"Koeman's Unplugging" lands at Barça
Ronald Koeman arrives in Barcelona at the height of the crisis.
Pochettino, Allegri or Setién. And they chose Setién. That triad of coaches is the one made public from Barça to justify the signing of the man who looked at the cows before sitting on the bench of the Camp Nou. Three coaches, three styles, three trajectories and a decision based on a victory of Betis against Barça years ago.
Barça's pillars are suffering from an acute aluminosis. Bartomeu has not known how to run the institution. In the sport plane they have signed defeats that will happen to their black history. Economically the club bleeds money. And even politics has once again required Barça for its independence scares. The pandemic augurs bad times for next season.
Ronald Koeman is the one chosen to bench the 2020-2021 season. The last season of Bartomeu's management. The 2-8 against Bayern has precipitated few things. Out Setién and Abidal and an interview with the president to announce that there are too many players and devalue them in the market. The president doesn't leave because he can't. He has to balance the books. Adjust the balance until it's positive so he doesn't have to put money in his pocket. In March of 2021, if the coronavirus allows it, there will be an election.
Koeman arrives to clean up in the Barça dressing room. But to take certain stars out of the club with very high salaries and contracts in force is impossible. Real Madrid were not even able to sell James last summer. Ramos forced a false start in China and, along with Bale, only managed to stay tied to his juicy contract in Madrid. Barça can't sell Umtiti, Rakitic, Suarez, Alba, Busquets, Vidal... and expect them to pay a fortune and take over their chips.
Koeman has a bad record in Spain. His role in Valencia was that of the villain. Angulo, Cañizares and Albelda suffered in their flesh professional abuse that bordered on the lawsuit in a court. The Dutchman was in charge of executing the order to remove them because the club no longer wanted them. A circus that could have been saved with more left hand. Then came the Copa del Rey and the cracking of those involved in the exile with Joaquin saying that Koeman only cared about wine at dinner.
His coaching career began 10 years ago as Van Gaal's assistant at Barcelona. He then had a very modest career in Portugal and in his native Holland where he improved his numbers by winning many games at Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV. In England, he proved that he is not one of those coaches who takes advantage of normal squads. At Everton he agreed with Deulofeu, a canterano of Barça, who has already declared that from Koeman "I did not learn anything at all".
The outlook for the culé partner can be bleak. A regular coach who was once a blue-green myth and a controversial guy for his treatment of the players. An explosive mix if you put him in a locker room full of egos and crowned by Messi. Messi, who has already said enough that he would like to stay. As if there was any other option. It's not the same squeezing the players of Valencia years ago as the stars of Barcelona now. And it is not a question of image, which is what most concerns football in these times.
But Koeman arrives. The one who scored against Sampdoria in 1992 at Wembley. The one who gave Barça their first European Cup and modeled Cruyff's Dream Team. The most scoring defender in history with 253 goals in 535 games. Barça take the Netherlands from their coach to sit on the bench. Florentino Pérez invented this with Lopetegui and we already know how the story ended.
Everything will depend on Koeman's arrival in the locker room. His entrance on the first day of preseason. His first words. His gestures. His orders. There we will see if he has arrived to fulfill the requests of the club or has arrived to give value to the Barça. His temperament will be the one that marks his destiny. If he goes crazy and starts taking heavyweights out of the team to train in Montjuic he will not make it to All Saints Day. If the club helps him to talk to the players so that they understand his end of cycle he will have a chance.
Its expiration date has been set for March 2021. The elections will decide a new president and coach. If the candidate Victor Font wins he has already declared that his coach will be Xavi and that is the best guarantee that he can present his candidacy. On that day he will end Koeman's time in Barcelona no matter what happens next, although his contract says that he has signed two seasons.
Barcelona closes an inadmissible stage with an irrational hiring that is the result of an even worse one with Setién and everything to put Valverde in the street when they were leaders and working in Europe. Koeman arrives to play the bad cop and get the board of directors to make up the numbers and save his head. Which is no small thing. The Dutchman will be a wanderer again.