BARCELONA – Ronald Koeman was “grateful” for the praise received from Lionel Messi during the interview he gave to La Sexta and calmly assessed the Argentine’s words about his future, saying that “I can’t to influence his decision, I am calm and I know that all we can do is get the best out of him. “
The Dutch coach, who admitted that Leo’s absence is “important”, warned that Eibar will not be an easy rival and is confident of ending the year in the best way, in addition to revealing that he is already working with Ramon Planes in a list of possible resignations that would have to sentence with the arrival of the new president.
These were the highlights of the Barça coach’s press conference:
The Eibar
“It’s a competitive team and it tries to put a lot of pressure on the opposite side. In football, we have to be good, like in the last game, when we knew how to find the spaces, to avoid it being very complicated.”
Messi
“He had ankle problems and that’s why he couldn’t train or be fit for tomorrow. That’s the reason to give him more holidays because the doctor told us that being a week without training will be enough to be back. well “.
“Not having Messi is always a major loss for his quality and effectiveness; we lose a great player, but it is not a system for him, he is part of a system and we have enough players who can play in his position and do the same, and hopefully get the same effectiveness. “
“I didn’t see his interview live but I’ve seen what has come out in the press. I like that he does an interview to find out his opinions and, if necessary, I’m equally calm because he said he will decide his future in the end I can’t influence, what we can do is get the best out of them in the games and we’ll see what can happen next. “
“In my last years as a footballer I was thinking about what I would like to do later. If you can’t continue as a player, the most similar thing is to be a coach, but all this goes with the person. If Leo has said it looks more like as a sports director, very well, it is best for Barça when he stops playing that he continues to work at the club because he has a lot of experience and can help a lot of other club people. in whatever position it is not my decision “.
“I appreciate his words because he is a very important player for the club and in the world of football. Anyone likes to speak well of themselves. It is a year of transition and I am trying to get the team going. , we are making changes in a year of transition and Leo is a key piece in the team. “
“This about the PSG and Pochettino? I don’t know … I can’t comment or say why his name appears in the press but I don’t know if it’s true. We are facing two months here and it’s not to be calm or restless now. I don’t think Leo decides his future depending on a coach or a country. These are decisions that need to be made as a family and I don’t think a coach can influence his destiny. “
Dembele
“It’s fine. We won’t give the list until tomorrow after the last training session but Ousmane is fine. He has been training with the team for days and he has also worked well when we were in Valladolid. As I said, in principle he will go convened tomorrow “.
Pedri
“What I’ve seen of Pedri, of knowing his character and personality, is an example of how someone should take the subject of being very good. Surely no one could expect him. I as a coach and the staff help him and we give him opportunities and advice.Pedri is a boy from a very humble family who knows what he needs to do to improve and not think he is already in. He has a great future, but a great future always exists when you continue to work as before. “.
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 attacking but it can also be very defensive; it always depends on the attitude of the team on the field. during the match “.
Transfers and cancellations
“We’re talking about things on the team where to improve, where there are players who don’t give many minutes or games to see what’s best for them. But it’s not definitive, that’s why I don’t like to talk about cases individually. our job is to prepare and when there is a president we will have to finish. “
· “The outings? The topic is to prepare and if there is something we like or a young player should play half a year in another team, we first talked to him, because in the end each player has the decision “whether you want to go or not. We give advice to young players or older players who for any reason don’t have minutes. I hope one week is enough for what we want.”
In the year 2020
“It’s been a quiet start to the year, being a coach can’t be compared to being a coach at a club like Barça. Then I had my heart problems, then Covid. In every sense. It’s been a tough year, in sports I’m in a place where I’d like to be for quite a few years now and I’m enjoying it … but it’s a complicated place because of the things we’ve talked about. the year we are better on the Covid theme and the club theme “.