No complaints over Vidal post for Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique says he has “no complaint” with Aleix Vidal after a week that has seen the Barcelona player come under fire for a perceived criticism of his coach.

Vidal has made just one appearance in LaLiga this term, starting Barca’s shock defeat to Alaves earlier this month, and has been unable to secure the right-back berth, despite Dani Alves’ departure to Juventus.

The former Sevilla man posted on Instagram this week, accompanying a picture of him in training with emojis including a zipped mouth and a hand with its middle finger raised – taken by some as lashing out at Luis Enrique.

In a subsequent post, Vidal insisted he was not referring to his coach, or his struggles to break into the first team.

And Luis Enrique, speaking ahead of the match away to Sporting Gijon on Saturday, claimed the social media storm will not affect his player’s chances of a recall.

“I think that’s great,” Luis Enrique said.

“It’s none of my business to get involved with what they do on social networks. It’s their lives, they’re old enough to decide for themselves if they want Instagram or whatever.

“I have no complaint regarding Aleix Vidal, he’s training very hard. It’s not good for him at the moment because he’s not called up to the team but it is something he’s been working hard to turn around as best as possible.

“I’ve been managing for eight years where I’ve had different situations with players where I’ve not picked them for the squad and they’ve ended up being regular members of the starting 11.

“Any player can turn that situation around and if any manager is ready to allow that situation, it is me.”