Last night the decision was finally made at Barcelona: Ronald Koeman is no longer the club’s trainer. The Dutchman finally got a chance at his dream club last year, but it turned into a nightmare. Is this the right choice for Barcelona now? “Xavi will certainly get a lot more credit,” says Johan Boskamp.
“I’m never in favor of throwing people out, so for me this is not the right choice,” Barca connoisseur Johan Boskamp said. “But you can’t deny that we’ve actually been waiting for a while for this to happen.”
According to Boskamp, the way Koeman has been treated at Barcelona is not fair. “Joan Laporta, who had already made it clear when he was appointed as chairman that Koeman could leave. And then he waited a long time to effectively throw him out. He could have done this three months earlier, then you would have.” Didn’t have all this shit. You knew what was going to happen. The way Laporta treated him is actually a great shame.”
“Last season it wasn’t that bad. Lionel Messi was sleepwalking for the first three months, but then he woke up and Barcelona could even become champions. It also played the cup final. But then it lost to Celta de Vigo and collapsed. Everything in.”
What could Koeman have done better? Stay with Orange. This is a personal defeat for him.
What could Koeman have done better? “Staying with Orange”, his compatriot laughs. “He knew that he would get all that shit about Messi on his neck. He had to make sure things were okay again and that is of course a very difficult task.”
“I don’t think he played for sure. He brought young players like Pedri and Gavi. A whole new generation is coming through. But if you bring those guys, you can’t expect to become champions and win the Champions League. That’s a bit like the situation at Anderlecht.”
“This is a personal defeat for Koeman,” says Boskamp. “This was his dream club, he has always said that. He refused a few times, but he felt that he had to jump now. It is disappointing that it turned out this way.”
“Anyway, the Dutch newspapers now state that he will play golf 5 days a week. As a trainer, this is part of the job.”
Pedri
“The next coach knows what kind of football he will have to play”
Barcelona are now only 9th in the standings. “Barcelona used to be really delicious, with that incredible midfield. But in about 2 or 3 years everything will be gone and that is a real shame. It has to get better, I assume. With Laporta as chairman and his right-hand man Jordi Cruyff you know that the next coach will have to play 4-3-3. You know what football they want to see.”
And will that next coach be Xavi? “When he signed his contract in Qatar two years ago, he said he would only come back for one club: Barcelona. He knows the house and knows how they want to play football. Whether he has the team for that, that’s something else. he will certainly get more credit than Koeman. He will be able to break something, I’m sure of that.”
