Incoming Netherlands national team head coach Ronald Koeman has hit out at Barcelona president Joan Laporta over his departure from the club.
The Dutchman was sent home in November 2021 with his place taken by club legend Xavi Hernandez and he has come out gun blazing over the treatment he was accorded in an interview with TV3.
“Leaving was a bit of liberation. It was a difficult time for the club, first without a president, then with Laporta’s doubts about the manager. You want to be a coach but you know that if you don’t win, you have problems.
“As president, you can always have doubts. But if you say them to the public, everyone starts to doubt. It was a big mistake on his part,” Koeman said.
He continued: “In general, the dressing room was not against the coach. We worked well. The problem was when the president came. A president or technical director can doubt the coach, but the problem is that it came out in the press. As president, you cannot leave doubts about the coach. I would never do that. I show my face and go straight ahead.”
Koeman also discussed the criticism he received over his style of play, questioning why Barcelona continue to demand the same 4-3-3, tiki-taka football that earned them so much success in the past.
