(Football news) Barcelona have officially announced the departure of Ronald Koeman from the club. The Dutch manager has been relieved from his duties after over 14th months incharge and won the Copa Del Rey title in his tenure. The decision came after back to back losses against arch rivals Real Madrid and newly promoted Rayo Vallecano.

Ronald Koeman the player was a legend at FC Barcelona who's free-kick goal won Barcelona it's maiden European cup. Barcelona were in a very difficult situation after sacking Quique Setién and going trophyless in the 2019/20 season. To make matters worse, club captain and talisman Lionel Messi didn't want to stay at Barcelona. Koeman was given the job purely on the basis of the 'Club Legend Quota'. His managerial C.V was never good enough to land a job with a club like Barcelona.

The first thing that Koeman did was offloading Luis Suarez who ended up joining league rivals Atlético Madrid. He publicly stated that young starlet Riqui Puig was not ready to be a first team regular which didn't go down well with the fans that had seen him put in good performances for the first team. FC Barcelona finished the season 3rd on the league table 7 points behind winners Atlético Madrid. What hurt Barcelona supporters more was that Luis Suarez almost single handedly took Atlético to the title. Barcelona also faced another embarrassing UCL Round of 16 exit after they lost 5-2 aggregate loss to PSG. 

Barcelona's board was changed before the 2021/22 season but Koeman was still backed and Lionel Messi was set to stay, but Messi's untimely departure changed things around completely. Antoine Griezmann was also sold back to Atlético Madrid. The squad was possibly the worst in the recent history of Blaugrana despite the additions of Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero. After 10 games Barcelona sit 9th on the table, 6 points off the top. Things get worse in the UCL where the Catalan club has won only 1 out of the 3 matches. One of the losses was another embarrassment by Bayern Munich, defeating Barcelona at the Camp Nou 3-0 and the other was a 3-0 defeat to Benfica away. 

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Despite the Barcelona squad not being good enough, it was certainly better than it played under Koeman. The major issue with Koeman's tactics was that there was no visible plan in any of the games. A certain reliance on individual brilliance was seen. The Dutch manager did do a few good things like promoting academy graduates like Pedri, Gavi and Nico Gonzalez. Sergino Dest's development first as a full back last season and now as a winger has been very good. 

Barcelona haven't announced any interim manager which is an indication that they will have a replacement ready before their next game against Deportivo Alaves on Saturday. Belgium manager Roberto Martinez and club legend Xavi are rumoured to be prime contenders for the vacant job.