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About Valverde’s dismissal, Quique Setién’s appointment as new Barça coach, and the board’s failures.
Let me start by saying that I didn’t really understand what happened at Barça these last days.
As I said previously, the end of last season was the right time to make a change. With the season underway, in January, this was unexpected for me.
Firing the manager after one of the best performances of the season (despite the loss) in a competition with little importance (Supercopa) doesn’t make any sense.
Had Barça won that game, Valverde would still be the coach? That game was heavily influenced by refereeing decisions, weird handballs & offsides by a couple centimeters… I refuse to believe that key strategic decisions in a century old glorious institution depended on Vidal’s mohawk being on/offside.
If this last game isn’t the main reason, then why wasn’t he fired by the end of December in order to provide the new coach with 2 full weeks of training sessions with the squad? And despite the awful timing, wasn’t it possible to fire him without all the drama of these last days?
I can’t shake the feeling that we’re missing a piece of the puzzle that will only be unveiled in the future. Something must have occurred or changed in the relationship between Valverde & the players, or him & the board.
This being said, I wish Valverde all the best in his career. And I’m quite happy he didn’t resign. He’s always behaved with dignity & professionalism, yet was humiliated by a pathetic board and had absolutely no reason to make things easier for those who humiliated him. Any sane adult would have done the same.
Even Guardiola, Iniesta & Rexach, legends of the club, said the board’s behavior towards Valverde these days was shameful. We’re supposed to be Mes Que Un Club. HOW we do things is supposed to matter as much as WHAT we do. HOW we play. HOW we treat our people.
Quique Setién said it best.
3 ERRORS
I said in the beginning that Barça made an error last summer. Let me correct : it made 3 errors.
Keeping Valverde after his 1st season wasn’t one of them. You don’t fire a coach that just won LaLiga & Copa del Rey. The UCL debacle could still be seen as a black swan event at the time.
But not bringing in a new coach after the Liverpool debacle (2nd time, so not random anymore) & Copa del Rey loss was the 1st error. The board’s fault.
At the time, even a kid knew the club needed an overhaul. If you don’t think the coach is the problem, then it’s the squad. You need to make radical changes (sacrifice some of the “sacred cows“) & give him new tools. But it didn’t happen. And that’s the 2nd error. The sporting direction’s fault.
And if you keep the coach and the squad, then it needs a new arrangement of the pieces on the pitch. Which didn’t happen. And that’s the 3rd error. Valverde’s fault.
The result ? Stagnation. It’s like when you’ve been going every single day for 2 years to the exact same place to hang out with the exact same friends and do the exact same shit. You’re saturated. You need something new. Anything new. Just freshness. FRESHNESS PLEASE!
What we just witnessed is not only a coach’s failure. It’s also the materialization of malfunctions in the entire chain of management. 3 errors!
QUIQUE SETIÉN’S ERA BEGINS
Joining a club mid-season as coach makes for a special context.
For Quique, it means :
– Pressure : you have to perform better than your predecessor, which means, since Barça is current LaLiga leader, at least to win the league in his case.
– Limitations : you didn’t configure the squad to suit your ideas, you didn’t have a full pre-season to impose your tactical system.
Based on his time at Las Palmas & Betis, he’s a good choice. But that’s a very small sample that bears no similarity to the challenges he’s going to face at Barça. You’re not going out with the girl next door. You’re marrying Scarlett Johansson this time!
And I’m not one to judge people based on how well they speak about Cruyff in interviews. So it’s difficult for me to judge him. I have more questions than answers.
I see 3 key elements affecting his tenure (at least these 6 months) :
– He’s not catalán, not a former Barça player. Which means less charisma & connection with the socios. He’s known for being a bit arrogant, obtuse & clumsy in terms of communication. Which means less patience from fans & media in case things don’t work right from the start. What I mean is : only performances, results & what happens on the pitch can protect Quique Setién from the dragon that is El Entorno.
– Most importantly, the way he deals with the heavyweights in the dressing room. I’m very very (veeeery) curious to see how he fares in this aspect. One of Valverde’s errors was to stick with the heavyweights even when they were underperforming. How will a coach with a non-existent trophy haul & limited experience impose his authority over some of the best players in the world & who won it all in the last 10 years ? Fútbol is a game of egos & results. Simply put : if you bench Suárez or Alba regularly, while failing to deliver with their substitutes, you’re out of the club in a couple weeks (ask Luis Enrique about Anoeta). We may not like it, but as a famous philosopher once said, it is what it is. Again, only the pitch can provide an answer.
– Another key event, as crucial as Setién’s appointment, will mark Barça’s season : Suárez’ injury (4 months unavailability) . The forward that has most chemistry with Messi. The only one performing movements/tasks of a pure 9 at a high level. Despite not wanting him as a fixed starter playing every goddam 90 minutes, I know how necessary Suárez’ skills can be in some specific game configurations. How will Setién compensate his absence in the long run (4 months, not 4 games)? Will he get Messi back to the false 9 position?
All in all, given the circumstances & the (awful) timing, I’m quite satisfied with Barça’s choice. Probably the less risky option among those rumored (Xavi, Pimienta, Gallardo etc).
Everyone is talking about how well his teams play fútbol. I like that. I expect the team to build from the back more accurately. I expect to see positional play and wide wingers. I expect experiences with a back 3 or 2 center forwards. I expect changes. I expect FRESHNESS!
But I’m equally (if not more) excited by another one of his skills : his capacity to develop young players & make them reach the next level (the likes of Loren, Bartra, Canales, Roque Mesa, Lemos, Viera, Lo Celso etc).
It will probably not happen, but for me the ideal scenario would be to see Quique Setién give more playing time to the youngsters and start the transition. It’s not too late. And for that, he’ll need his cojones + the backing of the board in tough times. As said, I don’t expect it to happen but hey, I’ve seen stranger things happen these last days.
Visca Barça 💪🏽🔵🔴
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Captn ⚽ 
You didn’t touch on his tactical defect: lack of defensive solidity. Considering how leaky his teams always are defensively, I fear we may be undone in the UCL if our team is generous with space and chances to the opponents. As much as I like his appointment, that’s the only area I fear may be his achilles heel and his undoing at Barca.
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Hi! I talked about it in the next article https://captainguardiola.wordpress.com/2020/01/20/granada-barcelona-liga-quique-setien-messi-352-riqui-puig-vidal/.
I believe the increased quality/effectiveness of the counter-pressing will solve some of the defensive problems. Obviously, Barça will probably be exposed to many counter-attacks when it fails. But hey no system is perfect. There are only trade-offs. And I like this one.
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