Another day, another loss for FC Barcelona, this time vs Atletico. Koeman’s team continue with the awful start of the season, and with the Dutch staying, there’s no end at the end of the tunnel.
he last days looked like they were the last days in the job for Ronald Koeman. The loss vs Benfica, and the bad image of the team were the perfect recipe for that. But then, few hours before the start of the match, President Laporta spoke to the press and said that Koeman will stay. No matter if it’s an economical reason, or the lack of alternatives, the current situation has to change.
The game vs Atletico isn’t even the issue. But the fact that no Barcelona fan out there expected a win vs Atletico says a lot. Until last year, Simeone never won a game vs Barça in the league. But yesterday he won for the 2nd season in a row. Another record breaking by Ronald Koeman.
Personally, the game yesterday gave me flashbacks to the 2nd term of Van Gaal in Barcelona. Back then, Barça were in a very bad situation, and like yesterday, everything looked bad. In the matches Barcelona did have possession, but no ‘Bite’ – no attacking power. Koeman, who was Van Gaal’s assistant in his 1st term, looks like he learned a lot from the Dutch coach.
Starting with his ‘Distance’ from other players, personal agendas and outdated tactics. Whenever Barcelona faces other elite coaches, it looks like 90’s football vs 2021 football. Football advances all the time, and having outdated coach doesn’t help us.
The Art of Excuses
Koeman talks about the squad and how the club had to sell players in order to cope with the salary cap. It’s all true, but first of all, a coach can’t speak to the press about how the squad isn’t good enough. You’re the coach, you’re the leader. You need to support your players. Bashing then on camera is not what a good leader do. Yesterday Koeman talked about the mistake of Nico in the first goal. Yeah he did a mistake, but players like Nico, or Mingueza few months ago – are easy targets. The problem is not the youngsters.
As for the new excuse – Koeman talks all the time about how his squad lacks players that can play wide and make room for attacks. It’s all true, we currently lack those kind of players. And yeah Dembele and Ansu back will probably improve that aspect. But their injuries are not new. Then why did Koeman cut Trincao, Collado and Konrad from the team? And why did he ask Luuk de Jong and not someone who is a winger if we lack that so much? I don’t buy it. It’s just an excuse, nothing more.
Bottom line
I didn’t expect to win the game yesterday. That’s why the result wasn’t shocking for me. After losing 3-0 to Benfica, what’s a 2-0 loss to Atletico?
It looks very bad for us. We will wait for better days that will surely come.
Visca Barça!
