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Ansu Fati is only 17 years old but Barcelona's new coach Ronald Koeman is betting on him
Photo:
Joan Monfort / AP
On Monday afternoon, FC Barcelona published its business results.
Of course, it is clouded by the corona consequences.
Where they wanted to be the first football club to exceed the billion mark in revenue, it remained with a turnover of 855 million euros, which is nevertheless market-leading.
The loss is 97 million euros, the debt has more than doubled to 488 million euros.
By midnight at the latest, this balance sheet could be read as an apology to coach Ronald Koeman: Sorry, just no money there.
Koeman had advocated a new central defender several times and especially for his Dutch compatriot Memphis Depay in attack.
"We want him to come, and he wants to come," he said on the same Monday.
But because Barça, for his part, did not get the offensive player Ousmane Dembélé anywhere until the transfer deadline at midnight (Manchester United should have been interested), there was simply no budget for the Olympique Lyon striker.
In addition to the well-known newcomers Sergiño Dest (full-back, Ajax Amsterdam), Miralem Pjanić (midfield, Juventus) as well as Francisco Trincão (Braga) and Pedri (Las Palmas, both attack), Koeman has to work with what is there - and that's yes not that bad.
Which is the first merit of the Dutchman: A month and a half after taking office, the view of the team has changed.
Fans and media no longer only see the losers from 2: 8 against FC Bayern, who would have loved to be chased to hell with each other.
But again a committed team that is fueling hopes for this season.
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Ronald Koeman came to FC Barcelona for the new season as a coach and dared to break the system
Photo: MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP
After convincing successes against Villarreal (4-0) and Celta Vigo (3-0), there was only one draw against Sevilla last time.
But at least you were dealing with the Europa League winners and championship secret favorites.
Sevilla are the physically strongest team in the league and, unlike against Bayern, Barça was able to keep up with this intensity - although three days earlier in Vigo they had left a lot of strength in storm rain and a half-time outnumbered.
A not uncertain system change
The physique, a component of football that is traditionally unpopular in Barcelona and often underestimated in debates: Koeman has focused on it from the start.
It is said that there is more pull in training than in many years.
Koeman has also changed the system to stabilize it.
His Barça are firm in a 4-2-3-1;
Nobody in the pantheon of 4-3-3 had dared to do that before.
But the team and the environment have arrived in the new reality.
Bayern had made it abundantly clear that simply insisting on "Barça-DNA" and "Messi, the god of football", could no longer make a state.
A 2: 8 ensures humility - and makes Koeman's work easier.
The professionals follow him;
and the press celebrates that there is finally a respected leader again.
"Since the first day I've seen players who are very hungry and willing to rehabilitate themselves," says the coach and does everything right with such statements: He passes on the praise he deserves and scores additional points in the dressing room.
Adored since his playing days in Barcelona, but not necessarily known as the chief diplomat, Koeman shows more tact than many would have expected him to be.
"After so many dissatisfaction, I would like to draw a line"
Lionel Messi
Even captain Lionel Messi has ended the lament over his prevented move.
Last week, when he attacked Luis Suárez ten days ago on the occasion of the departure of his bosom friend ("In this club I am no longer surprised"), he suddenly acted as a selfless guide: "After so many dissatisfactions, I want to draw a line "he said, even admitting his own mistakes.
Instinct probably advised him not to spoil the game any longer.
The fact that the 17-year-old Ansu Fati began to steal the show and that even the most well-meaning observers gradually grew tired of his grumpiness may have contributed to this.
But also his good impression of Koeman's work.
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Philippe Coutinho (left) blossoms again under Koeman
Photo: Lalo R. Villar / imago images / Cordon Press / Miguelez Sports
Messi's turnaround after a frosty beginning of the mutual relationship was seen as a triumph for the coach in Barcelona.
So far, however, Koeman has been careful not to take advantage of him or to make further statements of authority.
As the only offensive player, Messi has never been replaced in the three games of the season so far.
The longer the games lasted, the more it became their focus.
But Barça also runs the risk of falling back into old patterns, handling every attack through him - and becoming as predictable as before.
The 17 year old Ansu Fati is now a regular player
In Koeman's basic idea, on the other hand, four attackers change their positions and take turns occupying the center of the storm.
Including Fati, the sensational teenager Koeman promoted to regular player.
The real surprise, however, is one that most of the people in Barcelona had already written off: Philippe Coutinho.
In view of his return from a loan at FC Bayern, the management first tried to place him at a club in England, where he came from in 2018 for the club's record fee of 120 million euros plus bonuses.
Even Coutinho himself was not keen on the Camp Nou, where he had sometimes even been whistled.
But Koeman immediately bet on him, and the difference the state of mind makes in a sensitive player, Coutinho showed with three squeaky clean performances.
The new 4-2-3-1 is a perfect fit for the Brazilian, who has his strengths in the interfaces between midfield and attack.
He used to hang his shoulders after losing the ball, now he bravely pursues.
"He learned a lot in Munich, especially on the subject of work," says Koeman, while Coutinho is said to be hard to get out of the gym.
It's as ironic as it is indicative of Barça's turbulent year: A two-time goalscorer who had already failed, especially for Bayern in the 8-2 win over Barcelona, now represents the new times, about which Ronald Koeman himself says: "It's going better than everyone had thought . "
Icon: The mirror
