Ronald Koeman has once again emphasized that he can go through one door with Riqui Puig. According to persistent rumors in Spain, the Barcelona coach has a difficult relationship with the 22-year-old midfielder, who has not played for a minute this season. In interviews with Sport and Mundo Deportivo Koeman acknowledges on Wednesday that he regularly speaks with Puig about aspects of his game that need to be improved, but according to the coach there is absolutely no question of a ‘dislike’.
“Not at all! No!”, Koeman responds to Sport at the suggestion that he might have something against Puig. “We have often spoken with Riqui. During the training sessions we analyzed what he needs to do better to get more chances.” According to Koeman, there are those who are out to discredit Barcelona. “But the truth is simple: I want to win, the players want to win, the club wants to win, the supporters want to win and I will always draft the best players. If we win, I’ll be a good coach. If we lose, I can’t help it. I accept that. At least let me make the decisions that I think should be made.”
In conversation with Mundo Deportivo Koeman elaborates on the situation of both Puig and Samuel Umtiti. “I give opportunities to players who want the best for the club and who want to win matches,” says the Dutchman. “I’m not talking about Umtiti and Riqui specifically, but in general. The trainer is always looking for the strongest team. Every player can show the trainer during training that he deserves more opportunities. If someone doesn’t get those opportunities, it’s because of the competition. They both have a lot of competition. One plays in midfield, for which we have many players, the other has to earn his place again after injury. There is nothing for it but hard work.”
Umtiti also suffers from competition: Koeman has Gerard Piqué, Eric Garcia, Ronald Araujo and Clément Lenglet and, if necessary, Frenkie de Jong can also play centrally in the back. “Umtiti is giving everything in the training sessions and is in better physical shape than last season,” said Koeman, who is less merciful to Puig. “Riqui needs to improve on things that we talked about during preparation. We point this out during the training sessions. He is a midfielder and there are only three of them on the field. A central midfielder nowadays has to be very complete, both with and without the ball. That goes for all young players. And there is competition, because there are very good midfielders. To get chances, you have to be really good.”
Last week claimed marca that chairman Joan Laporta would like to see Umtiti and Puig get more playing time. The defender and midfielder have both played less than a minute for Barcelona this season. Laporta would have shown understanding for Umtiti in a conversation between the club management and the defender; Umtiti has been struggling with knee problems for years and said, among other things, that the medical staff of Barcelona had not been able to find out the how and why of his injury. Laporta is said to have become convinced that Umtiti deserved a chance and that the club may have fallen short when the Frenchman needed help. The president would talk to Koeman to ensure that he should show more understanding for Umtiti’s situation, the report said.
Puig’s situation is somewhat different. A year ago he was told he could leave Barcelona on loan, but he stayed at the Camp Nou. He then played fourteen league matches, twelve of which as a substitute. The Spanish newspapers have been writing for some time about the relationship between Koeman and Puig, which is said to be problematic. In January, Koeman already emphasized that he has ‘nothing against’ Puig and he now repeats that in the interview with Sport. Based on the reports, it seems clear that Laporta has a soft spot for players like Puig and Umtiti, but last week the chairman made it clear that he has never asked Koeman to let certain players play more often.
“I never asked the trainer to use Puig and Umtiti more often. It would make no sense to talk to the trainer about such topics. He has more technical knowledge than me,” Laporta said in an interview with TV3. Also ASH Laporta asked about the coverage and specifically about Puig. “I never said that he should play. I may have said that I appreciate him as a player, just like I appreciate Álex Collado, for example, but I will never put pressure on my coach. I sometimes ask the coach how players are doing, because I don’t want to lose self-educated talents.”