Something is changing in the Barcelona dressing room
The Catalan club are on the rise and there are fresh winds entering the club
Ousmane Dembele spoke to SPORT and highlighted the atmosphere in the Barcelona dressing room. Now Jules Kounde has done similar, and Xavi too, saying “morale is better now”.
Barcelona have grown their squad this summer and got rid of deadweight at the same time. Now the ‘sacred cows’ of the dressing room are isolated.
A source who knows the dressing room well has said that “some of them know that it’s over. Now they don’t get into the daily conflicts that come up in any dressing room.”
The core of the team has changed, with up to 15 new players (Peña, Araujo, Christensen, Koundé, Eric, Pedri, Kessie, Lewandowski, Memphis, Fati, Ferran, Raphinha, Torre, Bellerín and Marcos Alonso), while there are just seven left of the old guard (Ter Stegen, Piqué, Alba, Busquets, Sergi Roberto, De Jong and Dembélé).
The captains are still the same but change is happening. They have lost weight in the group and others are stepping up, like Eric, Lewandowski, Pedri and Araujo.
Xavi has opened the windows of the dressing room and fresh air is entering to try and change the dynamic that had entered the group, hurt by old defeats that damaged their credibility.
More and more young players are featuring; there are 15 players under 27 and nine over it. That means the jokes, the rules and the unwritten laws of the dressing room are also changing day to day.
Barcelona are turning the page. Messi left and they still lived, so what could happen if players like Alba and Pique are only having a testimonial role? Nothing. Nobody is essential.
