Ronald Koeman’s record as Barça coach in the first two official matches of the season is overwhelming: two victories, seven goals for and none against. This Sunday, against Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla at the Camp Nou (9pm, Movistar Partidazo), he has his first big test of fire. “We know that Sevilla is a strong team, very tactically worked by their coach. But if we play like we have in the last two games, we have a lot in our favor. We trust ourselves ”.
In this confidence, the enthusiasm shown plays a determining factor. “It’s only been five weeks since my staff and I coached the team. We have changed the system and we need time for all players to understand it, but we are working well. Tactically we are doing things right and the team is really looking forward to doing things right. The second half against Celta, playing with ten, is a great example of the attitude of this group of footballers “.
Ansu Fati in front of Dembélé
Koeman also reviewed the market, which ends on Monday, and spoke of Eric Garcia. “We will work until the last day. We’d love to have this player, but I can’t comment on anything else. I hope we can sign him, but we know that the economic situation is complicated “. The Barça coach also spoke about Dembélé, with whom he has shown coldness. “Ansu is in front of him and there is a lot of competition in the attacking positions. If you are unhappy, talk to me. I just try to get the most out of each player. If Pedri has entered the last two games it is because he deserves it, like Trincao. Against Celta, we needed more defensive help and he is a deeper footballer. It has other qualities. And as for his role, it depends on the player. I haven’t talked to him specifically about his future. ”
The coach, on the other hand, has praised the latest Barça signing, Sergiño Dest: “He is very young, but he has already played a lot of games and has great qualities that will help us a lot.” Koeman also stressed that it will be good for Sergi Roberto to have competition. Coutinho is another player who has received praise: “It’s easy to sum up. He is a very good player. He learned a lot in England and Bayern last year. My role is to get the most out of each player.
The Barça coach once again emphasized that “you play as you train”, and that both he and his ‘staff’ are looking for intensity in training and also work hard on tactics. Then the individual quality of the players does the rest. “We have improved in physical appearance. It is noticeable in the atmosphere. Victories have also helped. These players are professionals and they want to enjoy ”. Barça have played together as a team in the last two games and Messi has excelled with an excellent attitude. “I have no complaints about Leo Messi. From day one he has trained well. The other day against Celta it helped us a lot. From the outside I had always seen him as the best in the world and now I can see him in training. He is fully committed and acting as captain.
Koeman has closed the press conference joking about the fact that if he could clone a Dream Team footballer for his current team, he would clone himself. However, he made it clear that this is not a criticism of his current central midfielders: “These are two different eras and football has changed a lot, but we have a very good team.”
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