Why Koeman must be sacked by Barcelona
Paul Macdonald
- 21 Sept 2021 08:39 BST
- 5 min read
One Billion badly spent, and this is the end result.
Last week’s humbling defeat to Bayern Munich didn’t just expose Barcelona’s miserable transfer policy from recent years, and lay it bare, but it placed their predicament on a global stage for everyone to see.
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A once-great club, as a result of horrendous monetary mismanagement, has now been officially downgraded to the level of Champions League irrelevance in the eyes of anyone who witnessed that 3-0 loss.
If it’s not the worst Champions League XI they’ve ever fielded, it’s not far away. And it’s reflected in the type of result that scarcely seems fair. An xG of 0.24 from five shots in the contest, their lowest total in the entirety of 2021. None of them were on target. Their xG against was 2.1, again, the highest they’ve conceded this year.
A pressing efficiency of just 29% against one of the most sophisticated European teams, with Luuk De Jong, now 31 years of age and never an agile mover at his peak, in attack.
By the end of the contest coach Ronald Koeman had subbed on four La Masia products; Oscar Mingueza, Demir, Alejandro Balde and Gavi, adding to Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Eric Garcia already there.
Whatever statement the Dutchman was trying to make, in terms of highlighting his lack of options, or injuries, it didn’t feel like the time or place. Everyone knew how bad things were on paper. Here, they were given a full view of just how bad it is on the field.
Barca were so completely dominated from a territorial perspective that the Camp Nou crowd appeared unsure how to react; unwilling to give criticism to the young talent thrown into an unwinnable situation but reeling in front of them. Eighteen years - from Ronaldinho to the present day, of unbridled entertainment - to the stinging reality of what Barcelona are now…making up the numbers.
There are caveats. Ousmane Dembele, Sergio Aguero, Ansu Fati, Martin Braithwaite, four forwards, all injured. At least three would have played had they been available. And the organisation itself is recovering from Lionel Messi’s exit, from Antoine Griezmann’s deadline-day departure, and from president Joan Laporta’s assessment of the financial situation, one so bleak that were this football team run like a real company, it would have declared bankruptcy.
Just Robert Lewandowski scoring in his 18th game in a row for Bayern 🤯
So quick to react. Always one step ahead.#UCL pic.twitter.com/6UbluhgolW
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 14, 2021
But as much as Koeman has been dealt a tough hand, maybe he is exactly the wrong type of person to be in charge of a team this dysfunctional. He knows what he thinks and he likes to express it, and leaves scorched Earth more often than not. His time at Valencia was marred with squad fallouts and public proclamations against senior players before his departure. Few of his outings - Ajax, Benfica PSV, AZ, Southampton, Everton - ended on positive terms.
After the Bayern defeat, Koeman said: “It is very difficult to accept, but [the situation] is what it is.
“There were differences between our young players and their players. They will have a great future but today there is distance.”
There is an underlying sense that Koeman, a man who always described the Barcelona coaching position as his dream job, is laying utter resentment at the door of Laporta and the club for ruining his moment.
He wants to be managing a star-studded, winning team, a Mes Que Un Club, not a debt-ridden mess drained of all talent and most of its hope of retrieving the situation any time soon. And his personal displeasure at the situation could lead to decisions like this, where he makes statements to the board when it’s impossible for the situation to be resolved.
As transfer deadline day approached, Koeman was still pressurising the board to get him a forward despite the gravity of their finances laid bare by Laporta. In many cases it’s not about what the club can do to get out of it, but how he can get what he wants out of it, too.
And throwing in young talent such as Demir and Gavi - kids who are expected to have a bright future - to be slaughtered by a leading giant of the game helps no-one. There is no development and nothing to gain from such an experience at this stage of their careers.
The same situation manifested itself on Monday as Barcelona were held 1-1 at home in La Liga by Granada.
The Koeman/Laporta situation will come to a head in the next month or so. Reports suggesting Koeman is owed €12m if he is sacked may mean he stays whether Laporta wants to keep him or not. But it’s beginning to feel like if Barcelona are to execute a hard reset, it might be better off to do so in the dugout, too.
