After Barcelona’s third defeat in their last five matches, the board decided to sack head coach Ronald Koeman after being in charge of the club for 14 months.
Ronald Koeman was appointed as FC Barcelona head coach in August last year and in his first campaign he led the club to third in La Liga and won the Copa Del Rey but he has clearly struggled this season following the departure of Lionel Messi. Barcelona’s 1-0 defeat by Rayo Vallecano on matchday 11 of the Spanish league, marked the club’s third defeat in five games across all competitions and also meant goodbye to their head coach Ronald Koeman.
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The pressure started building on Koeman since their 3-0 defeat to Benfica in September, which marked the club’s worst start to a champions league season. Barca followed that up with a 2-0 away loss to rivals Atletico Madrid with one of their former players, Luis Suarez scoring the second goal at the Metropolitano.
Koeman gained some confidence as Barca went on to two back-to-back victories against Valencia and Dynamo Kyiv in La Liga and Champions League respectively but then came the El Classico which perhaps steered the board into sacking Koeman. Barcelona lost 1 – 2 at the Nou Camp which was Koeman’s third clasico defeat in a row.
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After a Radamel Falco winner last night for Rayo Vallecano, Barca released a club statement which many Barca fans had been waiting for. It said, “Ronald Koeman will say goodbye to the squad on Thursday – 28th October at the Ciutat Esportiva. FC Barcelona wishes to thank him for his service to the club and wishes him all the best in his professional career.”
Who’s next for Barcelona?
One of the leading contenders in taking Koeman’s job is former Barcelona player and club legend Xavi Hernandez. Xavi is currently managing Al Sadd in Qatar and as a result, will be used to working with a lower standard than he played with. The 41-year-old won it all with the club as a player, but managing from the dugout won’t be an easy job for the Spaniard, especially given where the club is at today.
Another man who is capable enough to take the job at Barcelona is Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez. The current Belgium team manager was thought to be leaving the national side post the Euros, but he might be hanging in for a move to the Nou Camp instead.
Other managers who are free/in-line for the big role are Andrea Pirlo, Antonio Conte and Erik Ten Haag.
[Image Credit: Ronald Koeman]
Shashank Iyer