Ronald Koeman's situation at Barcelona is taken with a grain of salt. The draw 'in extremis' against Granada, on Monday, has still left him more touched in the face of Laporta and his Board, whose trust in him is already cracked. The results are not only causing you to lose credit, but also the team's game with the loss of the Barça style.
He will sit on the bench against Cádiz, this Thursday at the Nuevo Mirandiilla, despite the fact that this Tuesday Enric Masip, Joan Laporta's advisor, did not confirm the Dutch coach, in a statement to Esport3 on Tv3. Meanwhile, the still coach of Barça has granted an interview to the medium of his country Voetbal International in which he is sincere and explains that “Messi has disguised everything”, implying that all the club's problems were covered by the quality and effectiveness of the Argentine forward, who had to leave Barça this summer on his way to PSG because the club could not bear the cost of his contract. “He was very good and he was winning. Of course he had good players around him, but he made a difference. Thanks to him they all seemed better. This is not a criticism, but an observation.”
The interview with Koeman took place at the Botafumeiro restaurant the night after the defeat against him. Bayern Munich, last Tuesday the 14th and, aware of the criticism of the team after the defeat in the Champions League (0-3), he assured that he did not read them in the media because he had “stopped reading the newspapers and web pages.”
After that defeat, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said he felt “hurt and outraged” and asked the fans for patience. Koeman said he “understood the sentiments” the president expressed. “Nor do I think it is great to lose against Bayern Munich. But you have to see it in a sober way,” added the Dutchman, who assured that in Spain the criticisms of the coaches “are very black or white.” “The coach who loses is always tactically outmatched by the coach who wins. Was it a penalty against him in the last minute, and you were better during the 90 minutes? That is tactical,” said the coach wryly.
Koeman said he was not surprised by the rumors that put him out of the Barça club: “I don't make a fuss about it and no one has to feel sorry for me. If you work here, you have to win. It's that simple.”
Regarding the economic situation of the Barça club, he said: “I knew it was not good, but not that it was so bad. The new president, Joan Laporta, did not know that either. He was as surprised as I was.”
The coach resigned from his position as coach of the Netherlands to become the manager of Barcelona. At Euro 2020, the 'Oranje' fell in the round of 16 against the Czech Republic (0-2), which cost his successor, Frank de Boer, the place. “It was especially painful for me how it all ended. In my opinion, the players should have gotten up a bit more. They are empowered enough, but they didn't.” Koeman said. However, the Dutch coach does not regret taking a step back as his country's coach. “Even knowing how difficult the situation is at Barcelona, I would not have wanted to do it any other way”, assured.
Later, Koeman read a statement and did not accept questions at the press conference prior to the match against Cádiz
Release: “The club is with me as a coach in a reconstruction situation. The financial situation of the club is linked to the sporting situation. That means that we have to rebuild the football team without being able to make large financial investments. That takes time. Young talents they could become world stars in a couple of years. The good thing about rebuilding the team is that young players will have opportunities like Xavi and Iniesta, but patience is required. Finishing in a high league ranking will be a success. Not in the Champions League miracles can be expected. The defeat against Bayern must be approached from that perspective. The process in which we find ourselves deserves to be supported in word and deed. Support the technical policy and the process that we are carrying out. I know that the press recognizes this process. It is not the first time in history that this has happened. We count on your support in this difficult time. The staff is very happy with the support of fans like the one we had the other day against Granada. Visit Barça “.