Ronald Koeman (Zaandam, 1963) is already officially Barcelona's new coach until 2022 and will be presented at 6:00 p.m. at the Auditori 1899. He was 29 years old when he burst into tears as soon as he finished the Wembley final. Nobody knows if the hero of the first Barça European Cup, that historical urgency, will shed tears when he is today presented as the coach of the club whose fans made that May 20, 1992 happy forever. The hero who allowed Guardiola to shout ” Ja la tenim here “in Sant Jaume comes to the rescue of a club in full destruction that threatens the sinister. Ronald Koeman landed at 5:00 p.m. at El Prat airport from Amsterdam. So far Òscar Grau, CEO of Barça, had traveled to negotiate his settlement with the Dutch Football Federation, to whom the Barça entity will have to compensate with an amount close to five million euros. Koeman, 57 years old now, signs a two-season contract with Barça, of course the second will be conditioned on the decision he makes to the president who arrives after the elections to be held in March.
Koeman's arrival was preceded by the unexpected announcement of Eric Abidal's dismissal, which altered Barça's agenda during the day, pending only the arrival of the Dutch tulip. Koeman was caught on camera at Zeist, the headquarters of the Dutch Federation. There he hinted at 1:00 p.m. that he was already a Barça coach. “Yes, I would like to be a coach of Barça, but it will only be final when the signature has been put on. Until then I can't say anything about it. Even if I wanted to.” Then he dropped a half smile. During the day, the reactions around his signing multiplied. Zubizarreta, a companion of the Dutchman's battles between 1989 and 1994, when he left after the 4-0 in Athens, another of Barça's cathartic falls, assured that “Koeman has the personality to coach such a club.” Meanwhile, Rivaldo, who was at his command when Koeman was Van Gaal's assistant at the end of the 90s, also endorsed his signing. “I know him very well, he is the ideal person for the position, he learned a lot in those years.”
Work awaits Koeman. The first, that of staff planning. Abidal's departure confirms that it will be the Dutchman who will lead in the preparation of the casualty list, even if he has the collaboration of Ramon Planes, who has been in command of the technical secretariat. The Dutchman will have to decide which sacred cows have completed a cycle, which should have a secondary role and which failed signings one year after another must be given a start now to incorporate boys from the subsidiary. That, plus the signings. There, Lautaro begins to consolidate as the great goal of the summer, especially if Suárez leaves.
Henrik Larsson (20-9-1971) will be Ronald Koeman's assistant at the express wish of the Dutch coach. Barça player between 2004 and 2006, in which he was able to win two Leagues and a Champions League and won the affection of the fans for his condition as a fighter and revulsive player, has been chosen as Koeman, who in addition to Larsson, will bring Alfred Schreuder into his work team, who recently ran the Hoffenheim.