It will therefore be neither Xavi nor Thierry Henry. The Catalan soap opera ended Monday evening, with a divorce between Barça and Valverde. And the leaders of FC Barcelona have chosen the ex-technician of Betis Seville "Quique" Setien, who will have the heavy task of restoring the beautiful game and appearing well in the second phase of the Champions League.
Criticized for his lackluster and pragmatic game despite two Liga wins (2018, 2019), coach Ernesto Valverde never managed to gain acceptance at FC Barcelona, and was thanked Monday, while the club is at the head of La Liga, on par with Real Madrid. The situation could not last: disavowed by the fans and internally, Valverde, already on the hot seat in the hollow of autumn, paid dearly for the defeat of Barça in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup against Atlético Madrid (3-2) Thursday in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), his last match spent on the Catalan bench.
The club and the technician "reached an agreement to end the contract which united them", said Barça Monday evening, adding in a separate statement to have "found an agreement" with Quique Setien "until 30 June 2022 ”.
Valverde away from the tiki-taka
The blaugranas leaders, gathered all afternoon this Monday at Camp Nou to decide the future of Valverde, decided to entrust the keys of the team to this ex-midfielder from Atlético Madrid (3 selections in Spanish team in 1985-1986) who notably trained Las Palmas and Betis Seville. He will sign his contract on Tuesday and will be presented to the press at 1.30 p.m. at Camp Nou. He will be on the bench on Sunday at Camp Nou for the reception of Granada, his first match at Barça.
With Setien, will Barça finally wake up from this nightmarish week? Eliminated in the Supercup, deprived of its striker-star Luis Suarez for four months (operated on the right knee), the club blaugrana must now face a change of coach, after the disillusionment Valverde. There are many reasons for this divorce. First, Valverde paid the two major setbacks in the Champions League, the remoradas against Roma in the quarterfinals in 2018, and Liverpool in the semi-finals in 2019. Then his game "pragmatic", far from the "tiki- taka "of the glorious years Guardiola, did not convince, and his lack of results on the European level (despite two Liga won in 2018 and 2019) is a stain, alongside the 9 titles out of 13 possible gleaned in three seasons by his predecessor Luis Enrique.
A disciple of Cruyff without European experience
Despite the good results obtained this season (leader of Liga tied with Real Madrid), a change had to intervene to return as quickly as possible its “DNA” to Barça. It will be the mission of "Quique" Setien, disciple of Louis van Gaal and technician recognized in Spain for his sense of the beautiful game, which in particular rammed the pawn to the Argentinian Mauricio Pocchetino for the post, declined by the legend Xavi.
"There is a thread that links Guardiola to Setien," said Marc Bartra, a defender who went through Barça and Bétis, in September 2018 to the newspaper El Pais. "In this Betis (by Setien), I found the training I was following with Guardiola and Luis Enrique," he added.
Despite this mutual love, "Quique" Setien, the last coach to win at Camp Nou (4-3 November 11, 2018 with Betis), will not escape the need for immediate results, despite the absences in attack from Suarez until mid-May (operation of the meniscus of the right knee) and Ousmane Dembélé until the end of February (right thigh).
It will begin on February 25, where Setien will plunge into the deep end with, as the first match of the Champions League, a decisive first leg against Naples, after the European disappointments of Valverde… and, already, a clasico return hotter against Real Madrid on March 1.
- Sport