Koeman: "It's a different Barcelona to previous years"
The new Dutch head coach admitted the 4-2-3-1 formation played on Saturday night is slightly more defensive, but insists "this team can do it". "We're happy," Koeman said after the 3-1 win over Nàstic.
New Barcelona boss, Ronald Koeman, spoke on Barça TV after his first game in charge of the Catalan club. Barça defeated Nàstic 3-1 in a friendly held before they open their La Liga campaign.
"The most important thing is that fortunately there have been no injuries. Everyone has played 45 minutes. There were moments of good intensity. There are always things to improve on but we're happy. We have been here for two weeks and we have two more to go."
New system
Regarding the system and positioning, with the double pivot, Koeman said: "It may be different and somewhat more defensive than what has been seen in recent years, but the objective is to move the ball, hold on to it and find the spaces to play between the lines, and behind rival midfielders. I think this team can do it because we have midfielders to play like that."
Short pre-season
Koeman assured that he was interested in seeing players even though they had only been training for a few days: "It is important that they already play because it is not a normal pre-season. We only have four weeks, not six. It is complicated. What we want to do now is physical work and in the next two weeks work on the tactical side more."