Koeman benched Pjanic last year before loaning him to Besiktas this term, and the former Juventus star has not taken kindly to his treatment.
According to Pjanic, Barca are going through difficult times
Miralem Pjanic once again took a swipe at Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman by suggesting that it’s time for the struggling club to get “a good leader”. Koeman benched Pjanic last year before loaning him to Besiktas this term, and the former Juventus star has not taken kindly to his treatment. Despite his apparent jab at his former boss, Pjanic still backed the Blaugrana to rediscover their place as a global superpower once they overcome their financial crisis. “Barcelona are going through difficult times,” Pjanic told reporters. “The results are not going as the fans want, which puts pressure on the players. Maybe a good leader is needed to get the team back on its feet. Barcelona will return to the past, but it will take some time. Barca are always one of the four or five biggest clubs in the world, and they will go back to the old days.”
Ronald Koeman disrespected Miralem Pjanic
Pjanic previously accused Koeman of disrespect soon after his move to Besiktas. “The coach disrespected me, yes,” he told reporters. “I couldn’t get used to the situation I faced last year. I knew I didn’t want it. I’m a player. I love playing football; this is what makes me happy. I always wanted to play for Barca, but I didn’t expect the situation to get so complicated. There was a point that I was playing less; things were getting complicated. And when I played, it was difficult physically and mentally to be well because it was killing my confidence. After all, I had no communication with Koeman.
“It was extraordinary, because a coach is the one who says who plays and who doesn’t, but there are different ways to do things. I am a player who can accept everything, but I would always like to be told things face to face. Not as if nothing happened and I was 15 years old.” Koeman then responded through the media by saying Pjanic simply wasn’t good enough during the 2020-21 campaign. “In terms of how we play, our ideas with and without the ball, he’s fallen short of other midfielders,” the manager told reporters. “That’s it. I wish him all the best. It’s been complicated, but we tried, and we saw that other players are better than him.”