Barcelona have failed to impress throughout this campaign, with punctual exceptions to the rule. Most of the blame for that has been placed at the door of Xavi Hernandez, but Jules Kounde has told the media that he feels the players should pick up more of the slack.
Kounde is one of the players who has been criticised most this season, failing to replicate his good form since an injury in September. He was asked how he was feeling after their Copa del Rey win over Unionistas de Salamanca, in light of their humiliating defeat to Real Madrid just four days earlier.
“I feel very good, confident. In the end, like the rest of the team, you can’t put everything down to one game. We have to look ahead and the most important thing is to learn from our mistakes,” he told Teledeporte, as quoted by MD.
“We turned the page and we have achieved the victory. It was a disappointment, but we have talked and we have to look forward. Today was important and every game will be important. The team is eager to turn the situation around, it is what this club requires. Laporta encouraged us.”
Yet he was also keen to place some of the responsibility at the player’s door.
“Of course, in the end you can talk about the coach but we are the ones who play, so when there are bad results it is our fault of course. It’s up to us. We had to react, this game was important and we have to move forward with intensity. I think that is what we need this year, and also to be more effective.”
The dressing room has been the subject of much conversation in recent weeks too, with reports that senior figures are losing faith in Xavi. He himself has said that if he didn’t feel the players were with him, then he would leave, but fans are yet to see too much evidence of that on the pitch in recent weeks.
