Koeman and the club's situation: “It's complicated, you don't have anything in your hands”

Ronald Koeman has given a very extensive interview to the Barça Magazine in which it deals with numerous topics. Are these.

Play without an audience: “Yes, there (at the Camp Nou) I played many games, many important games where you always had the help of the public and now you don't have it, not only us, but also the rest of the teams, because we all have these difficulties with Covid “.

The pandemic: “The issue of Covid has also been new for me, and it costs me. Yes, it shows. It costs especially in home games, because in such a large field, that there are no people, makes it more complicated for the player. After a while maybe you are more used to playing without an audience, but I think that every time a player jumps onto the field where there is no atmosphere, where everything is heard, it is something strange …, you lack a lot the environment”.

Koeman passed the coronavirus: “We had a bad time in the sense that I was not well, I was very tired, I had a fever, at night I was worse, but it was not very serious. But I did have the feeling of not being well, of feeling tired.”

Your overall health, heart problems: “It is true that when things like this happen to you, or that you have people by your side who have been sick, life changes a bit. In my case, with the small heart attack I had, there are things that you surely think a little differently. Perhaps The opportunity to coach Barça was now or never. I'm 57 years old, I've been a coach for many years, I don't want to end up training at 70 either. The moment was now. “

Leave Holland: “Yes, it may be. When they called me in January to ask if I was interested in coming, I said that with four or five months until the Eurocup I couldn't leave the national team. In March, when we found out we were not going to play the Eurocopa, my situation Personal with the Netherlands changed, because who would have told me that in summer there would be a normal Eurocup, with public, in different countries …, the situation has changed, and perhaps if we had not had Covid-19 I would have had to wait a few more years. “

Tony bruins: “When we were together training Ajax in 2003, I remember well that he had the moment when they found him with prostate cancer. He has been doing well for 17 years, but he has always had to live with his disease, doing chemotherapy …, and I've seen him go down on the physical issue. We were always talking, we went to eat, I visited him at his house …, he has always given me advice with the rivals, with the players, but lately he was quieter and I knew why, but I did not think it was so close to the end. These are very difficult things to accept, but I think that he did not have a life as a person at his age should live. For the whole family it was a complicated and sad situation, but I think that in the end it was the better for Tony. “

The first thing he said to his wife, Bartina, to their children Debbie, Tim and Ronald, when he learned that he would coach Barça: “Well, at Barça whenever a coach was needed my name has come from the Club, from the people, but also from me, because I have said many times that it was a dream for me to be able to coach Barcelona. Now I had the opportunity, and both my wife and my children knew that I am delighted, even they prefer to live here rather than in Holland, so it is not just a sporting issue, it is also a life issue, we have always found ourselves at home, But above all they knew that for me it was a great dream to come true. No, especially because I had the dream of coaching Barcelona. I don't think you can wait for the moment when everything works well. If a team has very good results, a team he does not change the coach, whenever there is a change it is because people are not happy, because the team does not win … I do not know if I have been brave, I think that any coach who has the opportunity to come says “I'm going! For the affection of the people, for the affection of The Club, because of my personal relationship … I know the Club well, I know the people, I spent six years as a player and a year and a half as Van Gaal's assistant, I knew it was a difficult time, with important changes in the Club, but I'm the coach, we have to play well and win the games, we can't control the rest. “

Be a legend: “Any coach who comes to a club like Barça has to win so that people are happy. Of course you can have a good name, what you have done before as a player, but in the end what counts are the games, are the titles and the things you win. If you look at my coaching career, well, in the Netherlands yes, but in many other cases such as with Benfica, Valencia or Everton and Southampton in England, I was not in very big teams that aspired to Everything. Now I also have to win over people and I have realized that things do not come easily. I believe that decisions must be made, changes must be made, confidence must be given, young people must be given opportunities and there are to assess after a while. You have to work and prove as a coach that you are valid for this club. “

Be true to yourself: “It is very important, because the best thing is to have confidence in yourself, think about how you want to carry things and be true to yourself because, in the end, if you lose your position and have changed, it is a little harder. The important thing is look for a line, have people by your side with whom you can discuss decisions you have to make, but if it is a line you must follow it. It is also a clear message for the players. If they have a coach who is black today and white tomorrow “You don't get there. If I lose, I lose because of my things and because of my philosophy.”

What about the Koeman player in the Koeman coach: “Above all the desire to win, that has not changed. I want to see a team that plays, that dominates, but also that presses, and football has also changed, because in my time I was more about building from behind and today Today they are the full-backs who are almost extreme. Football has changed, but I want to see my winning team, who fights, works, plays well but also gets the best result. “

Dutch fifth coach: “With Michels I coincided with the national team. The only great thing that we have won was Euro 88 with Michels as coach. He has been a coach with a lot of personality. From any coach you learn something, positive, but also negative. To Johan before the Barça already had him as a coach for a year at Ajax. Johan, of all of us, was perhaps the best player in the world in his time and you have more information on football details. I was here with him for six years with many successes. Also, with a Good group of people, we got along well off the field and they were fantastic years. With Van Gaal I was his assistant at Barça for a year and a half. The difference between Johan and Van Gaal is that Johan trained as a former player, and Van Gaal has He was also a more methodical teacher. Johan relied more on what he has seen, on his feeling, his experience. With Frank (Rijkaard) I have played, I have never trained, but we did the coaching course together for a year “.

Messi's rotations: “In principle this is for any player. If he is fit to play and is so good, he plays. And of course, Leo is older than before, but he is still a player who likes to be there and above all to win games , He is enjoying every day with training and is very involved. As a coach I talk to my players, and I also talk to Leo about this and about other things because he is captain of the team too, and there are wardrobe things, there are rules, and we talk of many things, not only of the game. I mean, this is the daily work of a coach who has communication with his players “.

Ansu and Pedri: “Talking about young people is also nice, they deserve it, but they are also people who still have to learn a lot, because they are 17 or 18 years old in the sense of Ansu and Pedri, but what they have done, to be at the highest level in Barça's first team is something very big. In Pedri's case, at his age, coming from Las Palmas and already playing in games against Madrid or Juventus and with the level he has shown, he is fantastic. For a club to have young people who have opportunities, you have to change the team little by little, we still need to have the greats, but they will not be so for life and you have to look for changes with time, with peace of mind, and, once more, Pedri has won his minutes in the games in training because he has shown me to be very good and that he can play for a team like Barcelona. “

Institutional situation: “It is very complicated because you have nothing in your hands, but I always say that if we are calm above, below is better. Any team needs a certain tranquility to succeed.”