Barcelona coach Koeman defends Lionel Messi’s angry outburst

Forced to deal with one more troublesome scenario relating to Lionel Messi, Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman demanded extra “respect” for his disgruntled star.

Koeman stated he understood why Messi was visibly indignant when journalists requested him concerning the criticism directed at him by a former agent of teammate Antoine Griezmann when Messi arrived in Spain on Wednesday after an extended flight.

“I need to defend Leo because if something happened to me after a trip of 15 hours in a plane back to Barcelona — you go outside and there is a lot of press asking that type of question — I would be dangerous and hate them as well,” Koeman stated on Friday.

“We have to respect people like Messi more. And from what I have seen on the field and in training, there is no problem between (Messi and Griezmann).”

Eric Olhats, Griezmann’s agent till 2016, advised France Football journal final week that Messi has marginalized Griezmann in his “regime of terror” on the membership the place the Argentine supposedly “controls everything.”

When journalists requested Messi for his response, he wearily answered: “To be honest, I’m a bit tired of always being the problem for everything in this club.” That set off one other spherical of alarm bells on the Camp Nou about Messi’s future.

Many are involved that the most recent disagreeable episode is but one more reason for Messi to undergo together with his plan to go away the membership. With his contract expiring on the finish of this season, Messi will likely be free to barter with different golf equipment in January.

There is widespread hypothesis he could possibly be tempted to reunite with former coach Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Koeman stated that whereas he doesn’t really feel it’s his job to persuade Messi to remain, he’s assured the 33-year-old ahead will extend his 20-year stint at Barcelona.

“I hope he will stay in Barcelona,” Koeman stated. “I think it is unbelievable what he has done for this club, but he is the main person to make a decision about his future.”

Barcelona will go to Atlético Madrid, the league’s solely unbeaten staff, on Saturday.