Atleti loss makes Laporta’s Koeman decision indefensible

Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images

Another poor showing from the Catalans

Look at the picture above. Ronald Koeman is all of us right now, and for a number of reasons.

The narrative is becoming a little tiresome too it must be said.

Barca play a big team, Koeman’s tactics leave much to be desired, big team wins.

Let’s not forget that Diego Simeone hadn’t beaten the blaugranes in the league in his entire tenure at Atletico Madrid until the Dutchman rolled into town.

El Cholo has now beaten Barca twice in the Spanish top-flight and at a canter it must be said.

Simple football, sticking to a game play and executing once well-worked chances allow.

Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Barcelona’s players can’t even get the basics right at the moment, and that is on the manager.

Yes, it was a decent midfield performance at the Wanda Metropolitano, and Gavi was sensational, but defensively the visitors were all over the place and the lack of a cutting edge in attack was noticeable.

Joan Laporta has, apparently, accepted Koeman’s explanation that until the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Sergio Aguero return, no one can expect miracles.

Erm... hello! No one wants miracles, just a bloody team that can play the Barca way and win more games than it loses.

Not watching players that, individually, are excellent but in the confines of a Ronald Koeman team are nothing more than second raters.

Atleti didn’t even need to get out of first gear to win the match, and when you consider how much they’ve struggled in games lately as well as the fact that they weren’t fantastic either on Saturday night, it really does bring into sharp focus the mountain the team have to climb under this coach.

What’s arguably more worrying at this stage is Laporta’s dilly-dallying and decision making.

One minute Lionel Messi is staying, the next he’s going. Then Umtiti is a goner, only to stay because he’s convinced the president he has the club’s best interests at heart.

Photo by Mateo Villalba/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Now he appears to be backing a manager that nobody wants, and judging by the body language of the players in Madrid, that includes the playing staff.

There’s no coherence to the message or Barca’s game play, so is it any wonder that you’ve a situation where Busi and Pique are at loggerheads.

Forgetting Koeman just for a second... Where was the direction from the bench in his stead?

This managerial set up is no better than it was in the Setien era and we all thought that was a low point.

It’s time for the president to show he means business. Business that he promised as part of his mandate for election.

We’ve had enough of slippery toads in power. He promised a return to the glory days and that starts with replacing the manager. Now.

Laporta has to deliver.

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