Three talking points from latest Barcelona loss

Ronald Koeman’s future has been a topic of much debate lately.

On one side, there are those who believe he deserves to see out his final year as he was put in a difficult situation with a lack of signings and a team shellshocked after the Bayern Munich drubbing in the Champions League.

The other side, which has been gaining steam, don’t believe he should come back because of how the team has performed lately and there are questions about his style of play.

What cannot be denied is that when it mattered, when there was something on the line, his Barcelona side were unable to cope with the pressure. When they did, his tactics and substitutions only served to make his team worse.

A point in his favor has been playing the academy players. However, he’s only played them because he has no other options. Then there is the weird case with Riqui Puig in which Koeman told the midfielder that he didn’t count on him before the start of the season.

Puig performed in the small amount of playing time he was given but even that didn’t seem enough to convince Koeman to play him more.

Known for his defense as a player, Koeman has been unable to instill that defensive fortitude to a Barcelona side that get sliced through open rather easily on counters. Not to mention the amount of mistakes the defenders made throughout the season that ended up in goals.

At the moment, it looks more likely than not that he will be let go as Xavi Hernandez, one of the favorites to take over, is set to arrive in Barcelona for a vacation.

The assumption is that during his stay, he is going to sit down with club executives and hammer out a deal to become the new manager.

Koeman bet on himself and took a risk by coming to Barcelona. He took over under one of the more unpopular presidents in club history in Josep Maria Bartomeu. Fair or not, he’s still seen as his hire.

While he has great respect from Laporta, it should come as no surprise if Laporta decided that he wants his own guy in charge.