Frenkie de Jong, speaking to Dutch media in comments carried by Mundo Deportivo, has been discussing the crisis facing Barcelona. The Catalan club have endured a traumatic start to the season. They lost Lionel Messi late in the window to Paris Saint-Germain and have struggled to find consistency so far this campaign.
Barcelona sit ninth in La Liga, and this past weekend were passive and uninspired as they took a 2-0 beating to Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano. In the Champions League, things are going even worse. Barcelona sit bottom of Group E and have just recorded back-to-back 3-0 defeats to Bayern Munich and Benfica.
Ronald Koeman has come under immense pressure in the wake of the team’s poor performance, with many connected to Barcelona loudly calling for his head. For De Jong, however, the gravity of the crisis facing the club has been exaggerated. The Dutchman, currently away on international duty with his national team, was keen to underline the need for each player to step up.
“It’s much exaggerated, we’re not in a hole,” he said. “Look, I have to bring more to team, I know I can do more. That figure of zero goals and two assists could be better. The results are bad; nobody can ignore that. You can notice there’s a negative feeling in the club. That makes sense when you have such bad results at a club like Barcelona. But I’m disappointed, not depressed.”
