Ronald Koeman explains ‘when he would step off’ as Barcelona coach | OneFootball

It is no secret at this point that Ronald Koeman is staring at an exit from Barcelona. The 58-year-old head coach has come under the intense pressure of late, with the defeat to Bayern Munich and the draw against Granada seemingly sealing his fate.

However, speaking in an interview with Dutch outlet Voetbal International, Koeman was in a defiant mood, as he stated that he would consider leaving the club only when he felt that his messages were not getting across to his players.

“The only way I will quit at this club is when my messages don’t arrive at the players anymore. That’s when I will say: ‘Okay, I am done here.’ But this is not the case. Every day that I am on the pitch with my players is a nice day, that’s how I drive to the club,” he said.

Koeman, who took over the reins at the club last year, has had to go through turbulent times ever since. At the time when he came in Lionel Messi was pushing to leave the club, while Barca was then caught up in a boardroom scandal involving former president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Once Joan Laporta was re-elected as president, Koeman’s job also came under scrutiny while the true situation of the club’s poor finances also started to come to light. Speaking of all the issues that he has seen, the manager said:

“I knew that the financial situation here wasn’t very good, but I didn’t know it was this bad. Joan Laporta didn’t know that too. I think he was just as shocked as me. We are all in the same boat here.”

Koeman also claimed that he is very much aware of the pressure that came with the Barcelona job and the only way to deal with it was by winning matches.

“No one has to feel sorry for me. In Spain, the manager will get the blame. It’s very black & white here. You get a penalty against you while being better for 90 minutes.. they will blame the manager’s tactics,” he said.

“The only way to make things calm here is by winning. By winning, winning, and more winning,” he added. And that is what Koeman will be hoping to do when his team takes on Cadiz in La Liga later tonight, although a victory would only be delaying the inevitable.