- Louis van Gaal has accused
FC Barcelona of blaming its "foreigners" when the team is playing badly. - Dutchmen Ronald Koeman, Frenkie de Jong, and Memphis Depay have all come under fire for recent performances.
The former FC Barcelona manager Louis van Gaal has accused the club of blaming its "foreigners" when the team is doing badly.
Pressure is mounting on current head coach Ronald Koeman after a difficult start to the season for the Catalan club, which currently sits ninth in La Liga having won just three of its seven matches.
The Dutchman's side also lost its first two Champions League fixtures to Bayern Munich and Benfica, both by a 3-0 scoreline.
Frenkie de Jong - who recently defended his compatriot Koeman - has also come under fire for his performances, as has fellow countryman Memphis Depay, who signed for the club in the summer from Olympique Lyonnais.
Asked about the criticism of the trio, Van Gaal, who is now the head coach of the Netherlands national team, jumped to their defence.
"Frenkie de Jong, criticized?" Van Gaal, who coached Barcelona for two spells in the late 90s and early 2000s, said at a press conference on Monday.
"It's typical Barcelona. When you have the great contributions he's had in the past two years, there's not too much to worry about.
"[But] when things go bad, people in Barcelona always look for the foreigners."
On Depay, he added: "When I look at the data from Memphis, I've never had a striker like this. Someone who runs so much, goes deep so many times and gets into the ball so much. That's commendable."
Asked about Koeman, Van Gaal said that he felt as if "history is repeating itself" - referencing criticism he faced during his own tenure as Barcelona boss - and urged the 58-year-old "not to pay much attention" to the condemnation.
According to Goal, Barcelona wants to sack Koeman but cannot afford to do so until after the international break due to its deep financial problems.