The turmoil at Barcelona is in another gear. There has been debate over the future of the team manager Ronald Koeman. The Dutch gaffer has not been on speaking terms with club president Joan Laporta.
It is a public secret that Laporta wants Koeman gone to bring in a coach of his choice. The president believes that Koeman, employed by the immediate past president Josep Maria Bartomeu, does not represent the Barcelonaals. Despite being a club legend, the Dutchman seems an unwanted figure around the Camp Nou these days.
Laporta's desire to pull the plug on Koeman's tenure at the Catalan club is hampered by poor finances. Terminating the Dutchman's contract requires the club to pay him €14 million, money the club can scarcely boast of having.
The changing dynamics around the team has continued to put more pressure on Koeman. The results the team has been getting makes it difficult to defend Koeman. Perhaps, Koeman would save the club a lot of trouble if he fell on his sword.
An unsure Barca future for Koeman
FC Barcelona have not lost any domestic game this season, but the performance by the team has been and left a lot of unanswered questions. A fan base used to seeing beautiful football is suddenly disenchanted by what has been on display.
Since the departure of Messi and no star coming through the door, it has been a tough job convincing the fans of the new project.
On Wednesday, Barcelona was on the wrong side of a thrashing in the Champions League as they fell 3-0 to Portuguese giants Benfica. The result has raised a cloud over Ronald Koeman's future, and if the Dutchman had hopes of being around the Camp Nou for long, it must haved dampening.
An unfulfilled mandate
After the 1-1 draw with Granada, Koeman received a three-match ultimatum. He is to steer the ship in the rightction or lose his job. With Laporta looking for financial guarantees that will enable him to fire the Dutch coach, Koeman has failed to improve its fortunes.
He followed the Granada draw with a scoreless draw against Cadiz before raising hopes of better things in a 3-0 win over Levante. The win over Levante gave fans hope as Ansu Fati celebrated as the heir to Messi scored on his return to the team.
Barcelona were jolted back to reality in a 3-0 humbling at the hands of Benfica. With that, the debate over Koeman's future resumes.
Following the Benfica defeat, Koeman spoke with RTL 7 as quoted by Football Oranje, where he said it was a hard defeat and is unsure what it means.
According to him, he takes comfort in the improvement in the team as they are now playing good football over a long period. He claims his side is not enjoying the needed luck at the moment.
By :
Steven D. Thompson
