BARCELONA – Ronald Koeman was “grateful” for the praise he received from Lionel Messi during the interview he gave to La Sexta and calmly appreciated the Argentinian’s words about his future, resolving that “I cannot influence his decision, I’m calm and I know all we can do is make the most of it. “
The Dutch coach, who admitted that Leo’s absence is ‘important’, warned that Eibar will not be an easy rival and hoped to end the year in the best way, revealing that he is already working with Ramon Planes on a list of possible losses. in the staff to be condemned with the arrival of the new president.
These were the most striking statements from the Barcelona coach’s press conference:
El Eibar
“It’s a competitive team that tries to exert a lot of pressure, on the contrary. In the field of football, we will have to be good, like in the last game, when we found the spaces, to prevent it from getting too complicated.”
Messi
“He only had discomfort and so he couldn’t exercise or be fit for tomorrow. That’s the reason to give him more vacation, because the doctor told us that a week without training will be enough to get back to health.”
“Not having Messi is always a major loss because of his quality and effectiveness, we are losing a great player, but it is not a system for him, he is part of a system and we have plenty of players who can play and do in his position. the same, and hopefully they get the same effectiveness. “
“I didn’t see his interview live, but I did see what has appeared in the press. I think it is good that he does an interview to hear his opinion and in his case I am calm for a moment because he said that he will decide his future at the end of the season. I can influence, what we can do is get their best performance in the games and we’ll see what can happen later. “
“In my last years as a footballer I thought about what I would like to do later. If you can’t continue as a player, it comes closest to coach, but that all belongs to the person. If Leo has said that he is himself. looks more like sports director, well, it is best for Barça if he quits playing that he continues to work at the club because he has a lot of experience and can help the rest of the club a lot. What position he is in is not my decision . “
“I appreciate his words because he is a very important player for the club and in the football world. Everyone likes to speak well of themselves. It’s a year of transition and what I’m trying to do is move the team forward, we’re making changes.” a transition year and Leo is an important part of the team. “
“What about PSG and Pochettino? I don’t know … I can’t comment or say because his name appears in the press, but I don’t know if it’s true. We will meet in two months and it’s not to be calm or uncomfortable now. I don’t believe Let Leo determine his future depending on a coach or a country. Those are decisions to be made as a family and I don’t think a coach can influence his fate. “
Dembele
“It’s fine. We don’t give the list until tomorrow after the last practice, but Ousmane is fine. He’s been training with the team for days and also worked well when we were in Valladolid. As I said, he’s basically called up tomorrow. . “
Pedri
“What I’ve seen from Pedri, from knowing his character and personality, is an example of how someone should accept the issue of being very good. No one could have expected it. As a coach and the staff, we help him and give him opportunities. and advice. Pedri is a boy from a very humble family who knows what to do to get better and doesn’t think he’s there yet. He has a great future, but there’s always a great future if you keep working like you have done now. “
The system
“You can talk a lot about a system, but the most important thing is the energy and the work of the players. Any system can be offensive, but it can also be very defensive; it always depends on the attitude of the team on the field,” during the match” .
Signals and victims
“We’re talking about things about the team where it can improve, where there are players who don’t give a lot of minutes or games to see what’s best for them. But it’s not final, so I don’t like to talk about individual cases. Our job is to prepare and when there is a president, that will have to be finalized. “
“The outings? The matter is to prepare and if there is something we like or if a young player has to play for half a year in another team, we talk to him first, because in the end each player has the decision to go or No. We advise young players or older players who for whatever reason are running out of minutes. Hopefully a week is enough for what we want. “
The year 2020
“It was a quiet first year, being a coach cannot be compared to the role of a coach at a club like Barça. Then I had my heart problems, then Covid. It was a very difficult year in every way.” sport I am in a place where I would like to be for many years and I enjoy it … but it is also a complicated place because of the things we have talked about. I hope in every way that next year we will be better on Covid and on the club theme ”.