Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has accused Riqui Puig of leaking information in front of the entire squad according to El País.
Koeman told Puig before the season began to look for a new team because he was not going to get the minutes he wanted at Barcelona, or even include him in the squad of the day to face Elche at Joan Gamper.
Their conversation was soon made public, much to the displeasure of the Dutch coach. “You are a leak”, it is said that he told Puig in front of the entire dressing room.
Koeman is said to be intent on eliminating harmful behaviors that he believes have infiltrated the Camp Nou locker room.
It’s a dynamic that apparently began to change with Ernesto Valverde when he made concessions to get the best out of Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez.
Part of the solution for Koeman was ditching some of the older players on the squad, like Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal, to change the culture.
Now Barcelona appear to be much more direct in their criticism, perhaps best exemplified by the clear criticism from Antoine Griezmann following their loss to Juventus last week.
Similarly, Koeman is much more forthright when speaking to the press about his players’ performance. Recently, he blamed Barcelona’s poor form on individual errors rather than an inefficient system.
The result is a formation that doesn’t seem to be working and a squad that doesn’t seem to be united, or “a pineapple” as they say in Spain. Solving these problems will be Koeman’s great challenge.
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