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Having received a fair amount of criticism since taking office in Barcelona, one charge that cannot be leveled against Ronald Koeman is that of not facing the truth. The latest example of him confronting the press on a controversial issue is how he has revealed the details of his conversations with Lionel Messi over the summer when the forward pushed to move away from Camp Nou.
It came when Messi sent a burofax to the club to demand an exit through a contractual clause, although he finally confirmed that he would stay at the club after talks with the board.
“I understood the disappointment very well, but when Luis Suárez left us, he especially came to training camp to say goodbye to the coaching staff and I don’t think he did it if he blamed us,” Koeman told the Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad. , responding to the suggestion that Suárez’s frustration led Messi to push for a move.
“We have acted openly and fairly on this issue, I think.
“In my early days I talked to people about the situation at the club. It was clear that there was discontent among the players on various issues, so it was a priority for me to talk to Messi first to hear how he saw things.
“At home he would tell me all kinds of things. I would listen to him attentively, but I would also tell him ‘I wasn’t there at all.’ He could only talk about how he wanted to work and how he wanted to change things at the club.
“That was good, because at the end of the conversation we talked about the best ways to push, about the game, really about football. I like that. He’s a fan and he still wants to know how it works.”
Koeman also revealed that Messi spoke to him about his situation and revealed what happened to convince him to stay.
“He wanted to leave, but the club had it very clear and could not leave,” said the coach.
“The figure was so high that no club would pay it right now.
“So for me the main question was how could I get him back, on the pitch and beyond, as a person and as a footballer.
“When he came back to training with us after that week, I only saw good things. His attitude was good. There was nothing to complain about.
“The good thing is that when Messi sees a ball, he has fun.”
The Dutchman also went into detail about what it is like to work with the Argentine on a daily basis.
“It is really fantastic how he sees things, how intelligent he is as a footballer and how he does everything technically perfectly,” he analyzed.
“Really, he makes a decision with the ball at the last moment, in a fraction of a second.
“When we do a passing and shooting exercise in training, Alfred Schreuder gives instructions half in Spanish and half in English. Sometimes he clarifies a little in Spanish, but with Messi it is not necessary at all. He immediately does the exercises, he is very intelligent in football “.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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