Barcelona sacks Koeman and sets his eye on the new coach
Barcelona, the 26-time Spanish champion and five-time European champion, sacked its Dutch coach Ronald Koeman late Wednesday, 14 months after his appointment, after a new loss in the local football league against Rayo Vallecano, while the fortunes of his former midfielder and coach appear. The current Qatari dam Xavi Hernandez is elevated to his succession.
And by losing at Rayo Vallecano 0-1, Barcelona has suffered a third loss in ten matches, to occupy a disappointing ninth place in the La Liga standings.
And the club announced in an official statement, "Barcelona has relieved Ronald Koeman of his duties as first-team coach. Club president Joan Laporta informed him of the decision after the loss to Rayo Vallecano."
The statement continued, "Ronald Koeman will bid farewell to the team on Thursday at Ciutat Esportiva. FC Barcelona would like to thank him for his service to the club and wish him success in his professional career."
Barcelona played the Faikano match with low spirits, after a painful loss in the "El Clasico" at home to its historic rivals Real Madrid (1-2) for the second time in a row, after which Koeman received insults from his team's fans who intercepted his car, and Memphis Depay missed the opportunity to equalize against Vaikano He missed a penalty kick in the 72nd minute
. Barcelona seems like a ghost to the team that Argentine legend Lionel Messi led for nearly two decades before his departure last summer to Paris Saint-Germain, knowing that his decline began in recent years even in the presence of Messi, after discrepancies that reached the point of scandals With the previous administration led by former President Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The Catalan team, which suffers from financial problems, lost lethal offensive weapons like Messi, veteran Uruguayan Luis Soares, French Antoine Griezmann, and before them the Brazilian Neymar, who moved to Saint-Germain in a deal that was the most expensive in history (222 million euros).
Koeman (58 years) said after the loss that "not scoring goals is a problem (...) there are players who can score goals."
And he talked about the veteran Argentine Sergio Aguero, who came from Manchester City to originally play alongside his compatriot Messi before the shocking departure of the latter, "Aguero was always a top scorer, Memphis scored 15-20 goals every season for years. It is possible that our midfield is regressing, but I cannot Blame the team.
"We struggled to enter the atmosphere of the match. The result is not fair, but it is the same and we cannot change it."
Barcelona's poor start may affect the possibility of it being among the top four and thus not qualifying for the Champions League next season, which could create painful financial repercussions on the already exhausted club in this regard.
Xavi and Guardiola's legacy
In the event that the administration resorts to appointing Xavi, this decision will receive a positive reaction from the fans, given the technical and moral value he carries since he was an outstanding midfielder in the team and led him with his colleague Andres Iniesta to several local and continental titles.
The club's fans also dream of restoring the offensive playing style of the team that Xavi tested as a player under the supervision of the feat coach Pep Guardiola, who is currently supervising Manchester City.
Last Friday, the 41-year-old Xavi won a new title with Al-Sadd, by winning the Emir of Qatar Cup final at the expense of Al-Rayyan on penalties.
On the eve of the match, he said, "When Barcelona called me three months after I came to Al Sadd, I was not ready... Now the situation is different... But I am happy to stay with Al Sadd."
Among the names presented in the media are Argentine Marcelo Gallardo, coach of River Plate, and Dutch coach Erik Ten Hag, coach of Ajax Amsterdam.
While reports indicated the possibility of resorting to the club's son Sergei Barguan, the former international left-back in the team during the nineties, it seems that the temporary leadership will be in the custody of the junior team coach Albert Capias.
The team awaits easy matches before the next international window, against Alaves, Dinamo Kyiv of Ukraine in the Champions League, and Celta Vigo.
Before coming to Barcelona, Koeman, who scored the winning goal for Barcelona in his first Champions League final in 1992, oversaw Vitesse, Ajax, Benfica, Eindhoven, Valencia, Spain, Alkmaar, Feyenoord, Southampton and Everton, in addition to the Dutch national team.
The former owner of the missile shots was appointed in August 2020 during the era of Bartomeu, and achieved relative success in his first season, winning the King's Cup and returning Messi to the team's track after sharp contrasts with the management.
According to press reports, the cost of sacking Koeman ranged between 12 and 14 million euros.
successive disappointments
But the disappointment of the local league and a loss against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 of the Champions League cast a shadow over the possibility of facing the prominent clubs on the continent, and Real's recent loss was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Laporta was re-elected last March, and while he supported him more than once despite the poor results, the lack of confidence between the two men was clear.
Koeman said about him, "He talks a lot," and on Wednesday expressed his annoyance for not supporting the team properly, as "in recent years, the clubs have strengthened their ranks, unlike us."
The club is under a debt of 1.35 billion euros and has lost its most prominent marketing value represented by Messi, the best player in the world six times.
Young faces benefited from the changing situation in Barcelona, such as Pedri, Gavi, Nico Gonzalez, the American Serginho Dest and the Uruguayan Ronald Araujo, but the team members faced disappointment after disappointment.
In the end, the results played a decisive role, especially in light of Barcelona's disastrous start in the Champions League, losing 3-0 to Bayern Munich and Benfica, before narrowly beating Dynamo Kiev 1-0.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news