Following Mido, Joaquín also lashes out at his former trainer Ronald Koeman. Joaquín played for Valencia in the 2007/08 season under the current Barcelona coach for six months and has absolutely no good memories of it. “Phew, I don’t even pronounce his name anymore”, grumbles the 39-year-old midfielder, who is still active as a professional player at Real Betis, to the Daily Mail.

“To be honest, he didn’t do anything for me. And everyone knows how it turned out”, Joaquín refers to Koeman’s early resignation from Valencia. Los Che finished fourth in the Champions League group in the 2007/08 season and were ranked 15th in the league, just two points above the relegation zone, when Koeman was fired after less than six months.

Koeman put some big names at Valencia out of the selection, such as Santiago Cañizares and David Albelda. Koeman won the Copa del Rey with Valencia, but did not rely on Joaquín in the final against Getafe. “I had a very difficult time,” recalls Joaquín. “In the dressing room, where there were also players who had been kicked out of the selection, there was a very tense atmosphere every day. When you get out of bed and you already dread having to enter that dressing room, you know that atmosphere is ruined. “

On Friday, Koeman also received criticism from Mido, who had to deal with the trainer between 2001 and 2003 as a player for Ajax. The Egyptian’s swipe followed shortly after an Instagram post from Lionel Messi about the outgoing Luis Suárez at Barcelona. “I eagerly await Koeman’s response to Messi’s words about Suárez’s retirement from Barcelona,” Mido wrote on Twitter on Friday. “At the time, Koeman demanded that I leave Ajax after I had publicly expressed my opinion about the team, while I was only eighteen years old at the time! I don’t want to compare myself with Messi at all, but it is certainly interesting.”