Oscar Mingueza has opened up on the Dutchman’s departure while expecting Xavi to make an immediate impact at Barcelona.
Barcelona parted ways with another one of their all-time legends as they sacked Ronald Koeman earlier this month. After a summer of big departures, the Dutchman failed to bring back Barca to their best form this season.
Oscar Mingueza, who reportedly grew disillusioned with Koeman last season, claims the former manager had lost his players’ faith.
“The dressing room needed a change,” Mingueza has told Esport3. “There was no atmosphere. Players were not happy. And when you’re not well and things don’t turn out, you need a change.
“The team stopped trusting [Koeman’s methods] and everyone tried to fix things on their own. We weren’t good, neither individually nor collectively.
“When the dynamics aren’t good, everyone does what they can but we lacked self-belief.”
Barcelona brought back former player Xavi Hernandez to coach the team after Koeman. The Spaniard parted ways with Qatari club Al-Sadd to sign a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Blaugrana.
Mingueza believes Xavi can improve Barcelona’s form quickly.
“Xavi’s training is very focused on the idea of what we want to do on the pitch,” he said. “It is good that we have a clear idea and that we all work in a specific way to obtain a good result as a team.
“I’m sure things will change and get better now. And I don’t think we’ll have to wait two or three months to see those changes. Starting this weekend, we’ll see new things.”
Xavi will make his Barcelona managerial debut against Espanyol this weekend. The Catalans will then face Benfica in a crunch Champions League game on Tuesday.
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