Ronald Koeman

[Barcilliant]

Put yourself in Laporta's shoes.

This dude wants Depay and Wijnaldum as well as Donny probably as starters.

Literally no one else wants those dudes.

Why not hire a new coach without a boner for mediocre Dutch players

Those guys are available for free. Keep in mind Koeman has been willing to forgo his own pay because of the clubs situation.
He wanted Lukaku and some other players but quickly had to adjust his expectations.

 

[Messi983]

Whether people like Koeman or not, whether they think he should leave at the end of the season or not, in the days ahead of Copa final is absolutely the wrong time to raise those questions. I have no idea what agenda journalists coming out with these stories have but they clearly don't "help" the team. For everyone who truly considers himself a Barca fan now it's time to be united behind Koeman and the team for the remaining 9 finals this season.

Find it interesting that non Barca fans and fake Barca fans want him out.

Mavericky's fanboys contingent is strong here.

 

[Bobo32]

Find it interesting that non Barca fans and fake Barca fans want him out.

I find it interesting that so many Barcelona fans are content with these results and this "style".
I was a bit shocked to have so little company here, guess there must've been people with similar views to mine here before, that tired and left...

I agree that it's probably bad timing if journalists lift KoemanOUT before the final. I don't think the result should matter in him staying or not, so journos should focus on helping the team win the final, and after it's done they should lift the question again.

 

[Laplacian]

Those guys are available for free. Keep in mind Koeman has been willing to forgo his own pay because of the clubs situation.
He wanted Lukaku and some other players but quickly had to adjust his expectations.

Doesn't matter if they're free, they won't improve us at all.

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

[MENTION=22412]henias[/MENTION]

WTF your video has over 66mio views

 

[CatalinR10]

[MENTION=22412]henias[/MENTION]

WTF your video has over 66mio views

it's the GOAT , what do you expect ffs

 

[Birdy]

And here is quantification of how much trust Koeman has put on youth:

So, what do we see here?
That Barca is the only top club (maybe alongside AC Milan) giving so many minutes to youngsters and AT THE SAME TIME competing till the end for LaLiga and Copa del Rey.
So the usual dichotomy "EITHER you develop youngsters OR you compete for top prizes" has been denied by Koeman.

And let me repeat again what [MENTION=20218]Horatio[/MENTION] said above:
I am not a Koeman fanboy as well, even though it might come out as that. I am a realist, not a blinded idealist.
I was completely NEUTRAL as to his arrival back in August.
As soon as I saw improvement though, in different aspects and respects of the game and the team ethic in general, I cannot deny what my eyes witness...

 

[Bobo32]

And here is quantification of how much trust Koeman has put on youth:
So, what do we see here?
That Barca is the only top club (maybe alongside AC Milan) giving so many minutes to youngsters and AT THE SAME TIME competing till the end for LaLiga and Copa del Rey.
So the usual dichotomy "EITHER you develop youngsters OR you compete for top prizes" has been denied by Koeman.

I have asked this many times with no answer: what old players did Koeman neglect?
Yeah I guess he forced Suarez out, and he didn't play Pjanic very much, but apart from that, he plays all the old players available to him, and both Depay and Wijnaldum are old as well and he will play them if he gets them.

I think that's a shit picture not saying so much; we all know he has played Pedri and Fati all he could, and I guess Dest and Mingueza are u21 too. Anyone saying Barcelona shouldn't be top 3 in the league with the squad they have is insane, and that they are in the final tonight was very much due to luck on multiple occasions, could just as well have been eliminated against either one of Cornella, Rayo, Granada or Sevilla. Well they barely won, as they should do, whether they play a few u21 players or not.

The real question is: what will be left when Messi, Busquets, Alba (and Roberto, Pique etc to a lesser extent) leaves? Many users here look forward to it, I see no sign that Koeman will be able to build a great team without them.

 

[Birdy]

The real question is: what will be left when Messi, Busquets, Alba (and Roberto, Pique etc to a lesser extent) leaves? Many users here look forward to it, I see no sign that Koeman will be able to build a great team without them.

This argument does not cut it at all.

Roberto and Pique are not part of his core. The first is superseded by other players, the second has been injured long and the team peaked without him.
About the first 3: Busi will have limited role under Koeman next season.
Messi cannot be benched because he is Messi
And then the only one left that Koeman depends a lot on is Alba, cauz his attacking quality is important.

 

[serghei]

He has to beat Bilbao today and if he does it, IMO he should get another year. But next year, he has to compete for all titles, and stop losing nearly every match against comparably big clubs.

If he is unable to make the next step, the next season should be his last.

If he loses the Cup final today, a solid case can be made for sacking him no doubt.

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

He has to beat Bilbao today and if he does it, IMO he should get another year. But next year, he has to compete for all titles, and stop losing nearly every match against comparably big clubs.

If he is unable to make the next step, the next season should be his last.

If he loses the Cup final today, a solid case can be made for sacking him no doubt.

Agree.

 

[Bobo32]

This argument does not cut it at all.

Roberto and Pique are not part of his core. The first is superseded by other players, the second has been injured long and the team peaked without him.
About the first 3: Busi will have limited role under Koeman next season.
Messi cannot be benched because he is Messi
And then the only one left that Koeman depends a lot on is Alba, cauz his attacking quality is important.

I put these two in a parenthesis, not the core of the argument. The argument is these players are the core of the team, and it isn't saying so much that the rest of the players are young, if there is no one ready to take their place. It is good I guess that some players have room for improvement and are young, I have higher hope in some of the players from Barcelona B who didn't even play yet.

What role Busquets will have next season is irrelevant, he has a large role this season. I believe Wijnaldum will be a clear downgrade, remains to be seen of course.
Messi is scoring all the goals and assists to a lot of the ones he doesn't score. He isn't playing as well as under Valverde, the play isn't tailored for him as much, but the results are very, very much dependent on him. Any coach will have a hard time replacing Messi of course, my point is that these results are so much because of him still. Without him, Barcelona could be midtable this season, the way they have played..

 

[Bobo32]

Put Messi, Busquets and Alba in Juventus, and they could play Kulusevski and McKennie (if they are u21 as I think) a bit more and still be top 3 in Serie A.
In fact they would be more competitive in the short run, but their future wouldn't look brighter.

 

[DonAK]

A bit petty to have two GKs on the bench instead of either one of Pjanic, Firpo or Riqui.

 

[serghei]

A bit petty to have two GKs on the bench instead of either one of Pjanic, Firpo or Riqui.

It is.