Barcelona to fire Valverde. Quique Setién to take over

[RooneyLegend]

Does he still have a job?

 

[Ish]

You have a squad that is, by-and-large worth nothing because most of the players are nearing the end of their career and are on huge, unsustainable contracts.

Messi, Suarez, Busquets, Pique, Alba, Vidal, Rakitic... maybe even Griezmann. Those aren't players anyone would pay money for, given their age and contracts. Who will pay 45m a year in this climate to the nearly 30-yo, under-performing Griezmann and also pay a fee to Barca? You're in the same situation as United was with Sanchez last year. You can't recoup any of the money spent on him.

How will the club regenerate until these players are moved on and the club is freed of their salaries? And with what money, given that transfers largely cost up-front cash (especially for young players) which Barca hasn't got. And which manager will have the authority to move these players on?

It's a shambles...

Absolute mismanagement of the highest order. Any Board that did this to a PLC might have charges of negligence filed against them! (A bit OTT from me, but yeah).

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

You have a squad that is, by-and-large worth nothing because most of the players are nearing the end of their career and are on huge, unsustainable contracts.

Messi, Suarez, Busquets, Pique, Alba, Vidal, Rakitic... maybe even Griezmann. Those aren't players anyone would pay money for, given their age and contracts. Who will pay 45m a year in this climate to the nearly 30-yo, under-performing Griezmann and also pay a fee to Barca? You're in the same situation as United was with Sanchez last year. You can't recoup any of the money spent on him.

How will the club regenerate until these players are moved on and the club is freed of their salaries? And with what money, given that transfers largely cost up-front cash (especially for young players) which Barca hasn't got. And which manager will have the authority to move these players on?

It's a shambles...

Similar to Utd, although Utd was over a longer period, but we have the likes of Sanchez, Rooney, RVP all coming to the end of their careers on contracts that didn’t justify their input.

This was mad worse by contact changes in style.

This is why the job of OGS should not be underestimated, again not on the scale of Barca, but he’s managed to get rid of Sanchez, Young, Fellaini, Lukaku, Darmian with more to follow. It’s the sort of rip out that Barcelona need and then get back to basics and buy young, hungry players.

The amount of money Barcelona and Utd have wasted in the last 5 years is astonishing, thankfully we are back on the right path.

A lot of people laugh about OGS being in charge, but he’s someone who understands the DNA of the club, and that’s what they need.

 

[Peyroteo]

Valverde got criticized for his brand of football when it was impossible to have this group of players playing entertaining football and winning matches. He wasn't perfect but did a good job, controlled the dressing room fairly well and sorted out their defense. It would have been fantastic had it not been for the capitulations against Liverpool and Roma.

The criticism he got was way over the top but by the end he was failing to have them perform at the same level too. The sacking was justified only if they had someone better lined up imo, he should have finished the season.

As for the future, I don't see them turning this around any time soon. Pjanic for Arthur is a short term deal but I don't even think it will help them in the short term, it's another player who leaves a lot to be desired physically, way too similar to Busquets. They'll get run over in midfield even more often. Juve had Matuidi/Bentancur/Rabiot running around Pjanic to compensate for his underwhelming physical attributes and it was still not enough in recent times.

 

[giorno]

I agree. Valverde was also a terrible manager for them imo. The problem is they replaced him with even a worse one.

Overall, their managerial appointment has been shambolic.

Valverde was far from terrible for them. He just wasn't good enough

They just swapped Arthur for an ageing and coming off a poor season Pjanic. They’re run like amateurs off the pitch.

Pjanic is a worse version of Busquets basically. That they couldn't even get Bentancour or at least Rabiot in the deal instead of Pjanic is hilarious

This is actually not a bad team, just not a great one unless Messi is superhuman, but they need a manager with the balls to make the changes they need to make

How Busquets and Sergi Roberto still get to play these kind of games against these kind of opponents when it's been clear for years that they are inadequate is ridiculous. De Jong is not a replacent for Iniesta and probably never will be, but he's already Busquets with far greater mobility and the ability to dribble through the press instead of losing the ball as soon as he gets it with a man on him

Spanish football in general has seriously underestimated the way football has changed while real madrid were winning the CL. You need top level athleticism to be the best now. Real Madrid and Barcelona just got run off the park by teams that aren't technically better(not worse either, mind), just much much much more athletic

 

[MadMike]

Similar to Utd, although Utd was over a longer period, but we have the likes of Sanchez, Rooney, RVP all coming to the end of their careers on contracts that didn’t justify their input.

This was mad worse by contact changes in style.

This is why the job of OGS should not be underestimated, again not on the scale of Barca, but he’s managed to get rid of Sanchez, Young, Fellaini, Lukaku, Darmian with more to follow. It’s the sort of rip out that Barcelona need and then get back to basics and buy young, hungry players.

The amount of money Barcelona and Utd have wasted in the last 5 years is astonishing, thankfully we are back on the right path.

A lot of people laugh about OGS being in charge, but he’s someone who understands the DNA of the club, and that’s what they need.

Not really similar to Utd and OGS' situation at all in my opinion. The only thing in common is that both teams needed regeneration and a clearout. Every team needs that now and then. That's where the similarities end. The United players you are mentioning (Sanchez, Young, Fellaini, Lukaku and Darmian) are an entirely different case from those at Barca.

With the exception of Sanchez no one else was on big money which would be an obstacle to them being moved on. Whereas that is the case for almost every single ageing legend at Barca. Ours were younger on average than Barca's, so some had intrinsic value (we got 80m for Lukaku and 8m for Fellaini). Barca ain't getting any money for their crop of players. Thirdly, our players were merely squad players when they started getting moved on. Darmian was never playing, Young was a sub to Shaw, Lukaku had been displaced by the emerging Martial at #9, Sanchez had lost his place to Rashford. They weren't critical to the team's set up unlike Messi, Suarez, Busquets, Pique et al. We had a young crop behind them that was already outperforming them.

Also very importantly, those players had not been the most successful players in Man Utd's history. In fact they were players that were present over the worst 5-6 years of our modern history. They didn't have dressing room power and fan loyalty. Most fans were cheering when they were moved on. A lot of Barca fans will blindly defend their current stars, excuse them their failures of age and blame it all on president/coaches because of the love and respect they have for the players who won everything for them.

And finally we had a lot of money. Some was spent badly, some of it was spent well. But we had it. OGS could spent 130m on a new CB and RB and another 50m mid-season on a CAM in Bruno. That's 180m spend in 6 months. Barca is cash strapped and they rely on loans and accounting tricks like the Pjanic-Arthur swap to stay afloat. They won't have 180m to invest in the summer. They can't easily finance a rebuild, especially when the players that need replacing won't fetch anything in the current market.

The rebuild Barca needs is on a whole other level of difficulty due to these factors. It's like GCSE level physics vs Phd in Theoretical Physics. On the upside, their ageing players are still good enough to get them top 2-3 in Spain and QF of the CL. Our players weren't good enough for that. Which also made it easier replacing them.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Not really similar to Utd and OGS' situation at all in my opinion. The only thing in common is that both teams needed regeneration and a clearout. Every team needs that now and then. That's where the similarities end. The United players you are mentioning (Sanchez, Young, Fellaini, Lukaku and Darmian) are an entirely different case from those at Barca.

With the exception of Sanchez no one else was on big money which would be an obstacle to them being moved on. Whereas that is the case for almost every single ageing legend at Barca. Ours were younger on average than Barca's, so some had intrinsic value (we got 80m for Lukaku and 8m for Fellaini). Barca ain't getting any money for their crop of players. Thirdly, our players were merely squad players when they started getting moved on. Darmian was never playing, Young was a sub to Shaw, Lukaku had been displaced by the emerging Martial at #9, Sanchez had lost his place to Rashford. They weren't critical to the team's set up unlike Messi, Suarez, Busquets, Pique et al. We had a young crop behind them that was already outperforming them.

Also very importantly, those players had not been the most successful players in Man Utd's history. In fact they were players that were present over the worst 5-6 years of our modern history. They didn't have dressing room power and fan loyalty. Most fans were cheering when they were moved on. A lot of Barca fans will blindly defend their current stars, excuse them their failures of age and blame it all on president/coaches because of the love and respect they have for the players who won everything for them.

And finally we had a lot of money. Some was spent badly, some of it was spent well. But we had it. OGS could spent 130m on a new CB and RB and another 50m mid-season on a CAM in Bruno. That's 180m spend in 6 months. Barca is cash strapped and they rely on loans and accounting tricks like the Pjanic-Arthur swap to stay afloat. They won't have 180m to invest in the summer. They can't easily finance a rebuild, especially when the players that need replacing won't fetch anything in the current market.

The rebuild Barca needs is on a whole other level of difficulty due to these factors. It's like GCSE level physics vs Phd in Theoretical Physics. On the upside, their ageing players are still good enough to get them top 2-3 in Spain and QF of the CL. Our players weren't good enough for that. Which also made it easier replacing them.

They had the money and wasted it.

It will be enjoyable to watch over the next couple of years.

I’m sure they will find a training ground to sell, or a few hundred million hiding In a cupboard somewhere.

 

[Lay]

Is he sacked yet?

 

[Xaviesta]

Is he sacked yet?

I think Monday is the day he and potentially Eric Abidal will be gone. Sid Lowe wrote that Pochettino is the front runner for the job.

 

[GDaly95]

Did Poch not say he'd rather go back to Argentina and become a farmer than manage Barca?

 

[Xaviesta]

Did Poch not say he'd rather go back to Argentina and become a farmer than manage Barca?

He did but he backtracked on those comments recently.

 

[GDaly95]

He did but he backtracked on those comments recently.

Would it irk you if he took over knowing he'd said that in the past or do you care?

 

[Ish]

Valverde was far from terrible for them. He just wasn't good enough

Pjanic is a worse version of Busquets basically. That they couldn't even get Bentancour or at least Rabiot in the deal instead of Pjanic is hilarious

This is actually not a bad team, just not a great one unless Messi is superhuman, but they need a manager with the balls to make the changes they need to make

How Busquets and Sergi Roberto still get to play these kind of games against these kind of opponents when it's been clear for years that they are inadequate is ridiculous. De Jong is not a replacent for Iniesta and probably never will be, but he's already Busquets with far greater mobility and the ability to dribble through the press instead of losing the ball as soon as he gets it with a man on him

Spanish football in general has seriously underestimated the way football has changed while real madrid were winning the CL. You need top level athleticism to be the best now. Real Madrid and Barcelona just got run off the park by teams that aren't technically better(not worse either, mind), just much much much more athletic

Good post. Its crazy how obvious it’s been to “armchair” fans about the change that’s happened in terms of physicality/athleticism on top of technique. Pep suffered for it this season by pairing Gundogan with Rodri. Barca have been overrun in midfield in the big matches for years now as well - Rakitic, Busquets, Roberto (when selected)....on top of it they sign Vidal (another ageing star) and they struggle to integrate players like De Jong, Arthur (disciplinary issues noted), Dembele (injury issues noted) & Coutinho.

At least a midfield 3 of de Jong, Arthur & Coutinho could have given you technique with some legs, albeit lacking physicality. Not sure what their transfer plans have been in all honesty. Paid way OTT for Coutinho, Griezmann & Dembele with seemingly zero idea on how to get the best out of them.

 

[Xaviesta]

Would it irk you if he took over knowing he'd said that in the past or do you care?

It never really bothered me when he said it. If you want to be tribal about it, it's what a former Espanol captain and manager should say. The comments he made a few years ago aren't the sole reason I'm iffy at best about him taking over.

 

[GatoLoco]

Spanish football in general has seriously underestimated the way football has changed while real madrid were winning the CL. You need top level athleticism to be the best now. Real Madrid and Barcelona just got run off the park by teams that aren't technically better(not worse either, mind), just much much much more athletic

I don't think it's been particularly underestimated if you think about Getafe or Sevilla or, in the case of Real Madrid, Zidane promoting Valverde and Mendy, as well as his interest in Pogba, Mbappe and Odegaard.

What I see here Is just a change of cycle in the top 2, which Barcelona is going to suffer more than any other as they will have a very hard time trying to renew half of their starting 11 . Atletico vs Leipzig? I don't think Simeone is not concerned with physicality, it's one of their biggest traits. Today you have 2 French teams and 2 German teams in semis. In 2, 3 years time who knows.

 

[hmchan]

Is Barcelona joining the league to hire club legend as its manager?

 

[hellhunter]

Is Barcelona joining the league to hire club legend as its manager?

They were the guys that kinda started the league, to be fair.

 

[Mb194dc]

Barcelona manager is the hardest job in football at the moment. Looks like a poisoned chalice, toxic dressing room where the players are firmly in charge and seemingly almost like spoilt children who have been pandered to for years. Any manager going in there is going to have to be make some big changes to turn them back in to a team, rather than Messi & Suarez FC.

If they got Henry and or Xavi will just be more of the same disaster as soon as they play the big games away from the nou camp.

Someone like prime Capello is needed to go in there for a year or two, not be afraid to put noses out of joint and crack some skulls. Then could get Poch or Pep back in who will get them back on top again. The squad is decent and very capable of challenging on all fronts, they've got good youngsters from La Masia coming through as well.

 

[Bazi]

They had the money and wasted it.

It will be enjoyable to watch over the next couple of years.

I’m sure they will find a training ground to sell, or a few hundred million hiding In a cupboard somewhere.

If United's decline after SAF's retirement showed us anything it's that you need to sign replacements before you fall off the cliff. The ability to attract the best players in the world to sign for United disappeared shockingly quick. If the Theater of Dreams can lose its attractiveness, then so can the Camp Nou. Once you can no longer sign players from the top shelf but have to sign at one or two levels below that it's very difficult to recoup in a short period of time.

Barca's main advantage is that they have an easier road to the Champions League in Spain, but they shouldn't underestimate the danger they're in.

 

[Xaviesta]

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[dev1l]

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Koeman favourite?

 

[BlackShark_80]

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[horsechoker]

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Koeman favourite?

Will be the first Barca coach in a while that I actually know.

 

[saivet]

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Would Barca fans really but upset with Poch because of his Espanyol past but be happy with Koeman?

 

[balaks]

Would Barca fans really but upset with Poch because of his Espanyol past but be happy with Koeman?

Poch would never have taken the Barca job

 

[Daysleeper]

Would Barca fans really but upset with Poch because of his Espanyol past but be happy with Koeman?

I’d take Poch over Koeman any day of the week.

Hell, I’d take zidane too!

 

[bond19821982]

Koeman would be a good appointment. He is so underrated here because of his Everton tenure. He is actually a good coach.

 

[Daysleeper]

Poch would never have taken the Barca job

Not true, he’s changed his mind:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...matic-return-management-Barcelona-summer.html

 

[Lay]

Koeman would be a terrible move

 

[Daysleeper]

Koeman would be a good appointment. He is so underrated here because of his Everton tenure. He is actually a good coach.

He bombed at Valencia as well and is too pragmatic. I’d rather a more attack mind coach personally

 

[Mb194dc]

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Seems probable, totally doomed though. Won't do any better than Valverde or Setien.

 

[bond19821982]

He bombed at Valencia as well and is too pragmatic. I’d rather a more attack mind coach personally

Valencia was 12 years ago.

Well , pragmatic- yes but that's exactly what Barca has been missing in certain games. Wish you were pragmatic against Bayern.

 

[Daysleeper]

Valencia was 12 years ago.

Well , pragmatic- yes but that's exactly what Barca has been missing in certain games. Wish you were pragmatic against Bayern.

No, pragmatic is what screwed us against Roma and Liverpool. It’s the last thing we need.

 

[Dansk]

Reckon it'll be Koeman. He might be the one guy who's hard enough to break up Barcelona's dressing room primadonnas.

 

[#07]

Reckon it'll be Koeman. He might be the one guy who's hard enough to break up Barcelona's dressing room primadonnas.

Nah, every player in that dressing room will just be waiting for the elections next year. They will all know that the new President will choose his own coach and will treat anyone who succeeds Setien as a stop gap.

 

[bond19821982]

No, pragmatic is what screwed us against Roma and Liverpool. It’s the last thing we need.

Being pragmatic doesn't mean just stay back . Just need a defensive master class performance and setien is not the guy to do it.

 

[Daysleeper]

Being pragmatic doesn't mean just stay back . Just need a defensive master class performance and setien is not the guy to do it.

Fair point but I’d much rather have Poch if it’s even a possibility.

 

[FootballHQ]

Surely Koeman will stick around for the euros? Holland look to have quite a nice team forming now and were good in qualifying, strong at the back and Depay actually seems to be maturing now so could do well for them now he's fit again.

They could be a good bet for last 4 so seems a bit of a waste to just bail out on that even if Barcelona does have that emotional pull for him.

He's not a bad manager and very experienced but last time he managed in Spain he really struggled in a difficult situation at Valencia.