Ronald Koeman - Barcelona First team coach

sun_tzu

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I feel like Barca are too much playing into Koeman's dreams of being their manager, something he's wanted for almost two decades.

Barca sees him as a temporary solution and he sees Barca as his dream, and in the mean time he may burn all bridges with the Dutch NT and the Dutch population.
perhaps he just rates himself that highly that if he gets in at barca hes going to succeed and hes going to be there for a long time - in fairness thats not a bad trait to have in a manager (I know my friends who support everton certainly dont rate him that highly though)
 

BalanceUnAutreJoint

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Insane to me that a national team coach leaves his country like this a year before an international competition.

Conte at least finished what he started but the cases of Lopetegui and Koeman are very strange.

Anyone Dutch here who could give his opinion on how the country will react to this?
 

Acrobat7

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Nooooo.... But only because I want Dest at Bayern.
 

sun_tzu

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Nooooo.... But only because I want Dest at Bayern.
I dont think it would be fair having him and Davies...
You mentioning Bayern does throw into focus for me though the fact that I dont think Koeman would be seriously considered for the job there or indeed any other top European team ... I guess its the barca way but with allegri and poch available if it wasnt for the barca connection as a player and based only on his time as a manager then koeman seems a strange pick
 

RedDevil@84

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Every Barca manager needs to be good at handling Messi FC. Hope he has discussed that.
 

FootballHQ

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Who was the last renowned Barca manager at the time of his appointment? Arguably not even Rijkaard fits such a description. He was succeeded by Guardiola, then Tito, Martino, Luis Enrique, Valverde, Setien and now Koeman. Barca don't go for prestigious managers, instead they try to appoint coaches who fit their philosophy and could become great. But they weren't really good at identifying those hidden gems in the past if we're being honest. Anyway, I wouldn't read too much into that. Barca could easily have gone for a more renowned coach if they wanted, I'd say.
Yep I said it the other day but Van Gaal was the last "elite" manager they appointed and that was July 1997. When you look at club careers of all the managers they've appointed since there isn't much in the way of trophy wins or high league placing bar Valverde.
 

mitchmouse

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Have to say, not much in football surprises me.This did! Very strange decision - although I never thought Poch would get it either. I did wonder about Max Allegri...
 

Mb194dc

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We are still haven't recovered from his tenure. Him and Walsh sold all our young talent and replaced them with over priced average players on huge wages.
Seems perfect for current Barcelona then ?

He must be a masochist, going to take some serious punishment next season I think, impossible job at the moment.

Key to turning things around are what happens to Bartomeu and what they do with the squad over the next couple of months.
 

BigDunc9

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Seems perfect for current Barcelona then ?

He must be a masochist, going to take some serious punishment next season I think, impossible job at the moment.

Key to turning this around are what happens to Bartomeu and what they do with the squad over the next couple of months.
I must admit splashing 40 million on Sigurdsson to then play him left wing is the type of transfer Barca make these days.
 

Zehner

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Yep I said it the other day but Van Gaal was the last "elite" manager they appointed and that was July 1997. When you look at club careers of all the managers they've appointed since there isn't much in the way of trophy wins or high league placing bar Valverde.

And even van Gaal fitted their philosophy as a club, even though he didn't get along with Cruyff. So I'd say yes, he's the last big name, but I'm not sure his reputation was the reason for his appointment. So maybe you could even say Bobby Robson.
 

Cheimoon

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And even van Gaal fitted their philosophy as a club, even though he didn't get along with Cruyff. So I'd say yes, he's the last big name, but I'm not sure his reputation was the reason for his appointment. So maybe you could even say Bobby Robson.
Koeman doesn't fit the Barca philosophy at all though. He's never made his clubs play possession-based football; he's very pragmatic. So Barca would be going for a strong personality that knows the club this time.

I personally don't see this going well. Barca fans won't like Koeman's approach to football and I don't expect great results. I'd first have to see the rumour confirmed though. Nothing official just yet.
 

Zehner

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Koeman doesn't fit the Barca philosophy at all though. He's never made his clubs play possession-based football; he's very pragmatic. So Barca would be going for a strong personality that knows the club this time.

I personally don't see this going well. Barca fans won't like Koeman's approach to football and I don't expect great results. I'd first have to see the rumour confirmed though. Nothing official just yet.
This article here suggests the opposite:

Philosophically, Koeman is about what you’d expect from someone with his deep ties to Ajax, Barcelona, and the Dutch national team. He wants his sides to dominate games through possession, technical skill, a commanding midfield, and creative attackers.
Koeman often speaks of dominating and controlling games, but in truth has tended to use possession as a tool rather than as a philosophy. In other words, he does not have a slavish devotion to keeping the ball for the sake of keeping the ball. Rather he is more focused on organization and positional play.

In general Koeman’s sides will build up and circulate the ball through the middle, ideally via a deep-lying, technically gifted midfielder such as Schneiderlin who can set the pace of the side. Koeman is not afraid to be somewhat fluid positionally, but he seems to do a much better job than Martínez at maintaining cover where needed.

This one here has a similar tone:

Koeman is a fan of playing out the back. His philosophy is to have good possession of the ball and match control in midfield. “For me as a coach the physical part is important but it isn’t more important than the session with the ball. I still believe in dominating the game, to have good possession play and that brings results.” “We like to press opponents, to play from behind and to dominate. The football philosophy will not change.” – Koeman”
 

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Ronald Koeman is a defensive manager who plays on counter attacks. He is far away from Cruyffs methodology and is a terrible manager in general. His reputation in England was high because of his work with the Saints but he collapsed totally at Everton. I still remember that Chelsea - Everton game when Conte's men put 5 past Everton' goalie.
 

Zehner

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Well, maybe I've got the wrong impression of him though. He's just never considered a particularly good coach in the Netherlands and not someone who has received a lot of attention for his tactics.
Can't judge but based on Barcelona's recent decision making, I wouldn't be surprised at all if you're 100% correct ;)
 

Bojan11

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Ronald Koeman is a defensive manager who plays on counter attacks. He is far away from Cruyffs methodology and is a terrible manager in general. His reputation in England was high because of his work with the Saints but he collapsed totally at Everton. I still remember that Chelsea - Everton game when Conte's men put 5 past Everton' goalie.
He didn’t collapse at Everton. He fared pretty much how every other manager has at Everton for the last 30 years. They finished 7th in his first season, had some promising performances most notably thumping City at home 4-0. They struggled once Lukaku left and they signed pretty much nobody to replace him despite spending a shitload of money. Rooney definitely wasn’t the guy. But he won’t be making the signings at Barca.
 

Henrik Larsson

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Well, maybe I've got the wrong impression of him though. He's just never considered a particularly good coach in the Netherlands and not someone who has received a lot of attention for his tactics.
No you're quite correct in my opinion. His most notable tactical feat is probably introducing a defensive 5-3-2 system at Feyenoord in the months before WC 2014, which in turn actually inspired Van Gaal to do the same during the tournament, using a big group of Feyenoord players. Plenty of coaches would love to dominate and play attractive football while dominating possession as well, but there aren't really great examples of teams coached by Koeman that had such a distinctive style. He's always been very pragmatic with his tactics, with mixed results.

I think what people are missing is that Koeman had a bit of a near-death experience recently, being hospitalised with some kind of heart attack a couple of months ago during the start of the pandemic. He's recovered well, but I think this is what has tipped him over the edge because logically it doesn't make that much sense to take the Barca job now. But he's probably like feck it, this might be my only chance, and technically I guess don't even know for sure what's going to happen with the Euros in combination with the Covid-problems next year - what if it gets cancelled again?- so I can see why he doesn't want to wait until after next summer.

Dutch public will probably react cynically, he pulled the exact same stunt at PSV back in the day when he left mid-season for Valencia, catching 'a train he couldn't miss', according to himself, and he's been mocked for that for years. But there's been much talk about him leaving for Barcelona ever since he started as the manager of the Dutch NT, he even publicly lied about not having an escape option in his contract if Barcelona came for him, media had a field day with that already when it turned out he did in fact have such an option in his contract.

He was doing a pretty good job at the Dutch NT though, personally I felt he was an excellent fit for this group of players, and after four years of pure tragedy and incompetence it wasn't bad to have the guy in charge. I have no idea who we should get to replace him at the Netherlands either.
 
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Cheimoon

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No you're quite correct in my opinion. His most notable tactical feat is probably introducing a 5-3-2 system at Feyenoord in the months before WC 2014, which in turn actually inspired Van Gaal to do the same during the tournament, using a big group of Feyenoord players as well. Plenty of coaches would love to dominate and play attractive football while dominating possession as well, but there aren't really great examples of teams coached by Koeman that had such a distinctive style. He's always been very pragmatic with his tactics, with mixed results.
I was thinking that the pragmatism might help him at Barcelona though. My impression is that Koeman does not have a strong tactical preference, but just goes with how he sees the qualities of the players he has available. So he might play more progressive football at Barca given their squad. Also, after this year and their slow regression the past few years more generally, Barca fans might be a bit more forgiving for someone who doesn't follow their philosophy as closely - as long as Koeman gets results, of course.
 

Bojan11

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I was thinking that the pragmatism might help him at Barcelona though. My impression is that Koeman does not have a strong tactical preference, but just goes with how he sees the qualities of the players he has available. So he might play more progressive football at Barca given their squad. Also, after this year and their slow regression the past few years more generally, Barca fans might be a bit more forgiving for someone who doesn't follow their philosophy as closely - as long as Koeman gets results, of course.
Valverde didn’t follow the philosophy, won leagues and they still wanted him gone. They were first when he was sacked, so results don’t just matter to them.
 

Jibbs

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They should do everything to bring Pep back. But Fraudiola will never go back when there is a real test of his managerial abilities.
 

carvajal

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Very happy with the choice.
It seems politically motivated and thinking in the short term
 

SilentWitness

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He didn’t collapse at Everton. He fared pretty much how every other manager has at Everton for the last 30 years. They finished 7th in his first season, had some promising performances most notably thumping City at home 4-0. They struggled once Lukaku left and they signed pretty much nobody to replace him despite spending a shitload of money. Rooney definitely wasn’t the guy. But he won’t be making the signings at Barca.
When he left we were in the relegation zone. If that's not a collapse I don't know what is.

Ask any Everton fan and they'll tell you that he and Walsh oversaw a period that has led us into the mess we are now in.
 

Bojan11

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When he left we were in the relegation zone. If that's not a collapse I don't know what is.

Ask any Everton fan and they'll tell you that he and Walsh oversaw a period that has led us into the mess we are now in.
So did Marco Silva. Moyes had you in relegation fights, Martinez in his second and third had you just a few points ahead of the relegation place. My point is Koeman isn’t the only one who has collapsed at Everton.
 

SilentWitness

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So did Marco Silva. Moyes had you in relegation fights, Martinez in his second and third had you just a few points ahead of the relegation place. My point is Koeman isn’t the only one who has collapsed at Everton.
Yeah but each of them at least set us up with something going forward and treated us as the club. Koeman was a cnut that sold our most promising players and replaced them with rubbish, openly spoke about us being a stepping stone for him and was arrogant to everyone during his tenure.
 

Hoof the ball

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Perhaps a bit unfair to cite his Everton disappointments in light of his excellent achievements with the Netherlands in turning them around. He's a club legend, he'll garner respect from La Masia, the fans, the players. What he lacks in tactical nuance, he makes up for in esteem and influence as a former legend.
 

FrankDrebin

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Not only is Koeman arrogant and head strong in his pragmatic playing philosophy he also rules with an iron fist. This should be fun for the players,coaches,board members,fans and above all else the opposition,with the later getting the most joy out of this appointment.
 

James Peril

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Absolute disaster of an appointment, Real Madrid should be 1.03 to win the league next season. I guess the presidential election in one year dictates a new manager - so this will only be for a year regardless? Ronald Koeman, a dinosaur manager for the most progressive football club in the world. Almost as bad as Mou at Spurs, except for the fact that people actually care about Barcelona in the grand scheme of things.
 

Daysleeper

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Ah ok. Didnt know the background. The RB Leipzig manager would have been a good one to go for also.
Yes he would have as well, but he even turned down Madrid before Zidane came back as he wants to see the Lepzeig project though
 

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Finding it strange that Poch is not being able to get the big job. First Juve job, now this.
He's overrated. He isn't that good a manager that we're at the stage where we're surprised Barcelona and Juventus don't hire him. He isn't Klopp, Pep, 2000's Mourinho level.
 

Inigo Montoya

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He's overrated. He isn't that good a manager that we're at the stage where we're surprised Barcelona and Juventus don't hire him. He isn't Klopp, Pep, 2000's Mourinho level.
He's Neil Lennon and Brendan level
 

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He's overrated. He isn't that good a manager that we're at the stage where we're surprised Barcelona and Juventus don't hire him. He isn't Klopp, Pep, 2000's Mourinho level.
Poch anyway seems a total mismatch for Juve.