Since officially coaching Barcelona, Ronald Koeman has directly stated that Luis Suarez was not included in his game plan. He said Suarez would be better off looking for another club or would sit a lot on the bench, even in the stands.
Suarez also accepted Atletico Madrid’s proposal. He went to the Rojiblancos with 198 goals in 283 appearances for Barcelona. The incision made him the third highest goalscorer in Blaugrana history.
Even though he is old, Suarez’s striker instincts remain high. That was evident last season when he was out for a long time but still managed to score 21 goals for Barcelona.
Suarez’s extraordinary achievement did not make Koeman change his ideas and plans to train Lionel Messi cs. Suarez, although the greatest striker in the world, still has to leave Camp Nou.
There are a number of reasons why Koeman kicked Suarez. One of them is age and injury prone.
In January 2019, Koeman stated that Suarez was one of Barcelona’s weak points that needed regeneration. This means that Barcelona needs to find a new, younger striker in that position.
Another reason is the flexibility of the players. Koeman actually adheres to the 4-3-3 system since he became a coach. Sometimes he changes it to 4-2-3-1 as needed.
This formation has been applied by the Dutch man in a number of teams he coached. Including Everton and when handling the Dutch national team.
With both formations, Koeman always places one central striker accompanied by two wings on either side. Koeman prefers strikers who can play in many positions, in the sense that they are not fixed in one area of attack.
The striker must be able to move the entire front area. In addition to his main task of scoring goals, the striker must also be able to provide mature passes, or comb from the wing.
A concrete example is Depay in the Dutch national team. Koeman prefers to plot him as a center striker instead of the left wing which is the favorite position of the Lyon striker.
Depay is also quite good at the Dutch national team. So far he has scored 19 goals in 53 appearances for De Oranye.
On that basis, Koeman was desperate to bring in Depay from Lyon when handling Barcelona. He knows Depay can be plotted in any position in the area of attack, according to the tactical needs and strength of the opponent in every match.
The former Manchester United player is indeed flexible in the area of attack. He can be installed on the right wing, second striker, or even an attacking midfielder. Therefore Koeman likes typical players like Depay.
Meanwhile, Suarez, really the type of striker who finishes the end. Actually he can play on the right or left of the attack area, but not good enough.
But when placed in his favorite position, striker number 9, he is second to none. Suarez is the type of player who always uses various methods and takes advantage of few opportunities to score goals.
While at Barcelona, there are Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi who are typical versatile players in attack. Both players can play in many positions.
Griezmann and Messi can be a ‘false nine’ and play on the left or right wing. They can also play as hole attackers.
While at Atletico, Griezmann was often plotted as a hole striker by Diego Simeone. Even so in the French national team.
Together with the Rojiblancos, Griezmann recorded 133 goals and 50 assists in the 257 games he played.
While Lionel Messi, is even more classy. Even though so far he has never played for a club other than Barcelona, there is no doubt about his quality. In the French national team, from the 80 matches that have been run, Griezmann scored 31 goals.
Messi is very deadly as a ‘false nine’ even though his natural position is the right winger. In total he has scored 634 goals in 731 matches with Azulgrana. With that incision, he is the top scorer in the history of Barcelona.
La Pulga is also adept at playing in other positions such as hole attacker and playmaker. He has recorded 268 assists for his colleagues at Barcelona.
On that basis, Koeman emphasized that he did not need Suarez because he saw him as less flexible. In addition, the 33-year-old cannot be deceived, making El Pistolero’s fitness no longer the same and prone to injury.
