HomeManager in FocusTIME'S UP?

TIME’S UP?

By Chaitanya Kohli

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Ronald Koeman in trouble feature

Ronald Koeman might just be in enormous trouble after Catalan club Barcelona struggled to a 1-1 draw at home against Granada in La Liga.

 

 

The Blaugrana were trailing for 88 minutes in front of a home crowd that could only look on in despair as the Catalans could only eke out a draw and that too at the very end of the match when Ronald Araujo rose the highest in the 89th minute to head home from close range.

But, sports media outlets are of the opinion that Araujo’s namesake – Ronald Koeman –  is walking on really thin ice in the Catalan capital with the Blaugrana possibly lining up replacements for the Dutchman in light of the disappointing draw against Granada, who lie in 17th place, just one place above relegation to the Spanish second division.

 

BARCELONA IN SHAMBLES UNDER RONALD KOEMAN

The Dutch manager must be feeling the heat after the Azulgrana’s draw with lowly Granada in La Liga this past weekend. The Catalans started with Memphis Depay in attack along with Philippe Coutinho and Yusuf Demir who partnered him up front.

But they ended the match with centre-back Gerard Pique playing as a forward with Luuk de Jong up top as Barcelona struggled to find the net.

 

 

The technical elegance and aesthetic beauty of Barcelona is a thing of the remote past when the emphasis was laid on exquisite passing sequences and awe-inspiring through balls that sliced opposition defences like one slices an orange with a knife.

On the contrary, last night the Catalans were forced to adopt a more direct approach, resorting to firing in crosses in the penalty box in order to find the back of the net after going behind with less than 2 minutes on the clock.

Koeman defended Barcelona’s playing style in the match. “If you look at the squad list, what style do you play? Do you play tiki taka? We did what had to be done. Barcelona today is not the same as Barça 8 years ago” he said of the Catalan team’s performance against the Nazaries in the Primera Division.

Recently, the Dutch manager ‘claimed’ that Barcelona have a future thanks to him in both Spain and Europe. But, the actual picture is starkly different from that. The Blaugrana are in a shambolic state and the sacking of Ronald Koeman looks like an event that will happen sooner rather than later in the season.

 

KOEMAN ON HIS WAY OUT OF BARCELONA?

And the rumours doing the rounds on social media won’t be comforting to Ronald Koeman at all as a section of Barcelona fans are eagerly awaiting his sacking in Catalonia after a somewhat disastrous start to the season in Spain as well as Europe.

The Blaugrana were humbled by Bayern Munich recently in the UEFA Champions League and are looking set for a second-place finish in Group E of Europe’s premier club competition.

And their fortunes aren’t looking too good in La Liga with them having to play 3 matches in the space of a week, before going to the Wanda Metropolitano to face Atletico Madrid who currently sit in 2nd place in La Liga.

 

 

After their visit to Atletico Madrid, they will be hosting Valencia in Barcelona before flying out once more to the Spanish capital for an El Clasico meeting with arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Koeman needs to grind out positive results in all of these matches if he hopes of keeping his job this season in the hot seat at Camp Nou.

But with the current situation in Catalonia where they drew at home to Granada, it looks like he will be facing the axe sooner or later in the season as the Blaugrana look to infuse a breath of fresh air in Barcelona to salvage their season in Spain as well as Europe

Chaitanya Kohli

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