Laporta: Koeman's dismissal came late, it was an untenable situation for the club
The president of the Catalan club has presented this Friday Sergi Barjuán as the new interim coach, who is believed to be in command of the team until Xavi Hernández can join Al-Saad.
During the presentation of the new Barcelona coach and who will be in charge of the club's next meetings, President Joan Laporta has decided to answer journalists' questions regarding the situation of Ronald Koeman and the reasons that have led him to trust Barjuán to be in charge of the squad.
Barjuán has been chosen to replace Koeman in one of the club's most delicate moments. This is how Laporta has answered the following to all this:
" Ronald Koeman assumed the technical direction of the team at a time of great difficulty. He will always continue to be a great of Barcelona, and we will always keep him in our memory. If he has not continued with us longer, it is because the results have decided so." The president of Barcelona commented.
"There was already a situation that was unsustainable for everyone and if we did not act it could cause an important negative factor for the objectives of this season, such as winning titles. It is difficult, but we are still alive in all competitions," added Laporta.
Your dismissal has come late
"Very probably the dismissal of Ronald Koeman has come late. There were some circumstances that led to making those decisions to keep him in the team and seen what was seen. So we all believed that he deserved a margin of confidence and allow him to recover the injured."
"Possibly his dismissal should have been done much earlier and I assume responsibility for that decision. If I analyze it coldly, we beat Dinamo and Valencia, but then came a series of negative results. We went into a very dangerous drift that could leave us with nothing. "Laporta justified.
"The relationship with Koeman is very good, at least on our part. We communicated the situation to him with great respect, but it was an untenable situation and I hope he appreciates all the effort we made to keep him at the club" added the president of the club. Barcelona.
Likewise, Laporta diverted the issue every time journalists asked him about the situation of Xavi Hernández and his arrival on the Barcelona bench, where many believe he will do so before the game against Dinamo. To all this, he only answered "I keep reserved the options that we handle."
This is how the Barcelona manager was able to deflect criticism very well about the signing of Xavi months ago, when he himself assured that the Spanish midfielder lacked experience to be able to direct a club like Barcelona.
"He is in a very interesting learning process, he is evolving very well. I have very good references from people very close to him. I speak with him very often. Two months or more ago when we gave this margin of confidence to Koeman, already We talk to him." Laporta commented on Xavi.
"I know his opinion about the team, about what should be done. My opinion is very good. I have not changed my speech about Xavi, since I said that I would like him to be coach of the team during my presidency. It is true that the reports that we have are very good, but I have not followed Al-Saad's games. "
"If we have commented on Barcelona games, it could be said that we have seen Barcelona games together. It is true that he barely has a short time as a coach. Furthermore, no matter how much Xavi is talked about, there are other options. But one day Xavi is going to be the Barcelona coach "
"I have told him, and he knows it very well, Xavi lives for football and for Barcelona, we will see how all this evolves," said Joan Laporta. In this way he wanted to get out of Xavi's question to focus on the new Barça coach, who is the interim Sergi Barjuán.
"We are focused on the short-medium term. We understand very well that Sergi understands this squad thoroughly and will be able to work with this without problems. From the football section we are working on getting a new coach, we do not want to rush, because they do not bring anything good. Until then Sergi will assume the position of the first team "explained Laporta.
Laporta explains how important the game against Alavés is
In this way, the president of the Catalan club has wanted to place all the importance for tomorrow's match above the Champions League match against Dinamo despite the fact that in that match Barcelona is playing the possibility of continuing in the Champions League.
He has also confirmed that Sergi will travel to Kiev to lead the team against Dinamo, this in order to clear up the rumor that Xavi would arrive for that match.
"The game against Alavéz is very important because I think we still have a lot of chances to fight the League, and we cannot fail this time. Our main rivals have failed. The League is open, and we can fight for it, in the Champions League we also want to stay alive and Segi Barjuán will be sitting on the bench".
"We all have a fan inside. It is a very good squad, which can be improved. Koeman has tried, but I will not go so far as to say what is missing and what is left over." Laporta added.
As for Sergi, I also take the moment to explain that he has found the dressing room and how he plans to reverse this whole situation. "Trying to impose the criteria that may be feasible for tomorrow's game. It is very easy to be able to work with these players, I have tried to tell everyone that it is a very complicated job."
"The important thing in all this is to be able to all be united, that the public attend to help us. In the final, the way of playing will not change because they are still the same players, but some tactical factors that can be key and can mean the solution".
"The squad must regain happiness and enjoy playing, they must regain the desire to go out on the pitch and win. They have shown that they know how to compete, and they know how to withstand the pressure. The League is alive, and we can win it." He mentioned Laporta.
On the other hand, Sergi explained: "I have seen the team very well, there have been moments of training seriously and in others with more freedom. With this and the adjustments we want to make, we are going to change little by little for the better. They are here is for a style of play and that is not negotiable".
" If there is something that stands out, it is my ambition and my desire to win everything. We all have to reverse this bad situation, it will depend on my interventionism. It is a very stressful situation, and you have to know how to master it as soon as possible."
"We have videos, it's a team that has gotten better, the system has changed, and it has players who are very dangerous from set pieces, and they have Rioja, who is very fast." With this, coach Sergi Barjuán would conclude.