Messi983
Senior Member
A lot of things are different now than they were 10 months ago which should make Koeman's job easier (at least theoretically) but at the same time also put more pressure on him.
1. He might not have a full trust of Laporta and he'll feel media/fans pressure every time we'll have a few bad consecutive results (this basically happens with every coach though) but I think Laporta will give enough time to Koeman. He kept faith in Rijkaard when our situation was much worse than I think we could get into the next season (hope to not be wrong) so I think it will take more than just 2-3 losses for Koeman to get sacked. But overall climate inside the club is still much better than it was in August last year coming off a 8-2 loss, Messi wanting to leave etc. Surely bad ending of the season created some doubts in Koeman inside the locker room but I think overall he still has a good support from the players.
2. We'll have an actual preseason this summer. Sure, most key players will be playing in Euro or Copa America but at the same time there will be a chance for fringe/younger players to earn Koeman's trust early in preseason when those starters won't be around.
3. Youngsters brought in last summer (Pedri, Dest, Trincao - if he stays) will be better adapted to the team (and fully established as a starter in Pedri's case) and homegrown kids like Araujo and Oscar will have almost a full season playing regular La Liga football behind them as well. Ilaix also got his feets wet and with Wijnaldum coming in there should be less pressure on him to perform immediately in big games he's not ready for yet. I'm sure Koeman likes him enough to give him enough minutes to develop and build confidence in easier games before slowly giving him more importance in bigger games.
4. This year's newcomers will mostly have previous experience playing either in Barca system (Eric), La Liga (Kun - also playing for Pep for a few years; Emerson) or doing well for Koeman and playing alongside FDJ in NT (Gini, Depay). So I think it's fair to expect all of them won't need too much time to adapt.
5. Eventhough most signings (confirmed and those very close to sign) maybe won't immediately improve the best XI (I think they will but if someone disagrees I can understand that) I think we can all agree they will improve overall depth and quality of the team. We've had a short bench last season. Some of that was due to poor squad building over the years and longterm injuries to key players but OTOH also self-inflicted by Koeman ignoring players like Pjanić and Puig who should be given more playing time instead of burning out starting three midfielders.
Now Koeman will get players he wanted (Eric, Depay, Gini) so they'll have his trust. Kun I'm sure will too as long as he can stay fit to play. Not sure about Emerson but Koeman has given a NT debut (and then play him quite regularly) to someone like Denzel Dumfries who is also a tall, strong RB (and I believe Emerson is a better player although tbh I've not really seen all that much from Dumfries) so I think he might like Emerson as well. But obviously the club should do the right move and keep him while (trying to) offload Roberto.
Overall I'm still caoutiously optimistic about next season and I'll support Koeman. He made some mistakes (poor handling of some players was my biggest issue with him) but he also did good things given the circumstances. My goal for next season is winning La Liga after not doing it for two years and I think we're good enough for that. We should be more consistent (can't afford another bad start to the season) and improve in big games. And hopefully more youngsters will show their quality when given a chance and possibly push some of the older players out of the starting XI and eventually the club.
1. He might not have a full trust of Laporta and he'll feel media/fans pressure every time we'll have a few bad consecutive results (this basically happens with every coach though) but I think Laporta will give enough time to Koeman. He kept faith in Rijkaard when our situation was much worse than I think we could get into the next season (hope to not be wrong) so I think it will take more than just 2-3 losses for Koeman to get sacked. But overall climate inside the club is still much better than it was in August last year coming off a 8-2 loss, Messi wanting to leave etc. Surely bad ending of the season created some doubts in Koeman inside the locker room but I think overall he still has a good support from the players.
2. We'll have an actual preseason this summer. Sure, most key players will be playing in Euro or Copa America but at the same time there will be a chance for fringe/younger players to earn Koeman's trust early in preseason when those starters won't be around.
3. Youngsters brought in last summer (Pedri, Dest, Trincao - if he stays) will be better adapted to the team (and fully established as a starter in Pedri's case) and homegrown kids like Araujo and Oscar will have almost a full season playing regular La Liga football behind them as well. Ilaix also got his feets wet and with Wijnaldum coming in there should be less pressure on him to perform immediately in big games he's not ready for yet. I'm sure Koeman likes him enough to give him enough minutes to develop and build confidence in easier games before slowly giving him more importance in bigger games.
4. This year's newcomers will mostly have previous experience playing either in Barca system (Eric), La Liga (Kun - also playing for Pep for a few years; Emerson) or doing well for Koeman and playing alongside FDJ in NT (Gini, Depay). So I think it's fair to expect all of them won't need too much time to adapt.
5. Eventhough most signings (confirmed and those very close to sign) maybe won't immediately improve the best XI (I think they will but if someone disagrees I can understand that) I think we can all agree they will improve overall depth and quality of the team. We've had a short bench last season. Some of that was due to poor squad building over the years and longterm injuries to key players but OTOH also self-inflicted by Koeman ignoring players like Pjanić and Puig who should be given more playing time instead of burning out starting three midfielders.
Now Koeman will get players he wanted (Eric, Depay, Gini) so they'll have his trust. Kun I'm sure will too as long as he can stay fit to play. Not sure about Emerson but Koeman has given a NT debut (and then play him quite regularly) to someone like Denzel Dumfries who is also a tall, strong RB (and I believe Emerson is a better player although tbh I've not really seen all that much from Dumfries) so I think he might like Emerson as well. But obviously the club should do the right move and keep him while (trying to) offload Roberto.
Overall I'm still caoutiously optimistic about next season and I'll support Koeman. He made some mistakes (poor handling of some players was my biggest issue with him) but he also did good things given the circumstances. My goal for next season is winning La Liga after not doing it for two years and I think we're good enough for that. We should be more consistent (can't afford another bad start to the season) and improve in big games. And hopefully more youngsters will show their quality when given a chance and possibly push some of the older players out of the starting XI and eventually the club.
