Hans Kraay Jr. catches up on Sunday Good morning Eredivisie on ESPN out to Joan Laporta. The football analyst thinks the way the president of Barcelona has dealt with Ronald Koeman is anything but good and also criticizes his appearance. “What a counterfeit dog’s head is that,” said Kraay Jr.
In the talk show, a fragment of Laporta’s press conference after Koeman’s resignation is shown. The Barça president indicated there that he might have had to fire the Dutch trainer earlier. “That’s debatable,” said Laporta. “Maybe so. But in hindsight it’s easy to talk about. ,,We understood that Koeman deserved a margin of confidence. By giving him the confidence, we hoped to motivate the coach and the team. Maybe we should have made this decision earlier and I’ll take all responsibility for that.”
Joan Laporta.
Kraay Jr. thinks that Laporta, who continued to talk for a long time afterwards, has a lot of substance. “If you ask him one question, you have to take three days off to wait for his answer,” said the former football player. “This man – how do you explain it – he’s an own piper, an own secret.” Kraay Jr. happens to come to the same holiday address as Laporta. “My wife and I have skipped one year due to corona. That man lives there in S’Agaró. Then he arrives at eleven o’clock in the morning with his blind mother. Everyone knows him, then he goes swimming with his blind mother. is a very charming man, who only makes you feel that he wanted to go back (to Barcelona, ed.). Well, he’s back, and charming, chic, how he does it,” says Kraay Jr. cynically.
Robert Maaskant, who is also present at the talk show, believes that one should not feel sorry for Koeman. “It is very difficult to explain to non-football people that it is very bad for Ronald Koeman,” said the retired coach. “The moment you receive ten, twelve million euros, then you don’t have to be pathetic anymore. Then you know which position you have accepted and that the chance that you will be sent away is always present, especially at Barcelona. “I think it’s really bad that they let a coach dangle like that. Then Lionel Messi leaves. He has decreased a bit, but he has simply been incredibly important to every coach for the past ten years. It’s that simple: If you have very good football players, you quickly become a very good coach.”
Henrik Larsson, Alfred Schreuder and Ronald Koeman.
Kees Kwakman also sheds light on the case. “It has of course been a very complex situation for Koeman, actually from day one,” Kwakman said. “Messi wanted to leave in his first year and when he finally stayed, Koeman had to motivate him to take that team in tow. In the end, he succeeded and came the disappointment of missing out on the title. This year – with the departure of Messi, the many injuries and Laporta who actually wanted to get rid of him in the summer – it has been dramatic for Koeman.”
Nevertheless, Kwakman also voices a critical voice towards Koeman. “I think football itself is a bit underexposed. I wish Koeman the very best, but you can also take a critical look at how the team has played. Of course he has had to deal with injuries and young boys. There is a lot of talent in that team, but they miss two crucial things: speed in the front and back. You still have quite a nice team with Memphis Depay, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong and Jordi Alba, right?”