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Laporta and Koeman, the story of a disagreement

Joan Laporta congratulates Ronald Koeman after winning the Cup title last year. / AFP

The Dutch coach was never the president’s first choice, but Barça’s ruin set the tone

Barcelona has entered into a tailspin. The defeat against Bayern Munich has been the last straw for a board of directors that at no time had Ronald Koeman as the ideal coach to take charge of the reconstruction of the culé team. Joan Laporta always managed other options such as the ideal ones for the new Barçay project and the crisis that arose after the debacle against the Bavarian giant only increases mistrust even more.

One week. That is the time that Koeman has to redirect the crisis that has been generated in Can Barça after the first day of the Champions League. The Dutch coach is going to play his future against Granada, Cádiz and Levante between 20 and 26 September. In that time interval, the one who was the hero of Wembley in 1992 will have to achieve what until now has been impossible, become the ideal coach for Laporta.

And it is that from the first day that the maximum president decided to be a candidate for the presidency of Barça, the name of Koeman was never on the table. Xavi Hernández, Pep Guardiola or even Hans Flick were ahead of the current Culé coach on Laporta’s agenda for his second term at the helm of the Barça team.

Laporta’s desire to convince other candidates even led him to give Koeman 15 days to find another technician. In that period, Barça worked to convince Xavi Hernández, among other coaches, but in the face of Terrasa’s refusal, they opted for the Dutch coach to continue on the bench.

In the game against Bayern, one of the main points of disagreement between manager and coach could also be seen. Koeman chose to delay the team and leave the initiative of the game to the whole of Bavaria, something that did not like in the board of directors. For Laporta, the style of the club, that label that began with Johan Cruyff and came to fruition to unsuspected limits with Pep Guardiola, is non-negotiable. Barça must be the team that proposes no matter how big the rival is.

The disagreement between Laporta and Koeman has been staged in several scuffles in the press room. The Dutchman admitted in the middle of his search for a coach this summer that he had been disappointed by a comment from the president: “My relationship with Laporta has improved, but something happened last week that I think is not right. I was suggesting that the coach doesn’t have all the power. He talked too much and was unwise on two occasions. That can be done in private, “said Koeman when he was already on the tightrope.

On that occasion, the coach was “open” to stay, but considered that he did not deserve the treatment that the Barcelona board of directors was giving him. Finally the coach stayed and even the club satisfied some of his requests such as Memphis Depay, a player that the Zaandam coach had demanded.

Although Koeman was not the preferred option to continue in the position, Laporta ran into the Dutchman’s contract until 2022 in the middle of an unprecedented economic crisis. Along with the ‘no’ of several candidates, the president of the club found himself with a possible severance pay, something that also did not help to improve the club’s accounts.

Renewal with conditions

Just two weeks ago, Barcelona considered extending Koeman’s contract, which expires in 2022, for one more year. He did it but that renewal would be linked to a series of conditions such as winning titles, a tangible objective, or having the quarry, one of the manager’s strengths since he landed at the Camp Nou last year.

This ‘a la carte’ renewal could serve to give Koeman confidence but it could also be useful to have written arguments when the season ends so as not to have the Zaandam coach.

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