Barcelona to fire Valverde. Quique Setién to take over

FootballHQ

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Norwich at times play a wonderful style as well -

Betis have scored 26 goals and have 24 Points in 19 matches this season
Last season they scored 44 goals and ended 10th with 50 points

It's a puzzling decision
17-18 was the best one for him at Betis, finished 6th and they were involved in some of the games of the season.

4-4 at Real Sociedad, 3-6 home defeat to Valencia, 5-3 win at Sevilla some highlights.

I also enjoyed watching his Las Palmas side, they were never in danger of going down under him.
 

Charles Miller

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Yeah, they're single-handedly responsible for Darfur, the Syrian civil war and the Ukraine conflict.
We are talking in the context of football, Einstein. If i was trying to create a off topic, like you did, i would mention the deep racism and totalitarism behind that catalan movement. Barcelona is part of it.
 

FootballHQ

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Setién’s contract only until June 2022.
Barca isn't really a long term job though when you think Pep and Luis Enrique were both exhausted by ends of year 3 and 4. Maybe that was just due to them being local but vast majority of clubs are like that anyway. Go in for 18 months/2 years and then it's time for another refresh.

Only going to get harder for whoever comes in after Setien as Messi will be in mid 30s so who knows if he'll still be able to decide games all the time with his left foot.
 

Andycoleno9

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They are first, 2 years in a row champions and doing well in CL. They are not flying but not playing bad also. Strange decision. But the most important thing thst Poch is not going there.:angel: Only Bayern left...
 

FootballHQ

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They are first, 2 years in a row champions and doing well in CL. They are not flying but not playing bad also. Strange decision. But the most important thing thst Poch is not going there.:angel: Only Bayern left...
PSG?
 

Mb194dc

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Valverde should have been sacked straight after the 4 -0 loss to Liverpool last year.

Simply baffling to me they kept him on after that.

Then replacing with guy who has a record that seems like he's doomed to fail.

Strange things happening at Barca these days, both for transfers and now this change.
 

bakalhau

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Only going to get harder for whoever comes in after Setien as Messi will be in mid 30s so who knows if he'll still be able to decide games all the time with his left foot.
I think the real problem won't be while he plays, he'll always be good until the last day.

I dread to think of the guy who will have to deal with the post-Messi Barcelona though. I just can't see them not struggling without him for a while.
 

Daysleeper

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He wasn't the right manager for Barca but he's not a midtable manager either. He wasn't out of his depth.

The football wasn't great but if the players don't completely meltdown in Rome and Anfield he'd have had one of the most successful periods in any club's history. You can give him part of the fault for those results but with that squad you shouldn't even need any great tactics or manager teamtalks to avoid losing 3 goal leads twice in a row to an average Roma team and a Liverpool team with no Salah or Firmino.

It's not true he owes it to Ter Stegen, Messi and Suarez to win what he did. He did a fantastic job even getting the best out of the likes of Rakitic or Paulinho. The Pique-Umtiti partnership was genuinely one of the best in the world for most of his first season too for example. He did get a lot of things right even if his style wasn't the most enjoyable. When your rivals win 3 CLs in a row and you get knocked out of it twice in a row the way he did, he has to go no matter what though. It's bonkers that he stayed as manager this season, shouldn't have even been allowed on the plane back from Liverpool.
Rakitic was at his best under Enrique and struggled to get game time this season until he complained and threatened to leave in the January window. Paulinho did solid here but only as a sub wasn’t really a starter although you’re right, that was a pleasant surprise. I also agree the players deserve more blame than they got for those meltdowns. I agree with a lot of your other points as well.

He deserves credit for stabilizing the time after neymar abruptly left. People left Barca for dead after the super cup fiasco to start that season.

I’m glad he’s gone, and I hope Seiten works out, but this board is as bad as Valverde. Everything feels so panicky with them.
 

Suedesi

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We are talking in the context of football, Einstein. If i was trying to create a off topic, like you did, i would mention the deep racism and totalitarism behind that catalan movement. Barcelona is part of it.
How are they a despicable institution in the context of football?
Deep racism and totalitarianism in the Catalan, please tell us more
 

Peyroteo

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Rakitic was at his best under Enrique and struggled to get game time this season until he complained and threatened to leave in the January window. Paulinho did solid here but only as a sub wasn’t really a starter although you’re right, that was a pleasant surprise. I also agree the players deserve more blame than they got for those meltdowns. I agree with a lot of your other points as well.

He deserves credit for stabilizing the time after neymar abruptly left. People left Barca for dead after the super cup fiasco to start that season.

I’m glad he’s gone, and I hope Seiten works out, but this board is as bad as Valverde. Everything feels so panicky with them.
Rakitic has declined and this year he should 100% be benched by Vidal every time since De Jong’s arrival means you need a different type of player but in Valverde’s first season he was fantastic. Still think it was unfair how Modric won the Ballon D’Or yet Rakitic didn’t even come close despite playing at a similar or even better level throughout that year and having a great World Cup. Modric was the star player for Croatia so it’s understandable he got most of the credit but both Brozovic and Rakitic didn’t get the recognition they deserved imo.

I think Valverde would have been a lot more loved if Madrid had fought for the title in 2017/18 and 2018/19 since both of those titles felt easy with Madrid having poor domestic campaigns. As for Setien, he is a good option although I wonder if Barcelona’s defense won’t suffer because of it especially since I believe it to be Barca’s biggest weakness already. Mid-season managerial changes seem to have a good impact for the Champions League at least (Di Matteo 2012, Zidane 2016).
 

lysglimt

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17-18 was the best one for him at Betis, finished 6th and they were involved in some of the games of the season.

4-4 at Real Sociedad, 3-6 home defeat to Valencia, 5-3 win at Sevilla some highlights.

I also enjoyed watching his Las Palmas side, they were never in danger of going down under him.
I am not saying he is a bad manager - but Barcelona can probably pick almost any manager in the World, and that makes him a strange choice
 

FootballHQ

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I am not saying he is a bad manager - but Barcelona can probably pick almost any manager in the World, and that makes him a strange choice
If you look at their recent history though then arguably Van Gaal was the last in demand manager they picked and that was in 1997.

2000- Llorence Serra Ferrer.

2002- Van Gaal came back for a dismal second spell.

2003- Frank Rijkaard. Famous player but certainly not a hot property as manager given he'd just been relegated with Sparta Rotterdam.

2008- Of course in demand now but back then Pep was just another promising youth coach.

2012- Tito.

2013- Tata Martino. Did fine at Paraguay but no huge club achievements of note.

2014- Luis Enrique. Hadn't done much of note at Celta Vigo or Roma but had the luxury of MSN at their peak.

And Valverde was a decent manager but had largely been at europa league standard clubs.

Unlike Real Madrid and other european heavyweights to me they go for idealists more than the current hot property.
 

GatoLoco

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Winning the league is not the be-all and end-all, though, otherwise Bernd Schuster would be Madrid manager beyond 2008.
The comparison is extremely strange. Bernd Schuster was sacked after declaring it was impossible to win in the Nou Camp.I don't recall Valverde having said anything of the sort. On the top of that, Schuster was not leader in the league as Valverde was, in fact he was fifth. He wasn't leader in the CL stages either, had lost the two games vs Juventus and got eliminated in Copa vs Real Irun, a Segunda B team if I recall correctly. His previous game after getting the sack had been a defeat at home vs Sevilla (3-4).

Valverde must be the only coach ever who gets the sack after winning two leagues and being leader in his third. Trying to find precedents doesn't make sense.
 

carvajal

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The comparison is extremely strange. Bernd Schuster was sacked after declaring it was impossible to win in the Nou Camp.I don't recall Valverde having said anything of the sort. On the top of that, Schuster was not leader in the league as Valverde was, in fact he was fifth. He wasn't leader in the CL stages either, had lost the two games vs Juventus and got eliminated in Copa vs Real Irun, a Segunda B team if I recall correctly. His previous game after getting the sack had been a defeat at home vs Sevilla (3-4).

Valverde must be the only coach ever who gets the sack after winning two leagues and being leader in his third. Trying to find precedents doesn't make sense.
To be fair, we have a couple of precedents in Capello and del Bosque. It's not exactly the same because we did it in summer but ...
 

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So the new fellow is not very good either? Barcelona have had some poor managers in recent years.
There is this belief somehow that a manager who goes forward as much as possible or plays 3 at the back is a tactical genius, "Cruyffian" and made for Barca. While this might have worked for Barca in the past 15 years due to the sheer talent alone, this current Barca is more of an ordinary team and placing the backline at the center circle with 32 year old Pique leading the defense, protected by 32 year old Busquets infront of him with 32 year old Messi and Suarez not participating in any sort of pressing game, will not lead to the same results it once did. This is Setienball, in a nutshell:


I don't know how he can be compared to Sarri like some did in this thread. Sarri collected 91 points with Napoli and competed for the title despite Juve's dominance. Setien plays attacking football no matter what with lower midtable clubs without doing anything extraordinary result-wise. That makes him more Paco Jemez than Sarri.

At the end of the day you don't know anything with certainty until it really happens so maybe he's totally the right fit, though I doubt it and it's not really a thought out decision either. Barca tried to get Xavi then randomly appointed Setien in a hurry who was already available before the season had started.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Well Suarez is out, so they might find it easier to press.

He'll have to hide Messi though. Messi won't press.

Will be interesting to see how it works out.

Valverde had to go, but I don't think their squad is as amazing as some of their fans believe.

Busquets and Pique are both finished IMO. Maybe they have 1 final swan-song. Alba has declined a lot.

Their entire basis of success has been Messi dominating, Suarez sometimes chipping in and then Ter Stegen brilliance the past 2 seasons.
 

4bars

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We are talking in the context of football, Einstein. If i was trying to create a off topic, like you did, i would mention the deep racism and totalitarism behind that catalan movement. Barcelona is part of it.
You are tallikg nonsense
 

VivaObertan

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Why is it disgraceful? Maybe not handled elegantly, but firing Valverde is the right decision. It's clearly more than just a couple of results, it's about Barcelona capitulating time and time after having commanding leads. Against Roma. Against Liverpool. This season against last placed Espanyol after a 2 goal lead. Against Atletico in the Super Copa. His inability to prevent these kind of debacles and steer the ship have caused fans to lose all confidence in him.

The lack of direction and urgency in Barca this season has been there for all to see. Right move in my opinion, they would have folded in Europe and probably lost La Liga against a resurgent Madrid as well. Now they just might have a shot in both.
Barcelona didn't lose a 2 goal lead vs Espanyol, FYI.
 

SAFMUTD

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I think barcelona will fall into the abyssm once Messi retires, like ourselves with Sir Alex they have depended on a single person to keep them at the top.

Their last manager appointments have been tragic and I dont think Setien will be any different, they have also spend big and mostly bad in the last years with failed players like Dembele, Malcom, Yerry Mina, Lucas Digne, Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes, Alcacer, Coutinho, etc.

I think inevitably they'll struggle badly once Messi's era is over.
 

Paul_Scholes18

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Crazy time to make the change since they are doing alright. They have done well this season apart from this loss in the super cup. He should have gone after last seasons failure against Liverpool.
Now the new manager got very little time to get the team ready for CL.
 

RooneyLegend

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Barca are simply a serious organization. It was clear that Velverde was being carried by the players. Setien is a great appointment by them. He's always based his football on their philosophy and he's a coach who fits in with modern football despite being old. His Las Palmas side were amazing to watch despite having zero resources.
 

Daysleeper

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Rakitic has declined and this year he should 100% be benched by Vidal every time since De Jong’s arrival means you need a different type of player but in Valverde’s first season he was fantastic. Still think it was unfair how Modric won the Ballon D’Or yet Rakitic didn’t even come close despite playing at a similar or even better level throughout that year and having a great World Cup. Modric was the star player for Croatia so it’s understandable he got most of the credit but both Brozovic and Rakitic didn’t get the recognition they deserved imo.

I think Valverde would have been a lot more loved if Madrid had fought for the title in 2017/18 and 2018/19 since both of those titles felt easy with Madrid having poor domestic campaigns. As for Setien, he is a good option although I wonder if Barcelona’s defense won’t suffer because of it especially since I believe it to be Barca’s biggest weakness already. Mid-season managerial changes seem to have a good impact for the Champions League at least (Di Matteo 2012, Zidane 2016).
Maybe we will look back on the Valverde era and realize we were harsh. I agree completely about the defense.
Mentioned it earlier in this thread that this manager is woeful in that regard and he’s in charge of the worst Barca side defensively of the past ten years.

I worry that he’s a little too star struck right now but considering Barca’s 7th choice for manager got the job, he’s obviously ecstatic.

Fingers crossed.
 

Son

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We are talking in the context of football, Einstein. If i was trying to create a off topic, like you did, i would mention the deep racism and totalitarism behind that catalan movement. Barcelona is part of it.
What about Spain not letting them have a referendum despite a 90% vote in favour of independence?

This kind of issue breeds extreme views. Spain need to give the people their choice if they truly are a democratic society.
 

Isotope

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Yeh, it's expected. After all those trophies, now Setien is in charge of Barca.
 

Vicenterubio

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What about Spain not letting them have a referendum despite a 90% vote in favour of independence?

This kind of issue breeds extreme views. Spain need to give the people their choice if they truly are a democratic society.
43% in favor of independence in catalan government polls. The vote wasn´t considered legit by the pro-union population that´s why it shows 90% per cent of pro-independence.
 

SteveJ

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Sid Lowe on Valverde's dismissal:
Barcelona’s ex-manager took training on Monday morning, if only because he was not the ex-manager just yet. Besides, someone somewhere had to act with a little dignity. And what if it didn’t happen? He was certainly not about to make the decision for them, so Ernesto Valverde drove into San Joan Despí not long after 8am. At 11 he was out on the training pitch as normal, players gathered in a circle around him, which was one way to say: “Goodbye…probably.” By the time he drove out again he knew it was likely to be for the last time. But not because they had actually told him.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/13/barcelona-ernesto-valverde-manager-job-xavi
 

GatoLoco

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To be fair, we have a couple of precedents in Capello and del Bosque. It's not exactly the same because we did it in summer but ...
I think Del Bosque and Hierro were blamed by Florentino for those "mutinies" after the Supercup games vs Monaco in 2002 and Liga celebration in 2003 so I'm not sure the decision was 100% technical.

The only precedent would be Capello in the summer under Calderon, so it would not be a precedent exactly.
 

4bars

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Heynckes got sacked from madrid after winning the champions league for madrid after more than 40 years not winning it. Del Bosque got sacked because he was not marketable enough in terms of image during the galactico era after winning 2 CL in 3 years and a couple of leagues. Capello was sacked after winning 1 league in a single season for madrid twice

Premier league has more patience with their managers, Ferguson, Wenger, etc... different philosophies. I would not say that Madrid and Barcelona had been wrong so far, nor Manchester United. Arsenal...is another story

PS: Valverde had to go, timing and manners sucks, I hope the board doesn't get elected, players are not on board with them
 

Winrar

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I think barcelona will fall into the abyssm once Messi retires, like ourselves with Sir Alex they have depended on a single person to keep them at the top.

Their last manager appointments have been tragic and I dont think Setien will be any different, they have also spend big and mostly bad in the last years with failed players like Dembele, Malcom, Yerry Mina, Lucas Digne, Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes, Alcacer, Coutinho, etc.

I think inevitably they'll struggle badly once Messi's era is over.
I do wonder when Messi leaves, if Barca will crumble to such an extent.

Of course, no longer having one of the best players of this generation is bound to hurt the club, but I am curious to see if they will implode like we did or still maintain their world class status to some degree.
 

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I do wonder when Messi leaves, if Barca will crumble to such an extent.

Of course, no longer having one of the best players of this generation is bound to hurt the club, but I am curious to see if they will implode like we did or still maintain their world class status to some degree.
They're certainly to going to experience a small decline, just like Madrid when Ronaldo left. But an AC Milan kind of implosion and decline is very unprobable. Barsa as an institution is too big, too important to Catalonia (and Spain as a whole too), extremely marketable worldwide, and has the advantage of being owned by the fans, not some unfireable owner. If Bartomeu doesn't manage to properly manage Messi's loss when it comes, he will lose the next election and someone fresh could come in to do a proper rebuild.
When he gets tired of coaching, Guardiola is a lock to win any Barsa presidential election should he choose to show up.
 

giorno

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Capello was sacked once, the first time it was him who left

As to Valverde, he's a good manager who did a pretty good job for them. The problem is they needed a great manager doing a great job

That said, going from Valverde to Setien.... :lol:

Only downside is they're gonna beat us at the bernabeu because setien never loses to Zidane at the bernabeu :lol: which might actually be the reason they went for him come to think of it
 

UnrelatedPsuedo

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They're certainly to going to experience a small decline, just like Madrid when Ronaldo left. But an AC Milan kind of implosion and decline is very unprobable. Barsa as an institution is too big, too important to Catalonia (and Spain as a whole too), extremely marketable worldwide, and has the advantage of being owned by the fans, not some unfireable owner. If Bartomeu doesn't manage to properly manage Messi's loss when it comes, he will lose the next election and someone fresh could come in to do a proper rebuild.
When he gets tired of coaching, Guardiola is a lock to win any Barsa presidential election should he choose to show up.
Barcelona FC are not important to Spain.
 

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I see Setién as nothing more than a placeholder manager until Xavi or someone else they have their sights on becomes available.
 

giorno

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Barcelona eh ....

Do they play badly or something?
They do, but mostly Messi is 32, next season will be 33 and time is running out. They need to win the CL and they weren't going to with Valverde. So they panicked