At 40 second mark would Pedri, Gavi, or even Busi ever do that one two three four with Messi? Of course not, only Xavi, Iniesta, or Puig would.
After watching several highlight vids I remember another thing probably annoys people, he baits defenders often to commit fouls on him the way Neymar was famous for, Iniesta too at times.
I actually think Xavi's subconsciously sabotaging Puig because he wants to remain king not ready for anyone to replicate his golden era talent or assume the spotlight. Let's be brutally honest here I think most here would agree Pedri and Gavi in their future prime will never have skill and performance equivalence of Xavi or Iniesta, and obviously Xavi can see this too. Hurts to see this as much for Xavi as Puig and not the first time I've seen goats turned coaches (in volleyball where my main area of expertise lies) sabotage the best players on their team.
I don't believe in your theory, and I wonder if you do, but I really do think Xavi mistreats Puig, just as Koeman did.
My explanation: when he arrived in the middle of the season he didn't want to change too much too early with the team dynamics and so on, so he went along with Koemans choices pretty much. He disregarded Dest and Balde, that's pretty much his only decisions, together with promoting Abde, Jutgla and Ilias when no one else was around...
Puig got his chances though and I think he played very well. He got to be the scapegoat for the teams bad first half performance against Linares where the entire team was sleepy and terrible and barely won in the second half too. I think Puig made some silly mistakes in the first half, but he was still one of those who tried and seemed to be awake. Since that game, he has only gotten to warm up on the sideline once that I saw... It's six weeks ago.
In the other games he played when the other midfielders were out he was unarguably one of if not the best player on the pitch - I won't believe anyone who says he wasn't playing well for more than those 45 minutes where he made a few mistakes too many. Harsh to disregard a player for 45 minutes, but it's easy for a manager to believe he has to find the players to count on, and Xavi doesn't believe in Puig.
It is also true that Xavi sees the potential of Gavi, Nico, Pedri, just as everybody else does, and he believes in Frenkie too (and he is right to go for a player with that potential, reputation and also wage), midfield is stacked, and it can be good to have a bit of clarity and not mess around too much.
Very nice of you to bring the video to this thread. Yes the situation you write about was magic, and so many more of the clips were. He is that kind of player like Busquets, Messi, Thiago, even Ronaldinho, who can seem to bend spacetime matrix-like with one magic touch or feint. I think Gavi and Pedri are too but to a smaller degree, but they are also a bit more mature and maybe secure to have on the midfield. Remember that Xavi himself was playing VERY securely and patiently, but with a flawless vision and technique - Pedri and Gavi see a lot less than Xavi did, but they are playing almost as securely. It is no wonder Xavi prefers very patient and predictable midfielders, who wait for the right moment, over a very proactive player like Puig.
The thing is, while Puig is very ambitious and proactive, and visibly always seeks progression and line breaking passes, he is still the player with the highest success percentage on his passes in the Barcelona squad. He is also the midfielder with the highest number of attempted passes per minute. I can't wait to see him play more when he leaves this club, but the tragic thing is we didn't get to see him play more together with Messi (and Busquets).
