Barcelona is having a difficult time adjusting to life without Lionel Messi. The Catalan club sits ninth in La Liga after a less than spectacular start to their season which has seen them lose only 1 game, but they have drawn three and won three. In between there was a disastrous defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, where the club has lost their 2 games so far and sit last in Group E.
Ronald Koeman has been under fire for most of his tenure as coach of Barcelona, and things got even more heated after the team’s 2-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid where former player Luis Suarez scored against his old club.
Now Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanić has broken his silence about what is going on at Barcelona and slammed Koeman’s leadership. Here is what Miralem Pjanić had to say about Barcelona’s woes.
Miralem Pjanić statements about Ronald Koeman
Miralem Pjanić is currently out on loan to Besiktas of Turkey, after only playing 19 games for the club before being shipped out this season. In an interview with BeIn Sports Pjanić did not hold back and said, “The results are not going as the fans want, which puts pressure on the players… Maybe a good leader is needed to get the team back on its feet. Barcelona will return to the past, but it will take some time… Barça are always one of the four or five biggest clubs in the world, and they will go back to the old days.”
Barcelona is currently operating at a fraction of their budget during their glory days, given the 1-billion-euro loss the club has taken on due to poor administration. The financial collapse has seen the club lose star player Lionel Messi and was forced to move other high market players in order to cut costs or gain revenue.
For Barcelona the drama continues as Ronald Koeman’s days seemed to be numbered with Xavi being the top candidate to take over the team.