Barcelona will say goodbye to Ronald Koeman for 99 percent after this season RAC1 in the night from Sunday to Monday. The Dutch trainer has been under heavy fire recently, after the Catalans saw the title disappear from sight. According to the Catalan broadcaster, there is another possibility that Koeman will stay with Barcelona: if they fail to find a suitable successor.
Before the game with Levante (3-3), the first reports came out about the alleged internal doubts about Koeman. At that time, Barcelona had already lost in-house to Granada (1-2) and played a draw against Atlético Madrid (0-0), but was nevertheless still in the race to become champion. Due to the draw in Valencia, there was a definitive line through the title aspirations. Conquering the championship could have been another reason for the doubting board members to keep Koeman in the saddle.
Barcelona suffered another loss of points on Sunday evening, when they lost 1-2 to Celta de Vigo in their own stadium. It is according to RAC1 now almost certain that Koeman will not be at the helm next season. The Dutchman was appointed by his predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu and despite the fact that President Joan Laporta spoke positively about Koeman around his election a few months ago, the current trainer is not his choice. Koeman’s approach reportedly weighs heavily in Laporta’s impending judgment.
Koeman and Laporta sat around the table for two and a half hours last week. Laporta would have wanted to speak to Koeman personally about the progression in his team and wanted to know a reason why it failed at key moments. The president of Barcelona also demanded an explanation of some tactical decisions and the situation of certain players, both who have suddenly become a fixture and those to whom Koeman hardly appeals. For Laporta, the meeting with Koeman was mainly dominated by ‘gathering information’, because there was reportedly no talk about next season.
The choice for next season therefore seems to have already been made, despite the fact that Koeman still has a contract until mid-2022. Laporta did not want to intervene at all costs during the current season, which will last one more match: an away game against Eibar, that next Sunday is on the program. So it is according to RAC1 99 percent sure that this will be Koeman’s last game as Barcelona coach, provided no suitable successor can be found. Francisco Javier García Pimienta, Erik ten Hag and Xavi Hernández were previously mentioned as possible successors. With the latter, according to ARA are already being negotiated.
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