Holland head coach Louis van Gaal has taken aim at Barcelona for 'blaming foreigners' with the Catalan club in the midst of a crisis on and off the pitch.
Ronald Koeman's side have endured a difficult start to the season and are currently ninth in the LaLiga table - they also lost their opening two Champions League games to Bayern Munich and Benfica, both by a 3-0 scoreline.
Pressure is mounting on the Barca boss and Dutch stars Frenkie De Jong and Memphis Depay have also come under fire - yet Van Gaal leapt to the defence of his compatriots this week.
Asked about his countryman being scrutinised, he said: 'Frenkie de Jong, criticised?'
'It's typical Barcelona. When you have the great contributions he's had in the past two years, there's not too much to worry about.
'[But] when things go bad, people in Barcelona always look for the foreigners [to blame].'
Van Gaal, who is managing his country for the third time, coached Barcelona from 1997-2000 and 2002-2003.
The 70-year-old also praised Depay, who moved from Lyon to the Nou Camp on a free transfer in the summer.
'When I look at the data from Memphis, I've never had a striker like this,' he added.
'Someone who runs so much, goes deep so many times and gets into the ball so much. That's commendable.'
Van Gaal's Dutch side face Gibraltar in a World Cup qualifier this evening after beating Latvia on Friday night.