Spanish giants Barcelona announced the sacking of manager Ronald Koeman on Tuesday 26th October 2021. The Dutchman was relieved of his duties following the 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano at Estadio Puente de Vallecas. Ronald Koeman’s sacking comes after a poor run of results that saw Barcelona earn 15 points from 10 games in the La Liga. The sacked Barcelona coach has already lost two of their first three games in the UEFA Champions League this season.
Barcelona’s board has now appointed Sergi Barjuan until the summer. Everything that happens in Barcelona at the moment might not be of any relevance.
The Club is lining up a permanent replacement next summer with Club legend Xavi Hernadez leading the race.
Sergi Barjuan’s job right now will be as a firefighter. He has been handed the role and his job would be to steady the ship. At the moment, Barcelona sits ninth in the La Liga table with nine points from the top of the table.
However, a new coach next summer would not completely solve the issues at the club with financial pressures also causing more than a mere headache for the Catalan giants.
Ronald Koeman Sacked But Problems Far From Over
Loss of Key players
Barcelona has had to let go of some of their key players in the last few years for different reasons. Some of these actions have been bad decision-making on the part of the club; while others have been forced. Nevertheless, the Catalan giants have seen the departure of Dani Alves, Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Lionel Messi among others. All these players have left in the last few years and the board has not done enough to help the situation. It is now a task upon the new Barcelona coach in the summer to work with the current squad.
The new President, Joan Laporta has promised to bring solutions that the previous hierarchy failed to solve. But at this moment there are issues with finances. This brings us to another underlying problem at the club.
Financial Problems
The financial crisis at the club forced Messi out and almost got them stuck with Ronald Koeman. La Liga rules are still adding salt on Barcelona’s wound and it would take some time for them to recover. The Catalan giants are now left with over one billion pounds in debt; this situation is despite the club slashing players’ salaries and doing everything earthly possible.
Club President Joan Laporta blamed his predecessors for the club’s current state but assured them that they were looking to fix things. The damage their crisis has done to Barcelona cannot be overemphasized. Barcelona had to go through a lot to register a new signing, Sergio Aguero. They also brought in Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia for free in the summer. Barcelona’s transfer activities since the Laporta takeover have been to recover from the current situation. This highlights that the problem is now just the manager; so, where does that leave the new Barcelona coach in the summer?
Possible Lifeline To Building A New Barcelona
Xavi Hernandez is said to be the favorite to land the job; a former La Masia and a club legend. The current Barcelona squad has a lot of the club’s Academy graduates; Ansu Fati, Pedri; Nico; Ronald Araujo; Riqui Puig; Alex Moriba, and other prospects.
With the Club trying to stabilize the financial situation, high profile transfers would be a herculean task. However, the club’s youth system could be a source of key additions just like we have seen recently.
New Barcelona Coach Needs Time and Patience
A Barcelona coach being sacked would have seemed like the end of their problems but underlying issues mean this is a problem that could take two to three years to fix. Even with the appointment of a new coach. The La Masia players in addition to a few senior players would help a lot.
However, this is 2021, and the famous statement by Alan Hansen;
“you won’t win anything with kids”
May well be valid when it comes to Barcelona right now.
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