HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
F
or the first time in 17 years, Barcelona
have changed coach in the middle
of the season. Not since dismissing
Louis van Gaal in January of 2003
had the Catalan club witnessed a change
in the dugout in the middle of a campaign,
while they hadn’t even fired anyone since
then as Radomir Antic, Frank Rijkaard, Pep
Guardiola, Tito Vilanova, Gerardo Martino
and Luis Enrique had all left on their own
terms or in a mutual parting of the ways.
Given the situation down the road at Real
Madrid, where mid-season firings have
become normal, this loyalty to the coaches
was a matter of great pride for many
Blaugrana supporters.
Yet this season, it was Barcelona who pulled
the trigger when the going got tough. On
January 13, Ernesto Valverde was relieved
of his duties and Quique Setien came in
to replace him. It all started around one
month before then at the goalless Clasico
in December, according to Eric Abidal,
the sporting director behind the decision.
Barcelona earned a point that night against
Real Madrid, but the French director was
extremely concerned by the performance
and attitude.
“It’s never easy to take such a decision, but
after the Clasico on December 18 we started
to work more on Valverde’s exit,” Abidal
later revealed. “I was watching the matchesBARCELONA DECIDED TO FIRE ERNESTO VALVERDE IN JANUARY AND REPLACE HIM WITH QUIQUE SETIEN. EUAN MCTEAR EXPLAINS WHAT
HAPPENED AND WHAT LIES AHEAD.IN A MESSI
Lionel Messi criticised how sporting
director Eric Abidal handled the
situation. Euan McTear examines what
that means for his future at Camp Nou...As the club captain and best player,
Lionel Messi remains Barcelona’s leader
on the pitch. Although injuries meant
he didn’t play a full 90 minutes until
the eighth round of the 2019-20 LaLiga
season, he quickly got up to speed and
scored 12 goals in his next eight league
matches to move to the top of the
division’s scoring charts despite having
given everyone else a head start.
Yet Messi doesn’t seem completely
happy. The ‘Matchday’ documentary
series that the club made to cover the
2018-19 season showed just how angry
and disappointed the Argentine was
with the way last season ended and he
has looked visibly exasperated on the
pitch this year.
It’s no secret that Messi wanted
Neymar to be re-signed in the summer
of 2019, yet that wish wasn’t granted
and the player questioned in an
interview whether the directors really
did everything possible to make that
transfer happen.
Then, following Valverde’s sacking
and sporting director Eric Abidal’s
comments about the players not
working hard enough, Messi responded
and called out his former teammate on
social media.
“I think that when talking about players,
names should be given because, if not,
then we are tarred with comments that
are said and are not true,” the captain
said. He doesn’t seem fully happy
and, with his contract expiring in 2021,
although reportedly with a clause that
would allow him to walk away this
very summer, Barcelona should be
concerned.and not just looking at the results. I was
looking at how the team was playing, at the
tactics and at the work of the players who
weren’t playing often. Many players weren’t
satisfied and weren’t working much and
there was also an internal communication
issue.”
The final straw came when Barcelona
failed to win the first two fixtures of 2020,
drawing 2-2 at bottom-placed rivals
Espanyol in the league and then falling to
a 3-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the semi-
final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi
Arabia. Valverde was sacked the following
Monday.
However, there wasn’t a clear succession
plan. Before Valverde had even been
sacked, reports emerged that Barcelona
directors had flown to Qatar to speak with
former Blaugrana captain Xavi Hernandez
and ask him about taking over, fully aware
that he would be a popular choice with
the fanbase. In Xavi’s view, this offer
came too early in his coaching career and
he was probably right. He’d only been
in management for six months and his
experience had been limited to Qatari
football, with the former midfielder moving
into the dugout at Al-Sadd. He clearly
wasn’t yet ready to take on one of the
biggest jobs in football and Xavi himself
knew that.ABOVE:
Ernesto Valverde
was sacked in early
January – but the
decision was made
weeks earlier‘The final
straw
came when
Barcelona
failed to
win the
first two
fixtures
of 2020.
Valverde
wa s
sacked the
following
Monday’
BARCA COACH