Barcelona Boss Ronald Koeman Speaks On New Role For Messi, Griezmann & Others

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Barcelona Boss Ronald Koeman Speaks On New Role For Messi, Griezmann & Others

New Barcelona manager, Ronald Koeman, seems set to hand new roles to Lionel Messi, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann in his tactical setup.

Both Messi and Coutinho will remain at the Camp Nou, after looking set to leave this summer.

The two players lined up together in Koeman’s starting line-up against Girona in a friendly on Wednesday, along with Griezmann.

Messi was restored to a ‘false nine’ role, a position he played regularly under Pep Guardiola.

Luis Suarez’s introduction saw him moved around, but he was back in central role dropping deep.

Messi also created Coutinho’s opener with a fine through ball. It came with the Brazilian playing on the left flank, having generally been used either centrally or on the right in the past.

Griezmann dropped back into a deeper midfield position in the middle of a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Speaking about his selection after the game, which they won 3-1, Koeman explained:

“I always try to put the best attack possible.

“We have several players who can play in different positions and that is a very good option.

“Coutinho can play on the left wing and fall through the centre.

“Griezmann can play on the wings, in the midfielder and up front, and Messi can start from the right, play further back or further forward in attack. There are many options.”