Ronald Koeman
, Barcelona coach, does not always step on the training ground.
There are days when he prefers to stay in his office so that his assistant,
Alfred Schreuder,
and the physical trainer,
Albert Roca
, can lead the session.
It is something common in the big clubs, although
Messi
once made
Quique Setién
ugly
that he did not go down to the mud.
Koeman, in any case, believes that Riqui Puig does not do enough in those preparatory sessions of the day to day.
So it takes time
or the coach hinting at it to argue the insistent ostracism to which he has subjected one of the greatest talents that La Masia has given in recent times.
The sources consulted by this newspaper, however, do not coincide in this regard.
Yes, in a strange lack of harmony not yet resolved, but increasingly unsustainable in the face of the outside in the situation of a team in permanent viacrucis. The Camp Nou stands, a place of seclusion, is not alien to Riqui Puig.
He has known her since he was three years old, when his father, Carlos, a former Terrassa full-back, began taking him to the stadium.
It is also his father who manages the career of the midfielder.
In the life of Riqui Puig, despite his media impact, the merchants and football commissioners have not yet entered.
He does not have agents hunting for offers, although his figure always attracted attention.
His jersey is in the top-5 of the best-selling of the first team.
Even social networks are managed by Riqui himself, who is the one who publishes the photographs and writes the
posts
.
And that on Instagram already accumulates 2.2 million followers.
Less active is shown on Twitter, a platform that, beyond the photographs, invites opinions.
And it is not something I want to do, as this newspaper has been able to corroborate, both the technical secretariat of Barcelona, still directed by
Ramon Planes
, like Riqui Puig himself, they do not contemplate an exit in the next winter market.
The footballer, who travels every day from Matadepera to the Ciutat Esportiva de Sant Joan Despí (40 km.), Maintains patience and the hope of making a career at Barcelona.
Because he does not see himself inferior to any of the eventual holders in the center of the field who have been gaining a place in the team, either by hierarchy, either by affinity with the coaching staff, or by meritocracy.
Because the arguments to defend his position are football, as he has shown in his episodic irruptions this season.
And because he feels comfortable with his wardrobe mates.
Even
Dembélé
, who is accompanied by his reputation as an anarchic and clueless boy, once called Riqui, worried, because he had hit his foot during training. Riqui Puig records just four participations in the 19 official matches played at this start of Bell.
In none of those games did he pass 25 minutes, although his late breakthrough in the triumphs in Kiev and Budapest, but also in the fall against Juventus, did not go unnoticed.
Given the obvious problems in the static attack of this Barcelona accustomed to immobility in the generation of spaces, without footballers who face beyond Messi, and little given to surprise between the lines, the boisterous appearances of Riqui have served him little.
He has only played three minutes in this league.
The last of the defeat in Getafe on October 17, Koeman has eight midfielders in his squad.
Alone
Matheus fernandes
(17 minutes in all competitions), who was not even presented, has played less than Riqui Puig (77).
He is overtaken by his best friend in the booth,
Carles alena
(170);
soccer players with suspicious performance like
Pjanic
(662) or
Coutinho
(759);
as well
Pedri
(1,020), Koeman's great adolescent bet at 18, three less than Riqui;
in addition to
Sergio Busquets
(1,028), which still resists in the pivot;
and of course
De Jong
(1,518), extension in the coach's field, much less help Riqui Puig in his progression in the first team the fame that has dragged on since he was a child.
And the curiosity that this small body arouses, without tattoos or piercings, and with the shirt tucked into the pants.
In Second B, and while the environment was arguing about his physical limitations, he got used to receiving kicks as wild as those he suffered in October 2019 in the Llagostera field.
He left there on a stretcher.
Nothing said. The focus has not separated from him in the first team, something that the midfielder assumes with regret.
Dressed in street clothes, he has suffered some other unpleasant episode.
Riqui has opted to relieve the pressure with the gift of a t-shirt.
And with a smile, but he still hopes to be allowed to do it with his football.
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