Former England opener Mark Butcher has warned there may be no winner in the dispute between England captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores.
The pair are set for talks this week amid speculation Moores could be out of his job before the West Indies tour.
Butcher told BBC London 94.9: "If KP gets his way and Moores is removed, then the spotlight is going to be very much on KP.
"Whoever comes out on top, it then puts them under enormous pressure."
He added: "Should Moores stay and things go OK, does KP's position then become slightly undermined? Or does KP get the new guy in, everything looks terrific, he's vindicated and therefore grows stronger?"
"I think it's something far more underlying and something that's been going back for a lot longer than Michael Vaughan's non-inclusion"England depart for their tour of the West Indies on 21 January and Pietersen has already admitted his relationship with the coach is not healthy.
Surrey captain Butcher, who played 71 Tests for England, said he knew of a rift as far back as Pietersen's appointment as captain and with an Ashes summer ahead he believes tough decisions need to be made.
Butcher said: "I'd heard through the grapevine there was a bit of an issue between Kevin, Peter and some of the other players in the side.
"Obviously not being on the inside you can't tell what the issues are. The Michael Vaughan thing has been used as the baton for it but I doubt that that's the main cause.
"I think it's something far more underlying and something that's been going back for a lot longer than Michael Vaughan's non-inclusion on the West Indies tour.
"One camp would say 'it is best we sort it out before we get to the Ashes' and the other camp would say 'can't we hold on until after the Ashes?' But if you wait until the horse has bolted it'll be too late."
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