Following a rather poor showing throughout the 2019/20 season, everyone knew this campaign would be a largely transitional one. After all, having lost two coaches in a relatively short span of time and then being on the edge of losing the best player in the history of the club was bound to rattle a few feathers. And rattle them it did.
The appointment of Ronald Koeman, therefore, was largely a hail Mary by the struggling hierarchy who knew they had to take drastic measures in order to survive. Measures were taken, sure, but they didn’t finish their mandate with Josep Maria Bartomeu flying out the exit door.
Now, however, a bit less than halfway into the 2020/21 season, Barcelona are still a wounded giant. At the very start, it did seem like Koeman’s changes would be enough to weather the storm. Until they weren’t.
Things started falling apart relatively quickly, resulting in Barcelona plummeting down the standings week after week. Of course, the first couple of games went great as they crushed both Villarreal and Celta Vigo 4:0 and 0:3 respectively, which made many fans excited for the immediate future.
However, Koeman always stumbled at the bigger challenges. First there were Sevilla, then Getafe, then Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Juventus. All the big games ended either in a draw or a defeat, mostly the latter though. And just like that, Barcelona found themselves in the bottom part of the table with the alarm bells blazing across the Camp Nou. Continue reading