5 positive learning from Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona debut

There were multiple positives from Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona debut.

Ronald Koeman managed his first Barcelona game in the La Liga against Villarreal last week. The Catalans went to route them to a 4-0 victory as they collected all three points. It was a successful start for the Dutchman and the fans will be hoping that it’s a first of many more such performances.

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Barca’s defence looked solid. Over the years, a shaky defence has been a huge problem at the Nou Camp. However, the defence looked very stable against Villarreal and the players did not seem to struggle. The defenders did not even make any errors that lead to a goal or attempts.

Ansu Fati has been a huge addition to this Catalan side. The youngster scored two goals and took Villarreal by storm. Since the resumption of football after the coronavirus lockdown, the youngster has been on complete form and has done extremely well at such a young age. The youngster even became the youngest goalscorer for Spain as he made his debut in the UEFA Nations League recently and put on a fantastic display.

Barca did not seem to depend on Lionel Messi in the clash against Villarreal. After the 2018 world cup, this Spanish side have always looked to depend on the 33-year-old to scrap out games. The Argentine delivered unquestionably as his talent is unparalleled in the history of this game. However, this side under Koeman did not seem to put Messi at the centre of the game as they have done under former managers Ernesto Valverde and Quique Setien.

This newly formed side look very confident after a long time. They usually succumb under pressure but they are looking direct and they look like they mean business. They have been a huge laughing stock as they crashed out of the champions league in horrible fashion against Bayern Munich and suffered a trophyless season. But now the team looks like they want to make amends.

Lastly, Koeman has stuck to his own philosophy and he’s played the 4-2-3-1 formation. All these years Barca have played in a 4-3-3 format but they look like finally switching it up under  Koeman who used this same formation at the Netherlands national team and it worked out quite well for him.

How many trophies will Barca win under Koeman?