IN SPORT.ES
Joan Laporta, a Barca pre-candidate for the presidential elections, says Ronald Koeman deserves “a margin of confidence” despite the bad start to the season.
“The results and the play will establish this margin, that’s how football works, but I want to encourage Koeman and not destabilise the club,” said Laporta. “We have had various slip ups in the league but there’s still a long way to go. And if in the Champions League we come through the last 16 well that will give us strength.”
Laporta looked at his first season as president, in 2003-04, with Frank Rijkaard as coach. “We had a disastrous first half of the season but later didn’t win the league by a hair.
“Barca have had big comebacks in their history, so we have to encourage the players not to let down their guards, we have players who can turn this situation around and find the winning spirit.”