Barcelona’s honeymoon period is seemingly over, and Xavi now has problems to solve inside of his team. The Blaugrana suffered consecutive defeats at home last week. First, to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League, and then to Cadiz over the weekend.
The international break has seemingly exposed the flaws in the side, and they are more visible now given the results. Injuries to key players like Pedri have also worsened things for the manager, who has been able to guide Barcelona to second place.
Barcelona’s problems exposed with recent struggles
Ousmane Dembele has been remarkable since returning from injury. But, the Frenchman is Barcelona’s main creative threat while going forward. Pedri was the other primary attacking element for Xavi, but he has now been sidelined.
With Frenkie De Jong and Gavi positioned higher than Busquets, a change in possession often sees Sergio Busquets isolated against the opponents. And in such a scenario, they can take advantage of his lack of pace to break on the counter.
Barcelona confirms that Pedri is out indefinitely with a ruptured hamstring.
— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 15, 2022
The 2021 Golden Boy winner is expected to miss the rest of the season. pic.twitter.com/hms55PHUsb
The side has mainly struggled against teams that play a low block, and are threatening on the counter attack. The inability of Oscar Mingueza and Dani Alves to defend on counter attacks in their flank is also a problem that needs to be sorted out by Xavi. Ultimately, it is a matter of time for the manager to teach his side how to break through against a team that wants to sit back and defend.
The drama about the supporters is not helping the side out either, and could prove to be a detriment if it isn’t sorted out soon enough.
