Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu made countless mistakes while at the club, and more will be revealed in the coming weeks.
The last thing he did was appoint Ronald Koeman as coach of the first team, simply because of his association with the club as a player.
This wasn’t an odd decision either. Coman is well taken advantage of before he is finally persuaded to return to Camp Nou.
Had he taken the baton earlier, the club might have survived Quique Setien’s disastrous reign, however, Koeman has now lost more matches in his first 10 matches than Setien lost the whole time he was at the club.
Catalans are closer to the bottom of the table than they are at the top in terms of points, and the 2020/21 campaign is shaping up to be one of the worst campaigns ever. It is indeed their worst start since the 1987/88 season.
Moreover, this could have been expected.
Coman was never really what could be considered a success as a manager. The last time he won the league championship was about 14 years ago, and the Copa del Rey, which was his last in any club, came in the past decade with Valencia.
The playing periods at both Southampton and Everton were remarkable for how poorly the teams’ organization was.
Playing at the club gives you an understanding of the inner workings, but successes elsewhere often dictate how good things can be when you’re under the microscope at a pressure cooker job like Barcelona.
Coman wasn’t cut short for it … the truth is, he wasn’t.
Communicator. Reader. Hipster-friendly introvert. General zombie specialist. Tv trailblazer