. Saturday is a final. Today I feel good. I’m positive. Young players have also come in.”
Again Xavi highlighted that his side had to be self-critical, but did not state exactly what they needed to improve.
“We are confident that the team will improve. This is what we work for. I focus on what I can control. We have to be self-critical. What really affects us is Sunday’s defeat against Girona, but today we progress as first in the group. I have the total confidence of the president and Deco.”
Xavi would go on to say that ‘this shirt weighs’ on players, and told the press that they were generating unnecessary controversy regarding their squad announcement. The bizarre episode has certainly been blown into a major story, but the timeline of events no doubt has confused fans.
“We didn’t start well, and we have to focus on it. Unnecessary tension has been generated with the squad list, above all we spoke with the players. From there we agreed with the president and with Deco. And that’s it. Then, we didn’t play a good game. But this defeat is not painful.”
If one thing is for certain, it’s that Xavi is feeling that tension. He may be right about the Barcelona media making mountains out of mole hills, but there can be little doubt that his side are performing poorly, and results are starting to follow that too. That comes directly back to him and his ability to handle that pressure for himself and the players.
