When i was younger, i always thought he was Barca manager at some point. He fits them IMO. I think for a year or two, it is better to hire him than some newbie or an inexperienced manager. He may bring some structure back to the team and stabilise things a bit. Then go for Gallardo or Xavi
Ronald Koeman - Barcelona First team coach
- Thread starter roonster09
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I actually think it's a very good appointment and he will do much better than many people are expecting. I think it's a great fit.
It's going to be interesting. He's a defensive manager first and foremost, and for the current barcelona side that might actually be for the best. But would they accept a defensive manager that has them sit deep and play positional defence instead of pressing and trying to dominate possession?
Foreign clubs have the right attitude to coaches. In this country, we seem to write them off as shit if they have a failure or two.
Doesn’t explain how the likes of David Moyes keeps getting a job!
I actually think the coach is far less important in many other countries than in the PL, especially at the bigger clubs.
I remember Swansea worked very well for a while by bringing in managers who had the same ethos as the previous manager. In the PL, it’s a constant change of direction, every time a new guy is in charge.
How much input will he actually have in buying and selling players? We know he’s just keeping the seat warm for a year until Xavi comes in.
It’s a good position for Xavi if Koeman in the man in possession of the baton when the big clear out happens, and he can ride in like a white knight in 2021.
He's not that defensive though. I think he's happy to work with the material he has, and then goes a little more defensive than is really necessary. For Barcelona, I think that'd mean a more cautious approach than they are used to, but I don't think he'll be parking buses in Camp Nou.
Either way, I think there are two main reasons for this appointment: nostalgia and people management. For the latter, I think Koeman might be good for dealing with all those egos in Barcelona's team and won't be bullied by Messi. Remains to be seen whether that's not a recipe for early dismissal though.
Obviously, but these people were unhappy about valverde for being too defensive and Koeman isn't any different and if anything more risk averse
They should have just kept Valverde if Koeman was a planned appointment.
Last year he said good luck with that. Now he is going to say ''good luck for me''. 
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What level is that? Brendan that almost won the league with Liverpool and almost got top 4 last season with Leicester (probably would have if not for Covid) and Neil Lennon who got fired from Hibs and got Bolton relegated dead last from the Championship.
Is it too early to re-title the thread "sack watch"?
He’s being linked with a bunch of Dutch players. New Dutch manager buying loads of Dutch players is a model that worked so well for Barca last time. How does it go? Those who ignore history are destined to die of TB, or something?
I watched plenty of Everton games back then and Koeman was a terrible manager. Like many other Dutch managers, his obsession towards the back 3 system was unbelievable.
Positive sign already for Barcelona fans. He knows Griezmann isn't a winger and he wants to use De Jong like how he used him in Netherlands which the same role De Jong played in Ajax.
Isn't that pretty much Valverde all over again?
Everton were dreadful to watch under him.
Yes. But also he's more defensive. Valverde went defensive out of pragmatism. Koeman because, like Mourinho, or many italian managers, his first worry is not conceding
Will be no fans in Camp Nou to whistle for a while at least. I doubt they'll turn on him that quickly due to him being a club legend.
Last year he said good luck with that. Now he is going to say ''good luck for me''.
Not sure what the context was but this is brilliant
No context.Is that really based on something, or just agents spreading rumours to peddle their wares now Barcelona has a Dutch coach?
Pretty sure United were linked with a ton of Dutch players just after they had appointed Louis van Gaal. It's easy, cheap reporting. I think Van de Beek will end up at Barca, maybe Depay but that's it.
He could actually be sacked before the start of the season if they manage to convince Messi to stay.
So, is it too early to add "sacked watch" to the thread title?
Other option: Ronald Koeman - Barcelona "First team coach"
Other option: Ronald Koeman - Barcelona "First team coach"
Give it Giggsy till end of the season.
We've hired Frank de Boer to replace him as our national team coach.
Shoot me now.
Shoot me now.
Come ooon. It's not like he managed to get fired twice in just 19 games last he was in Europe and then went to America to waste a few years.
damn and I thought the Dutch were coming backWas there a willingness in the Netherlands to appoint a foreign coach or do people think the Dutch national team must be coached by a Dutchman?
I was kind of keen to see how Arsene Wenger woud go in charge of a national team and thought this might have been a good job for him.
Barcelona are a car crash waiting to happen with Koeman in charge.
I dont understand why we dont look for foreign options. I would love to have Wenger managing our NT. The thing is in this national team certain players have a lot of power and their acting like worldbeaters already which they arent of course. The players were actually demanding and using their player power for some certain type of coaches. Naturally you need a guy like Van Gaal in charge of this set of group too let the players know who's in charge. Frank de Boer though is the safest option because 1)desperate for a job, and 2)with his lack of reputation as a manager he would be the perfect yes guy for the KNVB so he would naturally would want to avoid a clash with the players and the KNVB.
I think the foreign coach thing is an attitude now. The Netherlands have a strong football culture and so should be able to take care of themselves, I think is the thinking. I could get behind that (grew up in NL), except that the current crop of experienced Dutch coaches (i.e., not too new, like Bosz and Ten Hag, and not too old, like Advocaat or Hiddink) is pretty poor. Apart from Koeman or Van Gaal (not again...), I just don't know which Dutch coach you could realistically expect to be able to successfully deal with a team of (super)stars every couple of weeks. I guess De Boer is the obvious remaining choice, but looking abroad would have made sense right now.
This might sound condescending and overtly simplified, but I think that Koeman can be an improvement over previous coaches by simply fielding players in their preferred positions.
First order of the day, play Messi through the middle predominantly (obviously he will roam around as he usually does but make his nominal position central). Whether as an AM or as a false nine, but none of this faux right winger crap.
On the wings, deploy actual wingers who are willing to consistently track back and help the defense. Trincao looked very promising from what little snippets I've caught from the preseason. With luck, maybe Dembele won't reinjure himself, there's Fati who's shown a lot of promise and maybe someone else arrives. By doing this, you're solving a major problem, namely that Barcelona's right flank leaks as a sieve with Messi nominally there and their right back having to more or less hold the fort alone which would be probably impossible even if he was still prime Dani Alves. This way you at least get equal coverage on both flanks, theoretically anyways, and Messi's lack of defensive contribution is least dangerous if he is in the center, especially if he is a striker/false nine.
Problem with this is obviously that you have Messi, Griezmann and Coutinho for attacking midfielder/striker positions, so obviously one needs to be on the bench, and that would be a brave decision, but one I feel is necessary. It would probably be easier and less controversial to try to shoehorn them somehow, but considering that both Griezmann and Coutinho failed to impress when played as wingers (and that's an understatement) I feel it just won't work consistently against better opposition.
Limit Busquets to easy home games. Whether Pjanić will fit alongside De Jong remains to be seen, but Busquets is more or less done at this level so he's certainly not the solution. I seem to recall that he was tried in a double pivot with Mascherano on occasion by Luis Enrique during 2014/15 and was spectacularly woeful (and that's a five years younger, miles better version of Busquets as opposed to current one).
Defense I guess he can do nothing about personnel wise, whomever they get to replace Semedo will likely be the same level at best. Just try to fix all these glaring midfield/attack issues which should at least alleviate some of the pressure.
First order of the day, play Messi through the middle predominantly (obviously he will roam around as he usually does but make his nominal position central). Whether as an AM or as a false nine, but none of this faux right winger crap.
On the wings, deploy actual wingers who are willing to consistently track back and help the defense. Trincao looked very promising from what little snippets I've caught from the preseason. With luck, maybe Dembele won't reinjure himself, there's Fati who's shown a lot of promise and maybe someone else arrives. By doing this, you're solving a major problem, namely that Barcelona's right flank leaks as a sieve with Messi nominally there and their right back having to more or less hold the fort alone which would be probably impossible even if he was still prime Dani Alves. This way you at least get equal coverage on both flanks, theoretically anyways, and Messi's lack of defensive contribution is least dangerous if he is in the center, especially if he is a striker/false nine.
Problem with this is obviously that you have Messi, Griezmann and Coutinho for attacking midfielder/striker positions, so obviously one needs to be on the bench, and that would be a brave decision, but one I feel is necessary. It would probably be easier and less controversial to try to shoehorn them somehow, but considering that both Griezmann and Coutinho failed to impress when played as wingers (and that's an understatement) I feel it just won't work consistently against better opposition.
Limit Busquets to easy home games. Whether Pjanić will fit alongside De Jong remains to be seen, but Busquets is more or less done at this level so he's certainly not the solution. I seem to recall that he was tried in a double pivot with Mascherano on occasion by Luis Enrique during 2014/15 and was spectacularly woeful (and that's a five years younger, miles better version of Busquets as opposed to current one).
Defense I guess he can do nothing about personnel wise, whomever they get to replace Semedo will likely be the same level at best. Just try to fix all these glaring midfield/attack issues which should at least alleviate some of the pressure.
I find it surprising that Busquets is done. He's still only 32
but he has won everything possible by age 20, tons of mileage on those legs
I absolutely love how ruthless he has been so far, with declining stars (Suarez, Rakitic) but also with players that never fitted in (Vidal) or even (overrated?) youngsters who need a loan (Puig).
I don’t think these are his decisions but he is a good bridge coach. Let everybody get mad at him since he will most likely be gone next summer
Harsh on Puig. With the scarce minutes he got he was more impressive than his experimenced teammates. If he was overrated then he would have been outperformed by Rakitic, Busi, De Jong, Vidal, but that wasn't the case.
I think he truly thinks Puig needs a loan. 2021 attacking MF is already full with DeJong, Cou, Trincao and Messi as an AMF/SS.
He's not really competing for those places. He's positionally more Xavi or Iniesta. The issue is that Pjanic was bought prior to Koeman and he insists on a double pivot so any chance of a classic 4-3-3 to fit him in is difficult. He does need a loan, I agree, which I'm certain he'll knock out the park.