Barcelona set conditions for Ronald Koeman’s extension

The transfer window has come and gone for Barcelona with the late drama surrounding Antoine Griezmann’s departure to Atletico Madrid and Luuk de Jong’s arrival from Sevilla.

The Catalans now turn their attention to other matters, which includes the future of manager Ronald Koeman.

The Barcelona manager will have to meet certain conditions first

According to Sport, the club is considering offering the Dutchman a contract extension. However, with a few caveats. He has to convince Joan Laporta and his board.

The metrics, or conditions, deciding Koeman’s future involve winning titles, adhering to the club’s style of play with the 4-3-3 system and the proper rotation of young players including Riqui Puig.

From the outside looking in, it seems near impossible for Koeman to reach all three goals.

To start off, the Barcelona squad is nowhere near as strong as last season. They lost both Griezmann and Lionel Messi. The defense continues to be a mess and as it stands, winning LaLiga is a remote possibility. The less said about the Champions League the better.

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The only title Barcelona aspires to, realistically, is the Copa del Rey, which they won last season. Winning only that competition does not look like it will be enough to save Koeman’s job.

With just three games into the season, he has already failed in maintaining the club’s philosophy. Against Getafe at home, he ended the match playing a 5-4-1 and brought on a couple of defenders to see the game out. With all due respect to Getafe, there is no way a Barcelona side should be trying to defend a lead as opposed to trying to score another goal.

The last condition seems like the most difficult one to achieve. Koeman has given opportunities to the academy players but it’s been more out of necessity than anything else. Pedri burst onto the scene last season but he is an exception rather than the rule.

Everyone knows the situation with Puig and how Koeman does not rely on him at all. If playing Puig more is tied to a renewal, he might as well be packing his bags because he is stubborn and unlikely to play Puig. Nico Gonzales and Gavi have already jumped over Puig as far as Koeman is concerned.

What it boils down to is Koeman was never Laporta’s first choice as manager. He was appointed by the old regime and one of the only reasons he stayed at the helm was because it would have been too expensive to fire him and pay out the rest of his contract.

Judging from one season and three games, he is not what Barcelona need. He is far too cautious and his only tactic when being in front is sitting back by bringing on more defenders. When his team is trailing, he opts for more attackers. A good manager, let alone a Barcelona manager, needs to have a better plan than that.

It is far too early to be thinking about an extension. Any such decision should be made once the season is over. But if those truly are the conditions Koeman must meet, it appears the club is giving itself excuses to justify why he won’t be back next season.