Junior Firpo calls former Barcelona coach Koeman a liar
The Leeds defender says the Dutchman made excuses up to him
Junior Firpo's time at Barcelona didn't end well when he left for Premier League side Leeds United in the summer in a deal worth around €20 million.
Junior's relationship with former Barça coach Ronald Koeman was especially cold by the time he left Camp Nou after just two seasons at the club.
"I asked Koeman for explanations why I was not playing until one day he started to lie to me," the defender told Què T'hi Jugues' on SER Catalunya."
"At that point, when the coach starts to lie to you, you realise they're misleading you... why keep asking for explanations if at the end of the day they're going to mislead you time and again?
"He lied to me because he said things that made no sense, that I was training badly, contaminating the group. Things like that. You can ask anyone at the club at the time and they will agree with me.
"I don't even know what he meant by contaminating the group. I guess he was referring to my attitude. I don't know in what sense a young player that's just signed is going to contaminate a group of players that have won everything and spent their whole lives there."
📹💥 JUNIOR FIRPO PARLA SOBRE KOEMAN AL #QuèThiJugues!
— Què T'hi Jugues (@QueThiJugues) 9 de diciembre de 2021
🔥 "Yo le pido explicaciones a Koeman hasta que un día me empieza a MENTIR"
🧐 "Me dice cosas que no tienen sentido. Cosas como que entreno mal, que contamino el grupo..."#FCBlive pic.twitter.com/fk4IcFhvdn
"Lack of respect"
Junior continued: "There was a lack of respect, not just to me but to other players. I will never understand that, after a game, when the substitutes train the next day, Koeman stayed in his office while we were training.
"If I have to show to you that I deserve to play and you don't pick me... the only way I can show that is in training. When the whole team trains it is tougher, there are a lot more of us, we do quick exercises and they're tired after playing a game.
"The day that I have to prove I should play and want to play is the day after the game when the substitutes train hard... and you're not there."
Topics with the letter
