Ronald Koeman has hit out at his Barcelona successor Xavi with the club now further away from leaders Real Madrid than they were at the time of his dismissal.
The Dutchman was relieved of his duties in late October after taking charge at the Nou Camp for just over a year. He'd been forced to wave goodbye to Lionel Messi in the summer after a season in which the Catalans had claimed the Copa del Rey but been beaten to the LaLiga title by Atletico Madrid.
Xavi, a legendary player at the club, and long touted as a future manager, was lured from Al Sadd and tasked with rebuilding Barcelona, who have major financial issues. Despite those, they added several players in January, including Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Their fortunes have improved and they hammered rivals Real Madrid 4-0 in El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu in March. Nonetheless, Koeman has been keen to point out Xavi's shortcomings since arriving at the Nou Camp, although he did urge his former club to back their new coach.
He told Marca : "Surely they have improved in some things. They have signed three strikers or three players who can play up front. It is not good to compare. When I left, Barcelona was eight points away and now almost double. It is not good to compare. Xavi's task It's just as complicated as me.
"There's no need to lie, if you lose the last home games it's for something. This is the reality of Barcelona today. It needs time to return to what it was and, therefore, I ask for peace of mind and not to think that we haven't won titles... we have to think long-term, trust and support the coach."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Have Barcelona improved under Xavi? Let us know in the comments
Koeman added: "It's true that Barca's situation is the same as mine. That means that changing a coach is not always something that guarantees you to improve. I don't want to make any criticism."
Xavi has won 18 of his 33 games in charge with Barcelona now sat in third having been in ninth when Koeman was sacked. The 42-year-old was unable to guide the Catalans into the knockout stages of the Champions League and they've since been eliminated from the Europa League.
A recent defeat by Cadiz saw Xavi announce that their LaLiga title hopes, no matter how originally slim, were over. He claimed: "We're not in a bad situation. Things have improved since we took over in November, but we have to keep improving. We have to look ourselves in the eye and have more desire because we cannot lose at home to Cadiz. This is Barca and we have to do more. We have improved, but we wanted to do more and fight for trophies."
