Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has provided an insight into his reasons for confining Riqui Puig to the bench in the current campaign.<\/p>\n
A product of the famed La Masia academy, the 21-year-old midfielder was long viewed as one of the finest talents to have blossomed in the Barca youth system in recent years, resulting in his eventual integration into the club\u2019s first-team setup during the 2018\/19 campaign.<\/p>\n
Last season saw the technically-gifted young Spaniard\u2019s game-time increase further under Quique Setien, with 11 La Liga appearances, including a respectable 5 starts.<\/p>\n
With Puig generally looking impressive given the opportunity earlier to showcase his talents, the academy graduate had generally been expected to stake a claim for a first-choice midfield berth this season.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, up to this point in time, the opposite has happened instead, with the promising midfielder benched for the major part of the season after new boss Ronald Koeman\u2019s arrival. To date, Puig has been given just a solitary league appearance amounting to a total of 3 minutes.<\/p>\n
Frenkie de Jong, Miralem Pjanic and Sergio Busquets are all lined up ahead of the youngster in the midfield pecking order at the Camp Nou.<\/p>\n
With the Catalan giants not exactly performing up to the highest expectations, some amongst the Barcelona faithful have made clear their frustrations with the manager\u2019s treatment of Puig of late.<\/p>\n
Speaking ahead of his side\u2019s latest outing with Valencia on Saturday afternoon, Koeman was drawn in on the question regarding the 21-year-old\u2019s continued absence from his starting XI.<\/p>\n
Without pulling any punches, the Dutchman took a dig at Puig\u2019s work ethic, insisting that \u2018it\u2019s not just about quality\u2019 when attempting to earn game-time under his watch:<\/p>\n