Ronald Koeman complains of poor treatment ahead of talks over Barcelona future

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Ronald Koeman complains of poor treatment ahead of talks over Barcelona future

Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has complained of harsh treatment this season ahead of talks with club president Joan Laporta over his future.

The Dutch tactician took charge of Barcelona last summer, but it’s not been an entirely convincing debut season for him at the Nou Camp.

Barcelona under-achieved in the Champions League once again, and they’re now in an extremely tight title race in La Liga, with rivals Atletico Madrid surely the favourites to go on and win the trophy.

It remains to be seen if Koeman can keep his job after this, especially given that Barca also elected a new president this season, with Laporta replacing Josep Bartomeu, the man who hired Koeman in the first place.

Laporta may have his own managerial candidate in mind to take over next season, and Koeman admits they’re going to hold talks.

The former Everton boss didn’t exactly sound in great spirits either, as he criticised the harsh media treatment of him in recent times.

“I feel a little bit [mistreated] in the last two weeks,” Koeman said, as quoted by Goal.

“If you analyse a season, you must analyse the changes to the team, the young players, that we won the cup, that we had 13 points [fewer] in December and we’re still fighting for the league – [even if] it’s a small possibility.

“That’s what you need to analyse. And if I heard the media in the last few days, it looks like we did a really bad job and I don’t agree.

“I feel supported by the players and the team has a big future. If we can sign what we think we lack to take the next step, I think we can be very excited about the team next season.”

On his future at Barcelona and talks with Laporta, he added: “I can’t explain much. We talked about the team, the season and recent results. We’ve arranged to meet again after the season.”

“The end of the season is the right moment to speak, above all for the club.

“I want to stay; I am happy and I see a lot of room to improve things. It’s a path that doesn’t end this season.

“In my opinion, there are a lot of positives. You can’t say two weeks ago everything is perfect and now it’s all terrible. That’s not fair. [Laporta] will have the final say but I am relaxed.”