Ronald Koeman Defends Direct Approach After Barcelona Held By Granada

Ronald Koeman defended his direct tactics after being accused of betraying Barcelona's attacking traditions in a 1-1 draw at home to Granada on Monday.

Ronald Koeman defended his direct tactics after being accused of betraying Barcelona's attacking traditions in a 1-1 draw at home to Granada on Monday. Koeman brought Gerard Pique off the bench at Camp Nou to play up front alongside Luuk de Jong, with Ronald Araujo, another central defender, also thrown into the attack as Barca sent in 54 crosses in search of an equaliser. Araujo finally headed home in injury-time after Domingos Duarte had given Granada an early lead but the whistles at the end from the Barcelona fans indicated a point was not nearly enough.

"We changed our style a little bit," Koeman said. "The spaces were out wide, not in the middle. We went with Pique, De Jong and Araujo and from one of those crosses we got the draw.”

Koeman's position was already fragile after last week's 3-0 drubbing at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, a game in which his team failed to muster a single shot on target.

After the latest disappointment against Granada, it was put to him that supporters were even angrier about Barcelona's style than the result.

"If you see the list of players, what do you do? Play tiki-taki? Tiki-taki when there are no spaces?" said Koeman.