Ronald Koeman

[serghei]

This was a very valverde like game from koeman. Late subs which is strange since he?s been utilizing at least 4-5 by minute 70 in previous matches. Some things should be established now, like busquets not being able to play with FDJ, lenglet-pique cb pair being mediocre, and coutinho on the flank will not work period.

He is a very Valverde like manager imo. In many many ways. Which is not hard to be, since most managers are like that. Valverde-like with a totally different personality.

 

[Katarina1]

He is a very Valverde like manager imo. In many many ways. Which is not hard to be, since most managers are like that. Valverde-like with a totally different personality.

Koeman has two losses in five league matches. Valvere didnt lose until game 37. Similar thing though

 

[serghei]

Koeman has two losses in five league matches. Valvere didnt lose until game 37. Similar thing though

We could compare them if you can teleport Koeman back in 2017 with a squad that is 3 years younger.

 

[Birdy]

Regardless of the loss today, I have seen some good and some bad things so far this season. I'll try to summarize my thoughts by pointing out some positives and negatives and how I see things right now.

Positive things:

1. Today we had two 17y old players and one 19y old player in our starting 11. IMHO that's fantastic.
2. Fati is definitely a HUGE potential. He can play both on the wing and as a striker. While we are ll talking how great talent Halland is we should realize we have just as big potential in our squad.
3. I really like Dest and how he reacted. This kid is with us only for couple of weeks and he showed today that we can count on him for the future. I believe we finally bough a proper RB that suits our playing style.
4. Pedri didn't play so good today, but this kid has a bright future ahead of him. We need to be patient with this one and he might become a great AM player in the future. He definitely has something special, something you don't see so often in a player.
5. De Jong is still playing below his Ajax level but he showed that he can become one of the best midfielders in the world. He was OK today but he can do much better. This kid has great footballing IQ and I have no doubt that he might become "new Modri" in the future. Problem is that he is basically playing alone in the midfield. Busi is unfortunately done and Pjanic is far from his best level.
6. Alba raised his game and I honestly think he will be much better than he was last season.
7. Araujo is OK as a replacement
8. Apart from todays game, Coutinho is playing much better than during his first two seasons here. I only hope he will continue like that.
9. We have two great goalkeepers.
10. Koeman actually has balls to bench the likes of Griezmann and Roberto and play 17 and 19y old kids in their positions. That's something we all missed during Valverde's time here.

Negative things:

1. Our defense is absolutely horrible. Pique is done and Lenglet is a brainless player who should be our 3rd option at best. We need to buy a world class CB next summer together with Garcia.
2. Busi is done. He is even worse than he was last season. I can't understand why Puig can't get any minutes when Busi is playing horribly. Today he lost every single duel and he made numerous mistakes. We will definitely need to buy another midfielder in the future.
3. Griezmann is absolutely horrendous! With Messi here this guy has no place in our team, he provides nothing. FFS even Braithwaite looks better. IMHO he should be sold in January.
4. Dembele will probably never achieve his potential. Unfortunately this kid has no brain. All the talent he has is basically irrelevant. He should also be sold in January.
5. It's unfair to judge a player after few games but Trincao looks really bad. It looks like we wasted money on another average player. I hope I am wrong but things aren't looking good at all.
6. Koeman made some good changes in our squad but playing with 5 attackers is stupid as it gets. With this move he showed he had no plan. Moreover he simply improvised there. It's not the first time he did this. I sincerely can't comprehend how can anyone think that playing without midfield and with 5 attackers is a good idea? I hope he won't repeat that stupidity again.
7. In the end there is Messi. He is clearly far from his best form. It's clear he is declining but the way he is playing now is not about his decline. His head is not on the field. I sincerely doubt we'll get his best version this season. When player is declining at his age is understandable but he must be focused on his game and he clearly isn't. After that summer chaos, some players together with Messi are now fighting with the board because of the salary cut. With all that in mind he simply can't achieve his usual level. I sincerely hope he will raise his game soon but things are not looking good at the moment.
8. During the start of the season we showed intensity and we tried to press. It looked like our physical level is much better this season. Unfortunately that disappeared after first couple of games. This is probably the only thing I can't understand at all. How the hell did that disappear after only few games?

With all this in mind we can conclude there are some good and some bad things right now. We clearly made some progress by bringing in some great young talents. We also need to understand we started rebuilding this year so it will take some time. I don't expect anything spectacular for another year or two, but with the new board we might actually get there sooner than we all thought. I am also perfectly fine with signing Garcia and Depay for free this winter. Garcia will be a good cheap addition and Depay could maybe provide something that Dembele and Griezmann can't. Moreover, if we bring them for free we can always sell them and make some profit.

In the end, Koeman might be here for a season or two, but I sincerely doubt he will last longer. If he makes a transition from old to young squad I will be more than satisfied. We all know that Xavi is the coach all of our presidential candidates are hoping to sign. If Koeman leaves him a young squad, free of that old players, Xavi will have a great talented squad to work with. Maybe I am optimistic but future is not so dark after all.

Fair assessment on the positives, but on the negatives you are exaggerating on a few aspects.
Trincao certainly is not bad, he has potential. Dembele IMO should be given many more chances, he has showed more than Cou, Griez the last 2 seasons whenever he played.
And about 8, it is still happening, they tried to do it today. Of course it depends on the personel, Messi and Busi for example are not ideal for an intense pressuring side.

 

[Birdy]

He is a very Valverde like manager imo. In many many ways. Which is not hard to be, since most managers are like that. Valverde-like with a totally different personality.

He is NOT.
Benching Griezman and Sergi Roberto in a Classico?
You would not see that in a million parallel universes from Valverde.

We need authority from the coach. If he can restore that, make players feel they are not automatic starters and have to work hard to convince the coach, he would have done a great service to the toxic locker room mentality

 

[vegitot]

Why did he play his subs in 80th minutes???

 

[messi2140]

Why did he play his subs in 80th minutes???

VAR

 

[khaled_a_d]

Why do we keep hiring managers that are obsessed with not playing Real Wingers,

Honest question, but do we have real wingers?
Griezmann isn't, Coutinho is an LW/AM hybrid, Pedri is an Iniesta type of player (in terms of style) and not an actual winger, Fati is a 9 who is too weak to play there for now.
Dembele and Trincao are the only answers, and Trincao look out of position playing there unless against amateur team. Dembele is the only one and even him is mediocre at best, though might be the best of those mediocre options.

This team is badly constructed, which has been the case since 2016.

 

[Birdy]

Fati has played exceptionally as a left winger.
We have three good wingers in Fati, Dembele, Trincao. Ok, Trincao is not mature, he is not yet ready for Classico yet, but he was excellent against Ferencvaros for example.

No excuses in not using wingers in order to shoehorm all of Griez, Messi, Cou in the starting XI

 

[khaled_a_d]

For me positives are:
1-Messi as AM, people are criticizing but he was our main creator and the one who caused most of the danger. Messi evolution was always going to be as AM not as 9, he showed that today. It is the right position for him and IMO this was his best game this season.

2-Fati as 9, finally his natural position, kid showed glimpsed of what he is going to be in few years, he lacks some necessary playmaking skills (just being able to play the obvious pass and playing with his back to goal) but those will come in time. Games like will help him to grow.

3-Dest on the right side was a pleasant surprise, finally S.Roberto might not be our best RB. Kudos for trusting him.

4-FDJ was more involved than usual on offense, which is decent.

5-He used Alba perfectly.

6-Trust in youth even in big games.

Negatives:
1-We have no wingers, and he himself set that problem IMO, he didn't request for a single winger. He wanted 4 players, Dest (RB), Garcia (CB) Winjaldum (CM) and Depay (SS). And even worse no speed in attack again.

2-He set Pedri for failure in this game, was too much for the kid playing in his least favorite position

3-Defense set up is awful, especially with Busquets being a snail.

4-Coutinho wasn't put in his best psoition to perform, now that was because Messi took it and IMo it was right, future will show us if Coutinho early hot start will continue or not, I hope it will and I will gladly accept Messi being pushed up in such case, but I am betting against it.

5-Subs, like wtf.

 

[soul24rage]

For me positives are:
1-Messi as AM, people are criticizing but he was our main creator and the one who caused most of the danger. Messi evolution was always going to be as AM not as 9, he showed that today. It is the right position for him and IMO this was his best game this season.

2-Fati as 9, finally his natural position, kid showed glimpsed of what he is going to be in few years, he lacks some necessary playmaking skills (just being able to play the obvious pass and playing with his back to goal) but those will come in time. Games like will help him to grow.

3-Dest on the right side was a pleasant surprise, finally S.Roberto might not be our best RB. Kudos for trusting him.

4-FDJ was more involved than usual on offense, which is decent.

5-He used Alba perfectly.

6-Trust in youth even in big games.

Negatives:
1-We have no wingers, and he himself set that problem IMO, he didn't request for a single winger. He wanted 4 players, Dest (RB), Garcia (CB) Winjaldum (CM) and Depay (SS). And even worse no speed in attack again.

2-He set Pedri for failure in this game, was too much for the kid playing in his least favorite position

3-Defense set up is awful, especially with Busquets being a snail.

4-Coutinho wasn't put in his best psoition to perform, now that was because Messi took it and IMo it was right, future will show us if Coutinho early hot start will continue or not, I hope it will and I will gladly accept Messi being pushed up in such case, but I am betting against it.

5-Subs, like wtf.

Good post.

This is why with this current group of players, the best formation to play them imo is the 4-3-1-2.

No reliable wingers, no real #9, Messi more comfortable dropping deep and etc.

 

[vegitot]

Hope after two loss and experiment till now, Koeman will start to change De Jong - Busquest pair. And put Dembele on RW. Yeah he is a clown but he is the best option at right flank right now.

 

[vegitot]

He did. Worst half of the season in since forever, dominated at home by past it Madrid. Even Setien made more points than him in the same number of games I think last season.

Wow, still someone defend Setien???

 

[henias]

He is NOT.
Benching Griezman and Sergi Roberto in a Classico?
You would not see that in a million parallel universes from Valverde.

We need authority from the coach. If he can restore that, make players feel they are not automatic starters and have to work hard to convince the coach, he would have done a great service to the toxic locker room mentality

He is very similar to EV tactically, doesnt utilise wingers, play them in all wrong positions, insisting on that stupid double pivot with Busquets which has proved to be quite a disaster under EV as well. Making extremely late subs at 80 mins. I just never understood what they have in their minds.

 

[Barcilliant]

Even the best managers out there would struggle with this squad especially when club politics forces you to shoehorn a legend in decline like Messi.
Messi really screws the shape and set up of the team. Of course lesser players like Busquets and Pique are not much help either but atm Messi is the elephant in the room.
If Koeman can just build a loose structure based on the young players then he would have done his job.
I am not expecting any trophies this season and I just hope we exit Cl in a dignified way.
My old heart can't take any maulings anymore.