Life at Barcelona has not been so smooth sailing for Ronald Koeman the second time around. The Catalan legend who scored 67 goals for the club from a centre-back position, is struggling as a manager now. The Catalans are an elite club and they want results to go their way at all times, when things are not going according to plan, the blame most of the time falls on the managers. Koeman has started to feel the pressure as he talked about his uncertain future and about the team needing to provide more in a recent press conference.
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The team has not done as well as some fans would have liked and it seems like Barcelona could go trophyless again. Still, we have to understand that Koeman was handed a disjointed team with aging players and no money to spend for recreation. The former Everton manager still managed to take the club to the Supercopa de Espana finals and the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. These achievements would have been good at some other club but at Barcelona, if you do not win a trophy, you’re not doing the job right.
Koeman talks about his Barcelona future
After a 4-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain, a 2-0 loss to Sevilla, and a draw against Cadiz, Koeman started to feel the pressure. In the conference ahead of their match against Sevilla, he said,
"“I know that there is always a lot of pressure being a Barca coach. If you don’t win, it’s the manager’s fault. I don’t know what could happen in the future, there is time to talk about that, but I’m optimistic.”Source Goal"
He went on to say that the team as a whole was not putting in enough effort and it was once again Lionel Messi doing the bulk of the work. The Argentine already has 18 goals in the La Liga this season and is on his way to another Golden Boot. The manager is not happy with the fact that the rest are not putting in the same effort. He said,
"“Messi has 17-18 goals, the same as everyone else put together. Responsibility must be shared.”"
With talks about bringing in Xavi Hernandez as their new manager, the pressure is on for the Dutch manager. However, should Koeman be given more time at the club? In my opinion, one season is not enough. Barcelona are in a transitional phase and Koeman’s side have shown glimpses of how they used to play.
The Catalans even had a great unbeaten run before succumbing to PSG but there is still hope and if the club can provide the manager some funds for next season, they could be title contenders yet again.
Should Barca keep or replace Koeman?