BARCELONA – Ronald Koeman, who started his press conference with a fond memory for his friend and former teammate Eusebio Sacristán, admitted on Saturday, in the preview of Barça’s first game in the new year against Huesca, that the Barça team will still have Messidependencia “Like many years ago. You have to think that his quality, his game and his importance were very important at the club. I saw games in Barcelona a long time before he came, and I saw that many times when the team did not “That’s right, Leo was there to solve it. That’s why he’s the best in the world.”
“I see him well, he’s fine. He trained on the 30th and 31st, when the team was celebrating and he has no discomfort in his ankle. He is happy, ready to play and eager,” he said before the crash at El Alcoraz. , acknowledging that it is still “very important to us”.
The Dutch coach wanted to put aside any speculation about the future of the Argentine star when asked if he did not think it would be good for the club and the team to communicate his decision in the next few days, saying that “we must respect him. to see his situation and He already said in the interview that he has not made any decision.Like any player who concludes his contract, he is free to decide, but we know that he will always show that he wants everything that is best for the team. It is not a problem that is not already defined, what we have to do is to respect his decision and leave him alone “.
Beyond what Messi was referring to, these were Koeman’s most remarkable phrases during the press conference:
EUSEBIO AND THE NEW YEAR
“I wish everyone a happy new year, with many successes and health. Speaking of health, we must think of Eusebio. He is my friend, we are all aware of his condition and we hope he will recover. Eusebio is a great uncle and I want to wish him and his family all the best. “
“I hope for many things for this year. First of all, the parties with an audience are coming back because we all lack that, we lack the atmosphere, a normal world … We are in the election month and we will wait to know the future, but the function is not we can think of other things than the games we have now, the rest I have no influence.
HUESCA
“We know that any game is complicated and there is a lot of competition. Huesca have conceded a few goals at home and we have to be prepared. But, as I always say, the main thing is that we have to improve as a team.”
“I’m not worried about the cold, we have to accept it. We have to be from the beginning and play our game, whether it’s hot or cold.”
TEAM
“It’s normal for the team to have doubts. If you look at the last game you think, how is it possible that we don’t win? Sometimes we lack effectiveness and we have fewer individual errors, but in the end what matters is the goals and we need to improve on the game board we play with more confidence “.
MARKET
“It wouldn’t be a disappointment if no one comes in the end. It would be for the club, money. The only thing I did with Ramon Planes is prepare for the future. We are talking about young people and positions that need to be improved for quality. We have a plan But the new president will have to decide. “
“We want to strengthen the team, of course, and yes, it would be good, not to mention the name, for some to leave now because they have to play games and it’s difficult for the team.”
“We won’t have much time to decide on the signatures. We are ready for the moment when the new president will come to talk about sports … But I can’t change the election date.”
SUÁREZ
“I don’t regret his departure. No. I always highlighted his qualities, it was a decision from him and the club. You can’t compare a team like Atlético like ours. They accept few goals and sometimes one goal. That’s enough.” .
CALENDAR AND LEAGUE
“Now we have a lot of games and a lot away from home. I’m realistic and we have a distance of eleven points with the first one, so we have to wait. You can’t lose more points, because we are not able to say that we have great chances to win. We can’t lose another game if we want to think about fighting for the championship. “
“The reality is that the situation in the league is that we are eleven points away and you can’t say we will win the title. That’s realistic, but that doesn’t mean we won’t fight to win. Even in a complicated situation.”
COUTINHO
“It’s another important loss. We also have Ansu Fati, Piqué, Sergi Roberto … almost all of them are beginners in the team. We lack people and sometimes it’s a problem.”
“Coutinho is an important player for us and I don’t know when it will be good to play again, because he is an important position and we have to think about how we can solve his loss.”
Griezmann
“We need the attackers to be effective, not just Griezmann. We need to improve at the top. I think we need to be more effective on the offensive side.”