Barcelona assistant coach reveals Ronald Koeman’s philosophy

Ronald Koeman’s philosophy for Barcelona has been revealed by his assistant.

Ronald Koeman was selected as the new Barcelona head coach after the embarrassing night in Libson where they lost 8-2 at the hands of Bayern Munich. The ex-Barcelona player was mostly selected as the club’s latest manager due to his affiliation with the club and years of managerial experience. The Dutch coach had previously managed big clubs like Ajax, Valencia, and Everton. He was even the head coach of the Netherland national team before he accepted the offer from the Catalan side.

There is no doubt that Koeman is an immensely talented manager with clear footballing philosophies. According to the second coach, Alfred Schreuder, the manager expects the players to play how they used to in the Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and Lionel Messi era. High pressing football while keeping the majority of the position is going to be their new style. The ideology is quite similar to what Pep Guardiola used during his time with the club. Quick attacking football while always keeping the ball moving via a series of small passes was how the Barcelona midfield conquered the world.

Now it seems as if Koeman is willing to bring back that brand of football, the one which most people can associate Barca with. After the years’ post-Guardiola era, the Spanish side changed a lot but their attack of Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez was still considered deadly and thus even if they no longer played very attractive football, they always managed to get results in a convincing fashion. Their ways changed though as the club’s players grew older and younger talent were not given proper attention. The club went from playing direct attacking football to a more unattractive counter-attacking style.

However, all that might change according to the assistant coach. Schreuder said that the players will need time to adjust to the new playstyle as it will be very physically demanding. The players must put in all their effort throughout the ninety minutes to maintain the high tempo and thus he suggested that teams would be switched regularly. Things look very exciting at Nou Camp and we must wait and see whether the new manager can finally change things for one of the most prestigious clubs in Europe.

Will Koeman become another Barca coach to win the treble?