Ronald Koeman: The motives behind his inevitable sacking
The Dutch coach was binned on the flight home from Madrid on Wednesday night and here's why
Ronald Koeman has been sacked and there are many reasons he had to go.
INSUFFICIENT RESULTS
The team have five wins from 13 games this season, ninth in La Liga and struggling in the Champions League. Per Opta, Koeman has won 28 of his 48 league games (58%), the lowest percentage of any coach since Radomir Antic.
NO PLAY
Koeman’s Barcelona were not capable of playing attractive football. They struggled bringing the ball out and were only capable of 20-30 minutes of domination at most. They played at low tempo.
CONSTANT CHANGES
The 4231 became a 433 and then a 352. This season 433 but then a 4231. Changing the system time and again, without much improvement.
LACK OF SELF CRITICISM
Koeman blamed the squad’s lack of precision, referees, injuries, who he had at his disposal, but never admitted he could do things better.
LACK OF DEVELOPMENT
How many Barca players are in top form? None, or nearly none. Pedri and Araujo the best of them but in general nobody has improved under Koeman.
GRANADAZO
Barcelona could have won the league last season but lost at home against Granada. With a double, the summer would have been calmer. And he would have more credit in the bank.
LACK OF PREPARATION
The team did not work on automatic moves and that told on the pitch. The side lived on improvisation and that cost them. The dressing room says they were not working tactically ahead of games.
BOARD BATTLE
Laporta and Koeman had a war of words, with the Dutchman firing bullets in his homeland’s media. A dangerous game.
Topics with the letter