Too Many Barcelona Players Don’t Understand Positional Play – Xavi

Barcelona manager, Xavi has come out to say that the club has lost their model of play. He recently revealed this after his players’ unconvincing victory over Elche, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, his job is to bring that model of football back as soon as possible because a large majority of his players don’t understand positional play.

Xavi added that Barcelona complicated things vs Elche and that cannot repeat itself in future games.

His words, “We’ve lost [Barcelona’s] model of play and we have to bring it back,”

“I have not been here for six years and there are things that have surprised me tactically. I wasn’t here so I don’t know who’s responsible for it, but it’s making [the job] hard for us.”

“The large majority [of players] don’t understand positional play. There are mechanisms that I understood from the age of 11 and we have players here that haven’t worked on them.”

“We complicated things for ourselves. Elche survived on our errors and that cannot be the case. We have to learn and be more responsible.”

“I was a little angry [after they equalised] because I wasn’t imagining not winning the game. We deserved much more, but in the situation we’re in these are three golden points.”

On Gavi, “You can only take you hat off for that performance from Gavi,”

“It’s spectacular how he plays. Along with Nico, Abde [Ezzalzouli], [Ronald] Araujo, [Alejandro] Balde, they’re the future of the club.”

“I played here when I was 18 and I was scared. These guys are bursting with personality. I’m delighted with this generation, Gavi is especially exciting.”

“What’s most surprising about Gavi is his age, he’s 17. Look at how he’s competing. Today he made the difference with a goal and an assist. I don’t want to compare him with anyone, just make sure he doesn’t put the brakes on because he has no ceiling.”