Ronald Koeman: An illustrious Career on the Decline?

FC Barcelona’s current Laliga season consists of just four wins from ten matches, including three draws and three losses.

They suffered two consecutive losses in the Spanish topflight, losing 2-1 to their bitter rivals Real Madrid CF at the Camp Nou and another defeat against Rayo Vallecano. 

Barcelona is also struggling to find its form in the European Champions League competition, currently having just one victory from their group stage matches.

This poor run of state under the coach Ronald Koeman did make the fans call out for the sacking of the Manager, and many fans reacted strongly against Koeman after the team’s defeat against real in the el-Clasico match.

People were shouting and hitting on the car of the Manager as he was leaving after the game.

Koeman’s Managerial Stint at Barcelona

Ronald Koeman was officially relieved of his duties as the first-team coach on 27 October 2021, with the team’s official website publishing the news.

President of the club, Joan Laporta, informed Koeman of the decision after the defeat against Rayo Vallecano, ending Koeman’s tenure as the Manager of FCB, which began on 19 August 2020.

He replaced Quique Setién after the club’s disastrous defeat of 8-2 against Bayern. 

Koeman promised he could make the club great again and turn around the poor form the club was in at the time.

However, his career as the club’s head coach did not turn out to be the way he would have hoped.

His managerial career at the club after being 67 games in charge, he departs the Camp Nou with a record of 40 wins, 12 draws and 16 defeats with a win percentage in all competitions standing at just 58%, which is the lowest by any Barca manager.

Koeman: His Professional Football Career and the Managerial Career

Ronald Koeman, born 21 March 1963, is a Dutch professional football manager and former player.

He is the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman and the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman.

He has played both as a midfielder and defender, he was praised for his versatility, and he frequently played as a sweeper. He is famous for his goal-scoring abilities.

Koeman began his career at Groningen. He went to Ajax in 1983, where he won the national Eredivisie title in 1984–85. He then joined PSV Eindhoven in 1986, winning three consecutive Eredivisie titles during 1986–89 and also won the European Cup in 1988.

Ronald Koeman is one of five European players to win a treble with their club and a cup with their national team in the same year.

At the international level, Koeman was one of the stars of the Netherlands national team, and he won the UEFA Euro 1988 and then captained the team.

Koeman as a Barcelona player

Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona is one of the most popular squads in the history of football. Koeman became a part of this squad in 1989.

He then won La Liga four years in a row between 1991 and 1994, and the 1991–92 European Cup, where he scored the final goal of the last against Sampdoria.

Player turned Manager

Koeman won three Eredivisie titles as a manager, with Ajax in 2001–02 and again in 2003–04, and then went on to win once with PSV Eindhoven in the 2006–07 season.

Koeman holds the record of having both played for and managed the Ajax, PSV, and Feyenoord.

He has coached Los Ché to victory in the 2007–08 Copa del Rey.

He then became the Manager of the Netherlands national team between 2018 and 2020 and helped the team finish runners-up in the 2019 UEFA Nations League. 

His recent years showing the Signs of losing the Quality.

Koeman, who has won the 2020–21 Copa del Rey with Barcelona, could not deliver the expectations put on him by the board and fans.

His grandiose words were no match for his performance as the coach of Barca. He has lost three games against Real Madrid; his win percentage is the worst for a Barcelona manager. 

Some players he coached at Barcelona came out heavily criticizing his coaching style and man-management.

Is the Dutch legend’s career marching onto its untimely end, or will he be able to turn around things and be able to find himself in another post before long?