Ronald Koeman has had very few big wins since taking over as Barcelona coach but the form of his compatriot Frenkie de Jong is definitely one of them.
Thanks to Koeman Barcelona have a something resembling a midfield again, and to a large extent that is thanks to the way he has got the best out of the player Barcelona signed ahead of Manchester City and PSG in January 2019.
Koeman has always had a special interest in De Jong making it at Barcelona. Last year when he was still The Netherlands coach he told Diario Sport: ‘His first year will be one of transition. That happened to me when I signed for Barcelona in 1998. He will definitely be a success at Barcelona.’
It is starting to look like he was right – Barça finally have their 75m euros midfielder.
‘It’s true that we have found the right balance with Frenkie playing slightly further forward, Busquets as the pivot and Pedri,’ said Koeman after Barcelona’s fourth straight league away win on Sunday.
Busquets still looks exposed and fragile against certain rivals but with the sensational 18-year-old Pedri and De Jong as pistons either side of him getting up and down the pitch the heart has been put back into the Barcelona team.
It’s a far cry from those struggles of last season.
De Jong was signed in January 2019 after then president Josep Bartomeu flew to Holland to persuade the player, and to seal the deal with Marc Overmars and Edwin van der Sar.
It did not take long for the ‘What happened to De Jong? and ‘Where is De Jong?’ headlines to surface.
His failure to start well had a lot to do with the club sacking a coach mid-season for the first time in 17 years and by the constant changes in system. He was first employed in the 'Busquets role' under Ernesto Valverde but seemed to lack the essential positional discipline to take the baton permanently from the Barcelona legend.
When Quique Setien came in to replace Valverde he often used De Jong higher up the pitch and he was asked to receive the ball instead of playing with all the options in front of him. Occasionally he showed he was capable of making the runs beyond the strikers to break the opposition’s defensive lines but something still was not right.
In the second Clasico of last season he even played wide left of what was a four-man midfield with Setien preferring Sergio Busquets in the middle alongside Arthur Melo.
There were no shortage of De Jong admirers giving their opinion on why it was not working.
His former coach at Ajax Erik tan Hag told Ziggo Sport: ‘He is not a goalscorer. He is the player who takes care of supply. He feeds his team-mates.’
Louis Van Gaal had already spoken up too saying Barcelona ‘already have Busquets’ suggesting part of the problem was that he could not oust Busquets from the pivot position in the 4-3-3.
Ruud Gullit was among those who believed De Jong needed to do more to adapt to Barcelona than Barcelona should do to adapt to him. He wanted him to become more box-to-box. And that is exactly what he has done but with the permission and encouragement of Koeman.
At first Koeman came in with ideas of a playing De Jong in the ‘double-pivot’ alongside Busquets in a 4-2-3-1. It was where he usually played for Ajax alongside Lasse Schone. The system ought to have suited Busquets who played in a pair in Spain’s golden age when he had Xabi Alonso alongside him but the absence of a third midfielder restricted De Jong’s freedom to get forward. The leash was too short and he did no harm to opposition defences.
Since Koeman switched to a 4-3-3 De Jong looks more comfortable. He tucks in alongside Busquets when necessary but he also gets forward with greater efficiency. There are more shots on goal and there is a greater understanding with Lionel Messi.
Against Huesca earlier this month he scored with a blindside run into the penalty area perfectly picked out by the Barcelona captain. And there was a repeat against Athletic Bilbao in the next game only this time when he ghosted into the area and was picked out by Messi, he headed the ball back to Pedri who scored.
He now has four goals to his name and assists are coming more freely too. He managed both goals and assists again at the weekend in Messi’s absence. Running the ball over the line in the first half and crossing for Riqui Puig to score the second goal late on it felt like he was leading the team. Post game he was even the player giving the post-match interview in perfect Spanish.
He also pleased the club and its supporters by signing a contract extension last October that extended his commitment from 2024 to 2026. It was part-favour to the club because it amounted to receiving the same salary but over a long period to ease the financial burdens on the club.
Barcelona’s Dutch influence is obvious. Their current Dutch coach may or may not survive a new president arriving in March and stamping his identity on the club in the summer. But the man that Koeman has succeeded in making the focal point of a fledgling new Barça almost definitely will. De Jong has arrived and is here to stay.