Ronald Koeman Gave De Jong Some Interesting Advice

Forum 3 years ago

Ronald Koeman Gave De Jong Some Interesting Advice

The Barca coach, then coach of the Netherlands, spoke with Frenkie de Jong before he decided to sign with Barcelona and asked him to be careful with the restaurants and the good life of Barcelona.

The Dutchman Frenkie de Jong admitted that his current coach, Ronald Koeman, recommended when he signed for Barcelona not to go too much to restaurants and to be careful because the good life of Barcelona could give the feeling of always being on holiday.

“I spoke to him (on the phone over a year ago) and he was very positive about Barcelona as a club and also about Barcelona as a city. So what he told me was almost all positive. He explained to me that I had to be careful, that I shouldn’t go too much to restaurants or eat too much because life in Barcelona is very good and sometimes one feels like being on holiday all year round.

He just told me: ‘Be careful with that and, otherwise, everything is very good’. In the end, football is the most important thing,” De Jong explained in an interview with the UEFA website.

“Life in Barcelona is very comfortable. It’s very good because the climate is very good, better than in the Netherlands. We have the beach, we have the mountains and the people are nice to me. I’m really enjoying life in Barcelona,” said the player, who said that what he misses most in his country is his family and friends.

He considered that “Barcelona is very popular” in his country because many players have played for the club and “of course, Johan Cruyff was the best Dutch player of all times. He played here and had a great influence on the club”.