Setién’s Honeymoon is Over.

My how quickly we lose our interest in someone we had a crush on. Quique Setién was welcomed into our Blaugrana hearts as new Barça manager with hopes of joy and happy moments. Yet, just a few months after his appointment, it seems that the romance with Setién has faded and this love affair might be short lived.

Setién was the Don Juan of Barça fans who wanted a return to the Cruyff style of play that most love. He whispered lovely romantic words in our ears and won us over with his promises. We fell for it like most fall for those who come over as guests and prepare a magnificent dinner. However, with time, that romantic spell with the fans has eroded and Setién now feels like the lazy significant other whose idea of a romantic dinner is to order pizza and watch TV.

Setién’s future with the club depended on winning the league this season. Thus, any expectations of seeing the rising stars of La Masia, Ansu Fati and Riqui Puig play regularly, were dashed early on with Setién preferring to rely on the old guard and not experiment with the youth. Poor away results ensued that see the Blaugrana occupying second place in the standings behind Real Madrid. He did finally get around to featuring Puig and Fati but it might be a little too late and, in the process, managed to upset not just the fans, but the Barça players as well.

After his hiring, we witnessed the manner in how Setién manages a game along with how he speaks, which as a result, ruffled numerous feathers. The way he spoke of Arthur and his struggles at the club, coupled with other sound bites about not playing the younger players left much to desire. Recently, the video of Messi walking away from Setién’s right hand man, Eder Sarabia, while giving out instructions during a water break in the past weekend’s Celta Vigo 2-2 draw, indicated that there indeed a rift between the players and the manager. After the draw with Celta, Luis Suárez spoke to the media and shifted the blame to Setién by replying “you'll have to ask the coaches, they analyze these situations”.

Supposedly players are unhappy with the demanding training sessions full of intensity, conducted by Sarabia. The players preferred previous manager Ernesto Valverde and his easy-going approach so this new approach is not much to their liking. It’s similar to a classroom who disliked their hard as nails teacher, but enjoyed the laid-back substitute who allowed the students to do whatever they wanted. Well, the substitute teacher is gone and the players are not too happy with new manager and his demanding approach.

Fans are upset. Players are upset. The Barça board are caught in the middle showing yet again their lack of leadership and proper planning with regards to signings and managerial hirings. However, this does not bode well for the players either. Perhaps things would be different if Suárez had not missed that sitter against Sevilla, or had Messi actually had a shot on target during his last two away matches. The team’s away form was woeful under Valverde too, lest we forget how great they looked away in Champions League second legs. So, if two managers can’t succeed in getting the team to play better and win, perhaps it’s not just the managers who are at fault.

Setién was not the first or even second choice to replace Valverde. At the moment, it’s hard to see who would want to coach this club if players tune out their managers unless it’s a big-name manager with a resume full of success. The Lakers of Shaq and Kobe tuned out Del Harris and Kurt Rambis since they were nobodies in the coaching world, yet succeeded when the legendary Phil Jackson was hired. Sadly, Setién is not a legendary coach for the Barça players to listen to, so expect broken hearts when all is said and done.

The Coutinho Dilemma.

On January 6, 2018, Barça signed Coutinho from Liverpool for €160 million, making him the most expensive transfer in club history, and the Brazilian star signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with a buyout clause of €400 million. His arrival was welcomed by many Blaugrana faithful as part of Barça’s plan to build another great team for many years to come. Unfortunately, a year has since passed and not only has Coutinho failed to impress on the pitch, he is not even an automatic choice in the starting lineup. Should Barça consider offers and cash in on Coutinho or remain patient?

Last year, I had some concerns about the club going after Coutinho during the winter transfer window. The club had just signed Dembélé during the summer for a vast amount and a few months later, Coutinho was rumored to be the next expensive signing. I wanted to wait and see how the team would look when Dembélé returned from his injury before buying Coutinho. There were already doubts on how the team would function when Dembélé returned from his injury while at the same time, try to shoehorn Coutinho into the team with no proper preseason.

A month later, there were grumbles from the fans that Dembélé and Coutinho were not living up to their price tags. Just because their transfer fees were enormous, didn’t mean they were not going to need time to settle. History has shown us that many players need time to adapt to playing for Barça. Henry, Neymar, and Suarez took some time before they got going and both Dembélé and Coutinho should have been afforded some time, perhaps half a season, before being fairly judged on their performances.

A year later, Dembélé is now considered an automatic starter in the starting eleven up front with Suarez and Messi. Coutinho, on the other hand, has not only failed to earn a spot in the starting eleven; his spot in any lineup is still a mystery. Overall, Coutinho appears to be a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. Under Valverde, we are unsure of what is Coutinho’s best position is. Many hailed his arrival as Iniesta’s successor but it has become apparent that Coutinho is not a midfielder. His few Golazos were not enough to mask his inability to play in the midfield as he either got bullied off the ball often or failed to locate teammates by usually looking down before dribbling towards the box to attempt a thunderous shot on goal.

Of course, some supporters claimed that Coutinho was being played out of position. Folks have said Coutinho plays in the same position as Messi, so when Messi went down with an injury in October, I thought it was time for Coutinho to seize his moment and shine. But alas, Coutinho struggled in Messi’s absence and was soon relegated to the bench by Valverde. Earlier this month, I questioned what to do with Coutinho. Valverde has struggled to find the right formation to include Coutinho with Messi, Suárez and Dembélé, and the Brazilians seems destined to ride the bench for now. However, the bench was not what many had in mind when the club broke their transfer record for Coutinho. Ultimately, Coutinho has failed to shine up front, in the midfield, and in Messi’s absence, so it’s not entirely Valverde’s fault.

Can Valverde find a way to get more out of Coutinho or will the board live with the fact that they spent €160 million for a substitute? I don’t see the board firing Valverde just to accommodate Coutinho, if he is still getting the results and titles. RMC Sport journalist Daniel Riolo recently claimed that PSG may trigger Coutinho’s €400 million as retaliation to Barça beating them in the €75m signing of Ajax star Frenkie de Jong. Perhaps the club should not shy away from such interest if PSG or other clubs trigger the buyout clause or come in a with a big offer, and Barça use that money to reinforce the team with other signings such as Matthijs de Ligt. Being impatient doesn’t have its rewards, but in this situation, it would be rewarding.

Time for Barça To Step Up.

Messi’s injury means that the Blaugrana will be without their leader for a few weeks. This is the time for both the manager and the players to step up. They must seize this opportunity and make the most of it.

Rarely is an injury a blessing in disguise, but perhaps Messi’s injury can be used by Valverde and the players to step up and be less dependent on Messi. Messi’s injury is a short-term injury but the Blaugrana have the talent to be good and be competitive.

For far too long, we have heard that Barça is reliant on Messi and cannot function without him. Well, he will be absent for today’s Champions League clash against Inter and for this weekend’s El Clasico. Although we would prefer he was playing in these games, his absence cannot be used as an excuse.

Although we may deem him as Immortal, Messi is still human and can suffer injuries. If he suffers another injury in the future, and hopefully not an injury that rules him out for a lengthy period, then this would be preparation for the day that we hope that never comes. It’s time for the players to stop hiding and time to shine. Dembélé can play on the right, which is his preferred side, so he has no excuse now not to play there, unless Valverde says otherwise. Folks have said Coutinho plays in the same position as Messi, then it’s time for him to show it. Midfielders cannot rely on passing the ball to Messi and watch. Defenders need to be more alert and stop leaking goals.

Valverde must adapt from being conservative whenever the team has the lead and just go for the kill. He has the weapons. It’s high time he used them and what better time than now. Messi is irreplaceable, but this team can manager without him in the short term. Hopefully they will not use Messi’s absence as a crutch, but instead, use it as a launch pad to shine in his absence.

Time for Barça to get it right.

Barça ended the season with another domestic double under new manager Ernesto Valverde. However, instead of celebrating this achievement, many of the Blaugrana faithful felt disappointed. Many would consider a domestic double a resounding success. However, their lack of success in Europe, whereas their arch rivals celebrated a three-peat was a reminder of Barça’s underachieving while wasting the talent of its best players. Lessons have to be learned from past mistakes in order for Barça to improve. A team that has Messi should be conquering the world, and not settling for domestic success while coming up short in Europe. However, the poor planning by the club’s board and their manager has hindered this team from returning to their place of being the best in the world.  With Iniesta now gone, the board once again finds itself trying to replace a key player much like Neymar’s departure last summer.

Last season, the Blaugrana failed to recapture the league crown and then had to find a replacement for Neymar late in the summer transfer window. They hired Ernesto Valverde as Luis Enrique’s successor and spent over €180 million on the likes of Démbéle, Duelofeu, Semedo and Paulinho in the summer and then over €130 million on Coutinho and Yerry Mina during the winter transfer window.

After a brutal defeat over two legs against Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercopa, the outlook for the season looked uninspiring. Instead, the Blaugrana went on a historic unbeaten run that came to an end in the penultimate fixture of the season but saw them celebrating a domestic double. Nonetheless, the bitter elimination in the Quarter-Finals stage of the Champions League by AS Roma, after squandering a 4-1 aggregate lead stung. Many blamed player fatigue as a result of Valverde not rotating and resting his players during the season.

Although Valverde captured the double in his first year as Barça’s manager, many, including yours truly, did not enjoy how he managed the season. His lack of resting players, and conservative approach when leading, cost him and his lack of using the new signings down the clutch and ignoring youth players was also puzzling. The club spent a fortune on Paulinho and Démbéle and the Brazilian featured in 44 minutes in the first leg and none in the second leg against Roma and Démbéle only played in the final five minutes of the second leg loss. The big signing Démbéle was good enough to start a crucial second leg against Chelsea but only featured in 5 minutes against Roma over two legs? Valverde’s decisions of who to play and not to play left many fans confused and a repeat of that next season with the new additions will not be acceptable.

 

Madrid is succeeding because of the midfielders that the club was interested in but passed on them. Barça could have signed the likes of Modric, Isco, Kroos and Asensio, but instead signed the likes of Alex Song, Andre Gomes, Paulinho and Douglas. With Iniesta gone, Barça must make signing midfielders a priority. They seemed ready to spend €100 on Antoine Griezmann and fortunately, that deal never happened and the Blaugrana instead went out and signed young Brazilian star, Arthur, to ensure he comes in this summer along with midfielder Arturo Vidal, winger Malcom and defender Lenglet.

Fortunately, Barça have been successful in offloading players who were considered dead wood. Paulinho went back to China and Aleix Vidal went back to Sevilla, while Digne, Gomes and Mina all are at Everton. Iniesta will be hard to replace and we need a midfield that creates chances for the front three and not rely on Messi on doing their work. I would have preferred if the club signed someone like Thiago or Christian Eriksen but we will see come December if the club will pursue




Additionally, the club has to answer for the mismanagement of their youth. Barça B were relegated to the third division so now our future stars will have to focus on trying to win promotion back to the second division. It would have been ideal for the B team to be in the second division and get call ups to the first team here and there. However, it would have also been ideal for Valverde to give more minutes to B players too. In his first season, zero minutes were given to B players in the Champions League and only five minutes were given in the league. That goes against everything the club stands for, especially when this board reminded us “La Masia No Es Toca”. Hopefully young starlets such as Riqui Puig will get called up this season.

Finally, the club needs to start ignoring Copa del Rey. The main objective every year should be the Spanish league and the Champions League. Obviously winning another treble is every fan’s dream, but in terms of preference and importance, the Champions League should always trump the Copa del Rey. Barça have won the last four Copa del Rey trophies while Real Madrid have won the last three Champions League titles. There’s no debate in which trophy fans would prefer?

Barça winning the Champions League means getting to play in the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Winning the Copa del Rey means getting to play in the Spanish Supercopa, which is already guaranteed if Barça win the league. As much I would love to see the Blaugrana win a third Treble, the Copa del Rey has become a burden with starters losing out on much needed rest because of their participation in this competition. Real Madrid has benefitted from exiting the Copa del Rey early and used that extra rest to their advantage while Barça players end up being exhausted in April because they are stretching themselves thin in all three competitions.

Another season is upon us and Barça can add another trophy today by capturing another Supercopa. Hopefully Barça will finally steady the ship and stop disappointing. Repeating the same mistakes will only guarantee more disappoint so one can only hope the board and Valverde get it right and stop wasting the talents of Messi and others.