Ronald Koeman's future as Barcelona coach is not dependent on Thursday's result at Cadiz. However, Joan Laporta, club president, said that the outcome of Thursday's game at Cadiz will affect his future, but added that "if we have to make decisions, we'll make them."
Koeman is under tremendous pressure after last week's 3-0 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich. This was followed by a 1-1 home LaLiga draw at Camp Nou with Granada on Monday.
ESPN has been told by sources that Barca is looking into replacements for Koeman but have not had the opportunity to act quickly due to a lack of options.
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El Chiringuito was told by Laporta on Thursday that "Koeman’s future does not depend on tonight's result," he said to El Chiringuito, speaking from the Cadiz team hotel. "We are with him. Barca's first-team coach is he, and we want things to be well.
All coaches, not just Koeman depend on results. In Barca's instance, it is their style of play. Koeman is our coach and we are with him today.
In his prematch media conference on Wednesday, Koeman declined to answer any questions. Instead, he read a prepared statement where he requested "time" as well as "unconditional support" for the team.
Barcelona is putting pressure on Ronald Koeman. David Ramos/Getty Images
Laporta was considering sacking Koeman in the summer. He looked into possible candidates, including Hansi Flick (Germany coach) and Roberto Martinez (Belgium coach).
Since then, the relationship between the two has been further damaged by board frustration over the team's performance, results and Koeman's open interviews in Dutch media.
Laporta stated that Thursday's statement revealed that "we see that the team doesn't work as we all hoped," "In this sense, we'll always think of Barcelona. ... We'll make the decisions if they have to be made."
He said, "What I don’t like is a conformist approach, a certain defeatism. That can’t be allowed at Barcelona." We have the team, but we can still aspire for LaLiga victory. The players tell me that they believe we must be positive, work hard, and fight every day because you only achieve success with consistent work. "Less talking, more doing, more work."
Barca has won and drawn two of their four LaLiga matches so far this season, but they face a difficult fixture list in the coming month with games against Atletico Madrid Valencia and Real Madrid in October.
