Barcelona president Gaspart backs van Gaal
Barcelona president Joan Gaspart backed the Catalan club's beleaguered coach Louis van Gaal on Sunday in the face of renewed calls for the Dutchman's sacking or resignation.
Barcelona president Joan Gaspart backed the Catalan club's beleaguered coach Louis van Gaal on Sunday in the face of renewed calls for the Dutchman's sacking or resignation.
"I have confidence in the coach and the players. I hope we can move things forward from next Sunday," Gaspart told a local Catalan television station.
"I know many people don't agree with my decision regarding him (van Gaal) but I am backing him and the players should back him as well," added Gaspart, who is under pressure himself and facing a motion of censure signed by more than 5,000 of the club's season-ticket holders.
"We are conscious of what is going on on the field of play but the problems don't extend to the rest of the club as well," said Gaspart in response to his own critics.
Contrary to expectations, van Gaal did not take the Catalan club's training session on Sunday morning.
He spent just 20 minutes discussing Saturday night's 4-2 defeat at home to Valencia with Barca's first team squad and then chose to spend the rest of the morning in the dressing room, talking individually with players and other coaches.
Thousands of spectators chanted, "Barca si! Gaspart, No!"
In the melee, a number of windows were broken and several journalists were assaulted, although there were no serious injuries.
The two Barcelona-based national sports dailies on Sunday were equally unequivocal in their verdict that van Gaal should go.
"Well, what now Mr Gaspart," said Sport on its front page. "For the good of Barca he (van Gaal) has to go."
El Mundo Deportivo leads with the words, "Out, out. He can't continue a minute more."
"Not even the worst enemy of Barcelona could have imagined that things could have got so bad," commented the Barcelona-based mainstream national daily La Vanguardia on Sunday.
Van Gaal, at least publicly, still has the support of many of the players.
"We still have confidence in him and from the outset, he has not been responsible for this. Nobody in the squad believes he is at fault," said Barcelona's Spanish international midfielder Xavi Hernandez on Sunday.
"We are the ones on the field. It is the players who have got ourselves into this position and we would be wrong if we thought otherwise."
However with the next two matches being tricky away trips to Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid, few people are betting that van Gaal will still have a job at Barcelona this time next month.