Barcelona Sporting Director Deco is amongst the headlines today, after he seemingly called for a change in the model of play that has seen Barcelona win all five of their European Cups. Those comments have since been denied, but if Deco’s original statements are to be believed, Xavi Hernandez’s response to them paints an even more concerning image of Can Barca than is already drawing criticism.
Deco told Portuguese magazine Nascer do Sol that the Blaugrana need a change from ‘an exhausted model’, and needed to find someone to give them a ‘break with the past once and for all’. Despite the interview occurring in his native language, and the statements being up for several days, NdS and Deco have since claimed this was a misunderstanding, and he was referring to their spending and not their style of play.
Given Deco is now due to give a public statement on the matter, it shows that they are concerned about the impact of the words, in a story that continues to become more and more curious. That is added to by Xavi being asked about those words, to which he responded that Deco had been telling him differently in private.
“It’s not what he communicates to me. He believes in the Barca model and DNA, and he has also played here. I can’t say anything more, I don’t know,” he told Sport.
It will be impossible to tell whether Deco did or didn’t mean what he was quoted saying, but if his original statements are taken at face value, then it’s highly concerning that he is thinking one thing and telling Xavi another.
Deco and Xavi have always maintained that they have a good relationship since the former returned to the club, but undoubtedly the two have not appeared to be on the same page in recent months, and that tallies with the end of Deco’s spell as a player. The two did not see eye-to-eye at the time, and now there is at the very least a suggestion that the old rift continues to exist.
