Ronald Koeman admits Barcelona need Lionel Messi to succeed
Lionel Messi is key for Barcelona’s success admits Ronald Koeman.
It is no secret that Barcelona are in a state of turmoil at the moment. Although the team has gained some momentum in recent games, the fact still remains that they could end up losing their most important asset at the end of the season, Lionel Messi.
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The Argentine has still not decided on what he wants to do with his career after the end of the season. He has promised to focus on Barcelona till the end of the season but nothing is certain as to what will happen beyond that.
Head Coach, Ronald Koeman, will surely want the legend to remain at the club for a few more years at least. Like it or not, Messi is still the backbone of the team and they perform much better and smoother when he is on the team. Critics may criticize him on fieldwork rate but there is no doubt that the team shines under his leadership.
In a post-match interview after the Catalan’s 4-0 win over Granada, Koeman explained the importance of the Argentine on his team. He knows the situation and is bracing himself for what might happen in June, but he still hopes that Lionel Messi will stay on at the club. He told reporters in the post-match interview,
"“Barca need Messi, we need him to achieve great things and fight for the titles, With the score, we were able to make changes and rest very important players like Messi and De Jong. If all the players are in good condition, we can compete for all the titles. This streak of results gives us a lot of confidence.”Source Goal"
The match has been an extremely good confidence builder for the team and they now find themselves in third position, four points behind leaders, Atletico Madrid. Although the Madrid side have three games in hand, Koeman’s team has managed to close down the gap a bit. The team will, however, need to perform this way if they want to lift the trophy at the end of the season.
Koeman has a talented squad on his hand with many youngsters with huge potentials. Even if Messi leaves the club, players like Ansu Fati, Pedri, and Riqui Puig will be able to rise up to the challenge. The manager just needs to have a little more faith in the young talents in the club.
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