Every coach and player is media trained to the point that they won’t say anything controversial by accident, so anything big that comes out of their press conferences and interviews is generally being said for a reason.
The usual motive will be to put some pressure on someone to do something, and it appears that Ronald Koeman is heaping the pressure on Barcelona to get his future sorted out.
A report from Sport has confirmed that he has another year left on his deal so it doesn’t come down to that, but Koeman has publicly said that he doesn’t feel like he has the support of the board at the moment.
That is a huge thing to say when there are plenty of rumours about him being replaced in the summer, and it means that something will need to be done pretty soon or those rumours will intensify.
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The ideal situation for him will see the club commit to signing his preferred transfer targets and possibly giving him a new deal, while you get the feeling that would have already happened if they didn’t crumble in the final weeks of the season and throw the title away.
The report says he wants to stay but he admits to being disrespected, and it does look like he’s laying the early groundwork to make the board look like the evil party if he does end up leaving.
His comments also suggest that he has no intention of walking away, so he would need to be sacked if a more suitable replacement is found.