LIGA - Ronald Koeman: Why Lionel Messi was a "tyrant"

22.09.2021 20:10 of E.B. TransferMarketWeb   see readings
LIGA - Ronald Koeman: Why Lionel Messi was a "tyrant"
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Ronald Koeman is the focus of the international sports media. The Dutchman is no longer firmly in the saddle at FC Barcelona. In an interview with Voetbal International, Koeman doesn't talk about his job, but about working with Lionel Messi, the world star who left the Catalans in the summer.

Between Koeman and the striker, it should have been a crisis in the meantime. But nothing of that can be seen in the trainer's statements. Rather, Koeman praises his former protege over the proverbial clover. "Anything you want to teach a football player, how to recognize situations, how to take the ball under pressure, how fast it is, how to finish - everything is a ten at Messi," said the Barça coach.
Rondo made Messi a "tyrant"

According to Koeman, Messi didn't know any "frills" in training. During the exercises there were sometimes players who “began to hit light balls, to fool around a bit”. With Messi, however, everything was "boom, boom, boom, boom". The Argentine trained “functionally” and “always wanted to win”.

Before training, the Barca team regularly plays a rondo. It is customary that "players in the middle do an extra round" as soon as the actors who make up the circle make 20 contacts. If this happens three times in a row, the two players in the middle are hit on the head.

When Koeman's question to Messi how often he was affected, La Pulga replied: “Once.” The result clearly reflected the ambition of the ball virtuoso: “Messi was very angry about it for a week. Really, a tyrant. "The 58-year-old adds:" This is not normal. "