Koeman has not become a piece of furniture at Barça. “If I do not make decisions, I will not last a month,” said the newspaper La Vanguardia, who said as soon as he arrived in Barcelona in mid-August. This Saturday, by the way, he fulfilled that first month. And although whoever wants to get a point can because Barça is going to start LaLiga with an eleven that still has a lot like the historic ridiculous Lisbon the Dutchman is putting his mark on the team in little steps. If that is going to be sufficient for regeneration, that cannot be known by anyone. But he's in it.
Koeman's main decision, for now, has been to change the system. His Barça, for the moment, will play with a 4-2-3-1. The Dutchman, who has divided the four weeks of preseason into two weeks of physical work and two of tactical lessons, has one more week to perfect his drawing and his idea. “It may be something more defensive than what people are used to seeing here,” he admitted in the first friendly against Nàstic. But Koeman believes that Barça needs to protect itself with the two midfielders, in addition to trying to make De Jong shine, who at Ajax stood out with that system. For now, he has to correct the high pressure (against Elche, the midfielders did not coordinate well with the defense and there was space between the lines) and ensure that the movements and the connection between the four above is more harmonious
In his first weeks, Koeman has also been concerned with returning a certain culture of effort to a team that had acquired at least controversial habits in recent seasons. The trainings of less than an hour, the disobedicience to the guidelines of the coaches and the mismanagement had reached the point of ignoring an activation training of Setién in a concentration hotel. Successful self-management, that phrase by Conte in which he admired that players who were going to pick up their children at school in the afternoon would arrive later and start playing and winning a Champions League game, had turned diabolically into disinterest and reluctance . Koeman forces players to arrive an hour before training, has increased their duration and tries, with his collaborators, to return Barça to a state worthy of an elite team so that it does not become a rag in big games League and Champions. To achieve this, and by decision of the club, the majority of physical trainers, physios and even doctors have been changed, given in recent times to the whims of the players.
Koeman is also not a friend of spinning and embellishing the message to footballers. It took Suárez a minute to tell him that he did not have him and despite the fact that the Uruguayan remains in the locker room and threatens to stay and destroy the peace of the house, the Wembley hero does not wrinkle and leaves him in the stands of the friendly. He does not avoid the problem, he faces it. With Riqui Puig it has happened the same. He was aware that he could have few minutes and that his little participation would make noise in the media due to the condition of the quarry's right eye. So, after thinking about it, and with fifteen days still to find a club, He has told him that he will play little and has recommended the transfer.
And, finally, the Messi case. Direct in his messages from day one, Koeman tries to establish a respectful relationship with his star, but in no case of homage or submission. He believes that the last example of Setién, who gave himself to the Argentine and ended up being ignored, cannot be repeated. Logically, he does not have the Argentine for another footballer, but considers it non-negotiable that he respects certain codes because if not, he will not have the respect of the dressing room. Koeman is clear that, on the grass, he will try to give him the best conditions again to decide games, because nobody does it like him, but he knows that the dressing room expects new things from him. The end of favorable treatment and above all the return of equality and meritocracy. Koeman is aware that one of the values that he has earned at the Camp Nou as a Wembley hero is his status as a respected character, with an ancestry gained in his years as a footballer. If it softens, you will lose your credibility. At the moment, it has already reached the first month.