Barcelona’s second-half collapse, and subsequent 3-3 draw against Levante, was another example of the team’s shortcomings this season.
The inability to maintain a lead or control a game was yet again on display with Ronald Koeman at the forefront.
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The manager is set to meet with Barcelona president at the end of the season.
The result meant Barca were unable to make any headway in their chase to catch Atletico Madrid and now puts the manager in the hot seat and Koeman knows it.
"“Coaches are always questioned,” Koeman said postgame. “But I understand that, after that second half, there are questions.“We are disappointed and we’re wondering what happened. We have to move on and prepare for next season.”Source: Marca"
Those aren’t exactly the words of someone who feels safe in his job or believes Barcelona still have a chance at the league title – and he would be right.
Barcelona has far too often jumped out to a lead this season and either been unable to kill the game off or control the tempo of the game and defend the lead.
The players shoulder some of the responsibility but so does the manager.
His biggest error against Levante was subbing in Sergi Roberto for Ronald Araujo. Roberto has looked nowhere near up to pace since returning from his injury and his defensive deficiencies were apparent. It wasn’t a coincidence the club struggled once he was introduced.
From the outside looking in, he lets his personal grudges against certain players influence his decision-making.
The logical move would have been to replace Araujo with Oscar Mingueza. But he decided otherwise. Mingueza has been in the bad graces of Koeman since he was subbed off against Getafe and Koeman was visibly upset with him.
The same can be said with Riqui Puig. He is someone who Koeman had all but purposely forgotten about for the past few months. Yet he subbed him on with less than 10 minutes to go hoping he’d perform a miracle.
President Joan Laporta is set to meet with Koeman to discuss the team’s recent performances. While there are growing doubts regarding his future, no decision will be made until the end of the season.