Barcelona’s season seems to be heading towards a gloomy end, just the way it started for Ronald Koeman’s side. After the midweek embarrassment against Paris Saint-Germain at the Camp Nou Stadium, Barcelona sloppily dropped points against Cadiz in the Primera Division.
As the business end of the season approaches, the cracks in the Barcelona side are clear and evident. The team’s morale is at an all-time low and the weak leadership of Ronald Koeman is not doing any good to the Catalans either. More than anything, Ronald Koeman is looking like the manager who lacks the calibre to handle a club of Barcelona’s stature.
The Camp Nou faithful are disappointedly starring at another trophyless season despite the bucks spent on the signing of Sergino Dest, Miralem Pjanic and Fransisco Trincao. Philippe Coutinho too made a return to the Camp Nou, but it has been a disappointing tale for the Brazilian. The 4th Official lists out the two major areas of concern under the tutelage of Ronald Koeman –
Barcelona’s Problems Under Ronald Koeman
Back Line
Barcelona are all over the place at the back and no successful team can function efficiently without a stable back-line. Usually there are one or two areas of concern at the back, but unfortunately for Barcelona, it seems like a revamp is needed at all four positions.
Clement Lenglet is the cause of major discomfort at the back for Barcelona. Surprisingly, Koeman has never deviated away from the French defender and Lenglet has been presented chance after chance with a golden spoon. Lenglet was sloppy in midweek against Paris Saint-Germain as he let Kean have a free header inside the box and made it worse today against Cadiz with an 89th-minute foul that led to a penalty with the Catalans only enjoying a one-goal advantage.
The right-back spot is another area of concern with summer recruit, Sergino Dest, not seeming Barcelona ready yet. Jordi Alba has made too many critical errors this season for a player of his pedigree indicating that a decline is in process. Gerard Pique has age catching up on him and his frustration with the batch around him has been caught by the cameras on one occasion too many this season.
BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 21: Pedri of FC Barcelona runs with the ball whilst under pressure from Ruben Sobrino of Cadiz CF during the La Liga Santander match between FC Barcelona and Cadiz CF at Camp Nou on February 21, 2021 in Barcelona, Spain. Sporting stadiums around Spain remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Adaptability
Ronald Koeman has made some questionable decisions this season apart from looking out of ideas and creativity. For instance, none of the poor performers from the Paris Saint-Germain fixture like Griezmann, Lenglet, Dembele, Busquets were dropped from the team and all of them started once again against Cadiz. Koeman also made another blunder against Cadiz when he took off an 18-year old Pedri who was the most inspirational person on the field for the side.
Koeman’s tactical inabilities were highlighted against PSG when he failed to acknowledge the danger Kylian Mbappe was posing down the right-hand side to Sergino Dest. The manager did not seem to have a tactical back-up and the scoreline at full time made it evident.
