Joaquín and Koeman. Meeting after the fire: "He was sleeping warm"
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman admitted that his
turbulent time on the Valencia bench
, which the Catalans will face this Saturday, "will not be the best memory" he has of his career as a coach.
"They are decisions you make and
maybe I was wrong
, like anyone else. It was a short stay but at least we won something, the Copa del Rey," recalled Koeman, who led the 'che' team for 22 days of the 2007-08 season. a course in which Valencia had up to four coaches and he personally had problems with several heavyweights on the squad.
"During the last 15 years they have had many coach changes. It is a complicated place, where sometimes there is a lack of tranquility to be able to work," he said about the Levantine club.
Of the rival on Saturday, Koeman recalled that "it is a strong and competitive team", since "they
have only lost one of their last six games and beat Madrid
."
And that their players must play "a good game" to defeat them.
The Catalans receive the Valencians at the Camp Nou with the aim of
chaining three league victories for the first time this season
and re-engaging a little more in the championship.
The Barcelona coach wants to have "the continuity" in football that the team had "during the first half" against Real Sociedad (2-1).
"We liked having that energy and that pressure," he said.
And resolve once and for all one of his pending issues this season: "We always create opportunities, although
we have to be more effective
. We are generating and what we have to change is sentencing."
The system
One of the keys to the improvement in the game seems to be the change in the system, which has gone from 4-2-3-1 that the Dutch coach defended to 4-3-3 that Barcelona has usually played.
To Koeman, however, it still seems like a sterile debate: "You don't have to be obsessed with the system,
we can play differently
. I am in favor of filling the midfield with players who have freedom and with Leo (Messi) we can have more people It is important to have versatile players, they talk about the system but lately the players have more freedom and that complicates our rivals. "
Against Real, the winning goal was scored by
Frenkie de Jong,
and Ronald Koeman admitted that the arrival from the second row is one of the things he expects from him.
"We have talked about this issue. To have more freedom to do things higher up, to have more weight in the last part of the field. He is a great player and has to take more command for the future of this club," he said of his compatriot , whom he knows well after having him under his command in the Dutch national team.
After several absences in the starting XI, Brazilian
Philippe Coutinho
could return against Valencia
, a player who Koeman said "has not performed at his level due to some discomfort lately."
And the central
Ronald Araujo
once again gave him an example of a player who earns his position in training.
"He has a strong character, commands and trains hard every day. He wants to improve, he wants to listen and is open to any advice," he stressed.
On the other hand, he hinted that this delivery in the preparation sessions is not seen by another squad player like
Riqui Puig
: "Riqui needs more physique. Today not everything is technical quality, other things are also needed. And I like people who wants to improve and that every day takes the options with two hands to improve things ".
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