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Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman criticized his team for losing focus at key moments in a 2-2 draw at home to Valencia on Saturday, adding that his young team needs to show more maturity.
Mouctar Diakhaby scored with a free head from a corner to put Valencia ahead, while no defender managed to lift Maxi Gómez as he pounced to equalize the visitors in the second half after Lionel Messi and Ronald Araujo had scored for Barça .
The Catalans have lost points in seven of their 13 league games and are eight points behind leaders Atlético de Madrid, having played one more game.
“It was a difficult game, we turned it around, but then we had to show more concentration,” Koeman told reporters.
“We had some chances but we weren’t focused enough on the key moments. We went out to win the game in the second half, but we didn’t create as much as we wanted ”.
The Dutch coach was particularly upset about the way his team failed to pick up Diakhaby for the opening goal, saying they needed to focus more on the defensive organization due to their short average height.
‘We have to know how many high plays we have to defend against tall players. He (Diakhaby) was alone when he jumped to score. We have to defend better and score our rivals more. We are smaller than most teams and we have set pieces problems, ”he said.
‘We gave an inconsistent performance. We attacked when we were 2-1 up, but we must also remember to defend. We lost the ball in dangerous areas. ‘
The Dutch coach has relied on a number of young players this season including Pedri, Oscar Mingueza, Sergino Dest and Araujo, but said the team’s lack of experience was affecting his results.
However, he refused to exclude his team from the title race.
“The age of the players also influences, sometimes doubts can arise. Young players need to mature,” he said.
‘We have not yet said goodbye to the title, there are still many points to play. It is a very difficult season but in two months everything could be different. We have to fight to regain these points. ‘
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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