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The Dutch coach spoke openly on various topics: “Messi is older, but he still wants to win.” He was also enthusiastic about Pedri: “He’s fantastic.”
Ronald Koeman gave a long interview to Barça Magazine in which he spoke about a series of topics related to the current situation of the club in the face of the Christmas holidays.
Playing without the public: “I played many games here, and the fans always helped, so without them, and only with us on the field, it has been very difficult. But it has also been the same for the other teams, we are all facing difficulties because of Covid” .
COVID-19 pandemic: “Covid was also something new for me, so it has been difficult. And yes, it shows. It is especially difficult when we play at home, because it is a huge field and you really feel that it is empty, that there is no one here. After a while you get used to playing without fans, but I think that when the players go out onto the pitch and there is no atmosphere it is something very strange. You really miss the atmosphere. “
Get coronavirus: “I suffered a lot in the sense that I was really bad. I was very tired and had a fever. It was worse at night but I did not feel very bad. However, I felt very bad, especially tiredness.”
General health, heart problems: “When things like this happen, or when the people close to you get sick, then life does change. In my case I had a small stroke and it makes you think things differently. Maybe directing Barça became a case from ‘now or never.’ I’ve been training for several years now and I don’t want to continue being a soccer coach when I’m 70. This was the right time. “
Leave Holland job: “When they called me in January to ask if I would be interested in coming, I said that I could not leave the national team four or five months before the Eurocup. In March, when I found out we would not” go to the Eurocup, my personal situation with Holland changed. We expected a normal European Championship, with fans, although in different countries, but then everything changed. Maybe if it hadn’t been for Covid, I would have had to wait another year ”.
Tony bruins: “Tony and I trained at Ajax together in 2003, and I remember when he found out he had prostate cancer. He had had it for 17 years, it was something he had learned to live with doing chemotherapy. And I could see he was getting weaker physically. We talked a lot, we went to dinner together and I visited him at home. He always advised me about the opponents, about the players, but he had become calmer and I knew why. I didn’t think he was so close to the end. These are difficult things. to cope, and I don’t think he would be able to live the kind of life that someone his age should have had. It was very hard and very sad for his whole family, but I think at the end of the day it could have been the best thing for Tony ” .
Tell his wife, Bartina and their children Debbie, Tim and Ronald about getting the job at Barça: “Whenever Barça was looking for a new coach, my name came out, at the club and among the fans, but also from me because many times I said that coaching Barça was always one of my dreams. Then the opportunity arose and my wife Los The children knew that I was very excited, and actually they preferred the idea of living here rather than in Holland. That is not a sporting thing, it is about life. We have always felt at home here, but most of all they knew It was one of my biggest dreams. It was always my dream to be a Barcelona coach. I don’t think you should wait until the perfect time for these things. If a team is getting good results, they don’t change managers. Changes happen when people are not happy , because the team is not winning. I don’t know if I would call it courage, I think any coach with that opportunity would say that he will come in. Because of the people’s affection for me, for the club, for my personal relationship – I know the club well , cone I know people, a I played here for six years and was Van Gaal’s assistant for a year and a half. I knew it was a difficult time and that there would be big changes at the club. But I am a coach and I know we have to play well and win our games. The rest is out of my control. “
Be a soccer legend: “Any coach who comes to Barça has to win and make people happy. You could have a good name, and have been here before as a player, but in the end it’s about the trophies and what you win. If you look at me coach In my career, not just with the Netherlands but in other places like Benfica, Valencia and Everton and Southampton in England, I was not in clubs big enough to hope to win everything. Now I need to win over the fans and I have noticed that these things don’t they are easily made. I feel that decisions must be made, changes must be made. Young players must have their chances and, after a while, there must be evaluations. A coach has to work hard and show that they are up to the task by training in a club like this “.
Stay true to your ideas: “It is very important because it is much better to have faith in your own ideas, because if you lose your job and also change your ways, then it is much more difficult. It is important to find the right balance, to have people around you. With whom you can argue the decisions you have to make, but the lines must be well defined. It is also a clear message for the players. If a coach is black one day and white the next, you will not get anywhere. If I lose, I have lost because of my ideas and my philosophy ”.
Koeman the player and Koeman the coach: “Above all, the hunger to win, but that hasn’t changed. I want to see a team that plays, that dominates, but also creates pressure, and football has also changed. In my time I was more about building from behind, But nowadays the full-backs are more like wingers. Football has changed, but I want to see my team winning, fighting, working … They need to play well but they also need to be realistic about how to get a good result. “
Barcelona fifth Dutch coach: “I was with Michels in the national team. The only great trophy we have won was the European Championship in 1988 with Michels as coach. He was a coach with a lot of personality. You learn things from each coach, both positive and negative. I had to Johan as a coach for a year at Ajax, before we were both at Barcelona. He was probably the best player in the world during his time and had a lot of information about the little details of football. I had six very successful results. Years under him And we were a great group of players both on and off the pitch, they were fantastic years. I was Van Gaal’s assistant for a year and a half at Barça. The difference between Johan and Van Gaal is that Johan managed like a player, but Van Gaal was more of a teacher, more methodological. Johan based things more on what he had seen, his feeling, his experience. I have played with Frank (Rijkaard) but not trained, although we did the coaching course together for a year. “
Resting Messi: “In theory, it’s the same for all players. If he’s fit to play and good enough, then he will. But of course Leo is older than before, even though he’s a player who still wants to be in the games, and Especially to win them. He trains hard every day. He is very committed. As a coach I like to talk to my players, and I also talk to Leo about this and other things because he is also the captain of the team. There are squad issues, rules, and we talk about many things, not just our way of playing. That is part of a coach’s day-to-day life, you have to be in communication with the players “.
Ansu and Pedri: “
It is always good to talk about young people. They deserve it, but they are also players who still have a lot to learn. But what Ansu and Pedri have done with only 17 or 18 years in a team as big as Barça is something very big. Pedri comes from Las Palmas very young and already plays games against teams like Madrid and Juventus, and he does it in a fantastic way. It is important that a club has young people and that they have opportunities. You have to change teams little by little. You still need the older players, but they won’t be around forever and you should plan the changes in due time, calmly. Pedri has earned his place in the games for his work in training. He has shown me that he is a good player and that he is capable of playing for a team like Barcelona ”.
Institutionalclub status and finances: “It is very difficult because it is a matter that is totally out of our hands. I have always insisted that if they are calm in the head, they will be calm in their bodies. But every team needs a certain amount of calm.” to win things. “
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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