Ronald Koeman and Joaquin
Real Betis’s legendary forward Joaquin has poured scorn on Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman and insists he would not even hire him as a kit man after playing under him in an ill-fated six months at Valencia.
Joaquin, now 39 and still going strong at Betis, was at the peak of his powers at Valencia between 2006 and 2011, but didn’t enjoy the six months Koeman spent in charge of the team.
Despite them winning the Copa del Rey, Koeman was cut-throat in his decimation of the squad, selling lots of players in a bid to fix the financial problems behind the scenes.
That didn’t go down well with the players and as Joaquin readies himself to come up against his old manager for Real Betis against Barcelona this week, he admits he will not be greeting Koeman on the night.
“It was not the most beautiful experience of my sports career,” Joaquin said on El Larguero about working under Koeman. “It was not a pleasant experience, but as I always say: one has to live with everything and that happened at that time.
“I do not want to talk about this issue because honestly it hurts me what It happened there, I had a bad time.”
When asked by a presenter whether he would appoint him as Betis coach if he were the club’s president, Joaquin replied, “Not even as kit man!”
He then continued, “I turned the page, we told each other everything. Fortunately, it did not last long and we were able to save the year by ending as worthily as possible because the year was complicated.”
‘[This weekend], he is not going to greet me and I am not going to greet him.’
Barcelona are currently languishing in 12th position in LaLiga, albeit with games in hand over the majority of their rivals.