Why Ronald Koeman should not be replaced as FC Barcelona manager

On August 19th 2020, the then-FC Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu announced that Ronald Koeman would be instated as the club's new manager.

At this point, the Catalan club was arguably at its lowest point in decades, having recently been defeated in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals by Bayern Munich in a completely one-sided 8-2 affair. Barcelona had also lost the league title to rivals Real Madrid on the penultimate match-day just a month earlier.

As such, not much was expected of FC Barcelona for the 2020-21 season. Koeman himself said:

"we'll have to make changes because the image of the [loss to Bayern] is not what we want. We’ll have to work hard to recover our prestige..."

From the start of Koeman's tenure, it was clear that he was not afraid to make drastic changes, coordinating the outgoing transfers of big names.

Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic were sold, so were established squad members such as Arturo Vidal and Nelson Semedo.

However, perhaps due to Koeman being instated quite late into the summer transfer market, Barcelona were unable to replace many of the players they had let go. Most notably, the club were unable to sign a striker in the window, leaving a gaping hole in Barcelona's attack.

Despite this, Barcelona were able to acquire many promising players in the window, including the highly-touted Las Palmas winger Pedri and US national team right-back Sergiño Dest.

It was clear that if Koeman wanted to replicate the success of some of his predecessors, a lot of work was needed, and work he did.

Ansu Fati was key to Koeman's plans in the first half of the season

In his first few months in charge of the Catalan club, Koeman experimented with many different formations. He often played players out-of-position to find out what worked best for the team. This was a steep departure from the 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 which Barcelona had consistently played with over a decade with most of the same players.

While the team initially stumbled a bit, losing to Getafe, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, Koeman seemed to eventually find a winning formula. He used 17-year-old Spanish international Ansu Fati as a striker and had Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong work as a double pivot in front of the defence in a 4-5-1 formation.

Unfortunately for Koeman, as November rolled in, Barcelona faced a string of injuries, including to those of Ansu Fati, Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet, all regular starters.

This forced the former Dutch international to alter his plans as the season progressed, and after experimenting with more formations, he ended up changing his preferred formation to a variation of the 3-5-1 with advanced full-backs.

With this new formation, the club experienced some success, winning eleven games, drawing two, and losing three in the months of December and January - performing better in this two-month period than they have in any two-month stretch in 2020, notwithstanding the fact that one of the three games they lost came at the hands of Athletic Bilbao during the Spanish Supercup final.

After January, as Barcelona's injury list shortened, Koeman's 3-5-1 system started to pick up steam, with the club staying undefeated in nine straight league games between February and the start of April, which left them within reach of the La Liga trophy.

At the same time, however, this period showcased one of Koeman's, and by eextension, Barcelona's biggest weaknesses - their abysmal performances in big games. In the UEFA Champions League, the club lost in an uneventful tie against Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 that ended 5-2 on aggregate, and in La Liga, Barcelona lost to a weak Real Madrid squad in a match that could have put the Catalan club in prime position to win the league.

It can be said that these losses were, at the very least, partially due to Koeman's mismanagement of the squad, with many criticizing his overuse of certain players and late substitutions in such games.

While Koeman may not have fully utilized his squad, poor results in big games might have been inevitable for the current Barcelona squad.

With many key players having left, and the club clearly attempting to rebuild its squad back to its previous strength, it may have been too much to ask for Barcelona to hold its own against Europe's best clubs.

If anything, Ronald Koeman may have done the very thing he said he would do - help foster the next generation of Barcelona superstars, and in his words, "work hard to recover [the club's] prestige".

Pedri has been a revelation for the Catalan club this season

Barcelona's next-generation fostered by Koeman

One thing Koeman has done throughout the season is give many youngsters valuable minutes on the pitch. Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of this has been the 18-year-old Pedri.

He has played 52 games for the Blaugrana this season, more than anyone else in the squad. Consistently one of the most involved players on the pitch, the Spanish international has wowed many with his constant drive to win back and attack with the ball, his raw technical skills, and perhaps most of all, his incredible patience and vision when on the ball. Qualities that have drawn many comparisons to the legendary Andres Iniesta.

Apart from Pedri, many of Barcelona's young defenders have come into their own this season, establishing their spot in the starting eleven. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is the 22-year old Ronald Araújo, who has arguably been the club's most impressive defender this year - having ended the season as the outfield player with the most minutes played without getting dribbled past in Europe's top 5 leagues.

Other than Araujo, new signing Sergiño Dest has also established himself as Koeman's preferred starting right-back over veteran Sergi Roberto, with his raw pace and ability to move up the flank seeing lots of success on the big stage.

The most surprising find without a doubt however, is Óscar Mingueza. A rotational squad member for Barcelona B, Mingueza was brought into the first team in November by Koeman following an injury to Gerard Pique. After a string of quality performances towards the end of 2020, the Spaniard became Koeman's clear third-choice center-back over the likes of Samuel Umtiti and Clément Lenglet.

As a product of the Dutch school of thought, it is clear that Koeman places a large emphasis on the development of young players - without this emphasis, it is not unreasonable to say that few of the players listed earlier would not have gotten the chance to showcase their immense talents this season.

Additionally, the manager's 3-5-1 system has greatly benefited some of the old guard of the Barcelona team, with Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets having their best seasons in a while. The former having had more freedom to move upfield and the latter having the extra support of Frenkie de Jong in the pivot position.

All things considered, Koeman may not have brought forth championship success that Barcelona have gotten used to in the past few decades or so, but he has done his job well - using the few resources he has. With the exception of Riqui Puig, who does not get much playing time for reasons mostly unknown. He has helped Barcelona compete in, and even win, major competitions such as the Copa del Rey.

The Dutchman has also helped in facilitating the strengthening of Blaugrana for thecoming years by experimenting with different tactics and allowing young players to shine. This may be most important given how the club is due for a major overhaul in its squad. Hence, cutting him loose now will be a hasty and unwise decision for the Barca board.