Things are not looking great for the Barcelona manager with Ronald Koeman on thin ice with President Joan Laporte. With back to back unfavourable results, questions have started to arise with Spanish outlet Marca claiming that the club’s president, is considering whether to dispense Koeman’s services.
The departure of Lionel Messi did leave an unfillable gap in the team but the problems they are currently experiencing are beyond even Messi. Things were looking great as Barcelona started with a promising pre-season your but as the main action kicked off they have looked out of their depth and struggling for identity.
They once again succumbed to Bayern Munich in the Champions League and along with that they have added more misery as they are winless in their last three matches. They currently sit seventh in La Liga, seven points behind their arch-rivals Real Madrid on top.
Decisive Days Ahead With Ronald Koeman on Thin Ice
Joan Laporta Is Losing Patience With Ronald Koeman
The 58-year-old manager took over Barcelona at the start of the previous season after a disastrous end to their 2019/20 Champions League campaign led by Quique Setien. He struggled at first as Barcelona equalled their worst tally after six games collecting only eight points.
The start of the new year was a breath of fresh air as Messi’s form played a crucial role in it. However, they bottled their chance to snatch the league title as they ended their last five matches with just two wins. Koeman landed his first Barcelona trophy when they won the Copa del Rey.
This season however things are looking worse. They had one of the most confusing transfer windows and to add to that, they have started disappointingly. The last-gasp draw against Granada, followed by another draw against Cadiz has increased the chances of his sacking.
And to make things worse, Koeman did not take questions from the media ahead of their clash against Cadiz and instead pleaded for support. This infuriated Laporta who responded to this via Sport saying;
“We found out at the last minute that he wanted to make a statement and, well, he’s obliged to attend press conferences and he’s free to respond or speak as he wishes.
“We respect the coach’s decision, but we and the captains found out a bit before. We’re in a difficult moment and I think that we should have a lot of serenity and wait for a good result tomorrow against Cadiz because that’s what interests us, situations which you overcome with results.”
When further asked if he was getting impatient with the manager, he simply replied;
“Yes, of course.”
Barcelona Already Prepared with Potential Replacements
Meetings and talks have already begun, and there are chances that he could be sacked before Barcelona’s match on Sunday. There were dubious reports mentioning that Barcelona had shortlisted Xavi, Andrea Pirlo, Antonio Conte, Phillip Cocu and Joachim Low to replace him.
However, Goal has reported that the first manager to be contacted was the Belgian manager, Robert Martinez. Formal negotiations have not begun and the contact made was only to ensure his availability for the role.
Martinez will be managing Belgium in the Nations League and the Catalans are willing to wait until it ends on October 10th as they consider him their primary option. If this doesn’t go through, they will be leaning on to their former player, Xavi who has been linked previously. Xavi currently manages Al Sadd SC.
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