In the end, the manager always gets the blame. Barcelona sacked Ronald Koeman on Wednesday evening after a 1–0 defeat away to Rayo Vallecano that left the club ninth in La Liga's table, six points behind the four teams currently tied for first. His 14 months in charge have been fraught, characterized by poor performances and results, but how much Koeman can be blamed for that is debatable.
This club's years-long crisis was precipitated by its reaction to losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. Rather than taking the €222 million windfall and investing it sensibly, Barça blew it, just as it had after losing Luis Figo in 2000, wasting a fortune on Ousmane Dembélé and Philippe Coutinho.