The manager of FC Barcelona, Ronald Koeman has stressed that he would no longer discuss his future in public as his team continues to struggle without Lionel Messi.
Recall that Lionel Messi joined Paris Saint Germain in August 2021 after FC Barcelona failed to offer him a new contract due to the financial crisis at the club.
Aside from Messi who was Barcelona’s talisman for about 17 years, the Spanish giants also lost players like Antoine Griezmann, Emerson Royal, and Miralem Pjanic during last summer’s transfer window.
To make matters worst for Ronald Koeman, some of his most reliable players including Jordi Alba, Pedri, Ansu Fati, Martin Braithwaite, Ousmane Dembele, and Sergio Aguero are battling different degrees of fitness issues.
Due to the lack of financial and human resources at the club, FC Barcelona are struggling to win games and keep clean sheets.
So far in the 2021-2022 season, FC Barcelona have recorded two defeats and two wins in four league games. They have conceded five goals and scored 8 goals. Also, they have recorded 8 points in 4 league games.
These poor stats have forced Barcelona to the seventh spot on the league table. Ronald Koeman and his boys are five points away from the first placed Real Madrid. The Carlo Ancelotti side have recorded 13 points in 5 games.
Things have gotten so bad for FC Barcelona that some of their supporters don’t longer like to attend their home games.
For instance, in Barcelona’s home game against Granada on Monday, September 20, only 27,000 supporters made it to the stadium out of 40,000 tickets available for the club’s supporters.
Before the league game ended, some of the spectators that made it to the stadium had walked away even though Barcelona played a 1-1 draw with their visitors.
In his reaction to criticism that Barcelona don’t longer have a defined style after their 1-1 draw with Granada on Monday, Koeman said: “We changed our style a little bit.
“If you see the list of players, what do you do? Play tiki-taka? Tiki-taka when there are no spaces?
“We did what we had to do. We tried to win another way. We don’t have players one-on-one or with speed. We’re talking… I’m not going to say more because it seems I have to argue about everything.”
When Ronald Koeman was quizzed about the increasing pressure on his coaching job at Barcelona, the Norwegian tactician said: “I am not going to talk any more about my future.”
💬 Ronald Araujo analyzes the 1-1 draw. #BarçaGranada pic.twitter.com/GxLzLZDAEN
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 20, 2021
