Barcelona board put pressure on Laporta to sack Koeman
The club president has been asked to fire the Dutch coach by several board members. Barça's financial situation is not helping Laporta make a decision so early in the season.
According to Catalan outfit TV3, several members of the Barcelona board of directors, chaired by Joan Laporta, met on Thursday to discuss the future of head coach Ronald Koeman. Koeman's current deal at Camp Nou runs until June 2022. The Catalan club would have to pay the severance package and find a replacement if they sacked him at this stage of the new season.
Advice from Cruyff
Jordi Cruyff, son of club legend Johan, is Laporta's advisor, and is reluctant to step into a position where he would be replacing a family friend. Sergi Barjuan is Barça B's head coach, however Laporta does not believe he is qualified enough to take charge of the first team. Former club captain Xavi has always been linked with a return to the club but the fact that Barça didn't appoint him before the beginning of the season makes it difficult to see him coming so early in the new campaign.
Barcelona suffered a heavy defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League this week, losing 3-0 on the night. This defeat has sparked the debate over Koeman's future with some members of the board. Some have little knowledge of football and are making a decision through passion more than anything else. There are currently 18 members sitting on the Barça board. They include: Rafael Yuste, Maria Elena Fort, Ferran Olivé, Josep Maria Albert, Xavier Barbany, Miquel Camps, Alfons Castro, Josep Cubells, Antonio Escudero, Juli Guiu, Jordi Llauradó, Josep Ignasi Macià, Aureli Mas, Xavier Puig, Àngel Riudalbàs, Eduard Romeu, Joan Solé and Joan Soler.
Pressure on Laporta
Despite this pressure coming from the board, Joan Laporta has the final decision on Koeman's future. He recently said that he "likes Koeman". Laporta and Rafa Yuste do not believe in Koeman. Mateu Alemany is director of football at Barça and Ramon Planes is technical secretary. They both have a higher opinion of Koeman than Laporta and Yuste. Koeman's job is on the line and with questions already being asked over his future, it remains to be seen how long he will have left in charge of the LaLiga club.