You're last sentence is based on nothing.I don't there is any inconsistency between that and what VDV (and everyone else) is saying. Only a fucking idiot would have "wanted" Rafa to leave and AVB is not one of those.
But AVB wasn't a sufficiently skilful manager of deliciate footballer-egos to induce VDV (a) to stay, (b) to feel valued and important and (c) to fill a useful role in his intended team formation and tactics.
The whole squad was coming off nearly four years where they had a manager who knew how to make footballers feel good and feel part of a team. The camaraderie and team spirit of that lot, as VDV says in that interview, were off the charts. It was AVB's signal failure that he did not know how to preserve and augment that - I'm not even sure he could see the value of it.