Ronald Koeman has been announced as the new Barcelona manager. Here are 5 players from the youth team that he must give a chance to.
Ronald Koeman was officially announced as the manager of FC Barcelona today. A dream come true for the Dutchman, former player, Champions League winner and free kick taker extraordinaire.
In any other circumstances, welcoming back a club legend would have brought utter joy to the hearts of the Barcelona fans. But some are already calling this project one that is doomed.
As long as Josep Maria Bartomeu stays, this club will not improve its situation. That statement is as close to a fact as it can be. His last roll of the dice as club president will potentially ruin the legacy of yet another club legend.
But that club legend is a decent coach. His career has been a mixed bag after retiring as a player, but there has been one consistent theme, his penchant for picking youth players. Should Barcelona somehow manage to get rid of their senior players and reduce that monstrous wage bill, Koeman does have a small platform to build the team of next generation footballers. And I sincerely hope he makes it his sole priority to do so.
Here are five players from the youth team Koeman must play.
#5: Francisco Trincao
Among the billion odd Euros Barcelona have spent since the sale of Neymar, there is a reason 30 million was dropped on this 20-year-old Portuguese kid. More importantly the insertion of a 500 million Euro release clause is indicator that the club do not want him to go.
But in recent times there have been plenty of talented footballers at the club who have looked elsewhere as they saw their opportunities to play diminish. Koeman must not let that happen with Trincao.
A forward player who scored 7 goals for Braga this season, he should be used sporadically in the first team this year, and be allowed to show that he is capable of replacing the sluggish Luis Suarez.