Deco aims sly dig at former Barcelona manager Xavi – ‘Wanted a coach who believed in the squad’

Appearing at the FC Barcelona Ordinary General Assembly today, the club’s sporting director Deco spoke about the sporting situation of the first team and provided an analysis of the decisions made this summer by the sports commission, especially the change of coach.

This past summer saw Barcelona change coaches as the club decided to sack Xavi Hernandez after a trophyless season in 2023/24, replacing him with Hansi Flick.

The handling of Xavi’s exit was done in a disappointing manner, considering how Barça convinced him to reverse his decision to leave the club, only to later sack him.

Explaining why Barça went ahead with the change, Deco appeared to aim a subtle dig at Xavi, as he said that the club needed a coach who believed in the current squad.

“From the sporting management, we believed we had an important base in the squad despite not having won any titles. We needed a coach who believed in it,” he said, as quoted by AS.

“Flick has given us this. Besides believing, you have to do it.”

Barcelona sacked Xavi at the end of the last season. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The Barcelona director also pointed out that the physical preparation within the squad was not up to the desired level which is why the club made the changes.

“We believed in the need to strengthen physical preparation. That’s why we signed Tous, Maldonado, and Conde. To regain the level of quality that didn’t exist at the moment,” he remarked.

The aspect of improvement in physical preparation and intensity in training is something that a number of Barcelona players have also pointed out in the recent past.

However, those comments have not gone down too well with Xavi’s entourage.

Despite that, the former midfielder and club legend met with Flick earlier this week and wished the new manager success.