With all the rumors surrounding his future, Ronald Koeman got praise from an admirer who believes he earned to remain at FC Barcelona.
When Ronald Koeman arrived at FC Barcelona, he perfectly knew what he was getting himself into after signing his contract. This is a football club in complete shambles that was plunged in both an institutional and financial crisis. As the associates pushed for a new president while they kicked the old one out, Koeman was aware his future wasn’t certain. However, he wanted to have that responsibility to rebuild the club from the ground up by giving younger generations a chance.
He is after all, one of the club’s first real heroes from the early ‘90s decade. Koeman’s love for the Catalan club is unquestionable and he obviously wanted to help. However, he also harbored some hope that his work would speak for itself and he could earn himself a steady job with the new president. In retrospect, Ronald hasn’t done a bad job as the club’s coach. They already reached the Copa del Rey final and they are very much alive in La Liga.
Ten Cate defends Koeman from exit rumors.
Enter Henk ten Cate, who was Frank Rijkaard’s assistant manager during the 2003 season. Back then, there was a similar situation taking place at the club and they had to make hard decisions. Although Rijkaard doesn’t have the same football philosophy, he was still very successful at the club after Laporta trusted him: “What Koeman is doing is extraordinary, he deserves an opportunity to be part of the new project,” Ten Cate told Catalunya Radio. “He’s done a great job, really good, and it’s happened a bit like it did with us. He’s made the team grow day by day and now it’s much better than three months ago.
“We [at Barcelona] also worked with really young players, like Xavi, [Victor] Valdes, [Andres] Iniesta, Gabri, Oleguer and later [Lionel] Messi. You have to remember that we had to do without 15 players who were let go. Joan Laporta is the best because he knows the football world and has a great ability for valuing people. He always believed in our work, with the support of Johan Cruyff, of course. He was always on our side, he believed in what we were doing, he knew we needed time and he gave it to us.”
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