Damaged Barça hire damaged Hansi Flick.

 

With Xavi’s tenure as Barça coming to an unfortunate end, President Joan Laporta already made his choice on who should be Xavi’s successor, by hiring Hansi Flick. It was a marriage of convenience between the club and manager; A damaged club hiring a damaged Hansi Flick.

It was the worst kept secret that Laporta was looking to hire a German manager to run our beloved Blaugrana. Laporta just missed out on Hansi Flick in 2021 before hiring Xavi to manage Barça. Lady luck shined on Laporta when Hansi Flick was now available to take the job following Germany’s disastrous performance at the 2022 World Cup and subsequent matches. Flick’s stock was absolutely at an all-time low and Barça was in need of a manager to get them back among the elite clubs in Europe.

This is not uncommon ground for FC Barcelona. Barça has a storied history of willing to gamble on managers whose philosophies align with the club's philosophy, even if their previous experiences were not always successful. One notable example is Frank Rijkaard, who took over as FC Barcelona's manager in the summer of 2003. Before joining Barça, Rijkaard had been let go at Sparta Rotterdam after they were relegated in his lone season there in 2002. Even though his managerial career consisted of being the Netherlands national team manager from 1998 to 2000 along with his only stint at club level with Sparta Rotterdam, he guided Barça to resurgence. The Blaugrana won two La Liga titles and their second UEFA Champions League in 2006.

The man who guided Barça’s Dream Team, Johan Cruyff, to their first Champions League crown also came to the club with a somewhat damaged reputation as a manager. Although Ajax won two Dutch cups and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup during the mid to late 80s, Cruyff was unable to steer Ajax Amsterdam to a Dutch league title and subsequently resigned in January 1988 as Ajax struggled. A few months later, Barça hired the football legend and the rest, as they say, is history. Cruyff’s arrival ushered in a successful era for the Blaugrana where he implemented his groundbreaking "Total Football" philosophy at Barcelona, which revolutionized the club's style of play and laid the groundwork for its future success.

                         

Luis Enrique is another prime example of a manager whose managerial career before Barcelona was not spectacular and somewhat damaged. He lasted one season coaching Roma without winning any major trophies. However, after taking over as Barcelona manager in 2014, Luis Enrique led the club to an unprecedented treble in his first season, capturing La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the Champions League, and amassed a total of nine trophies in his three seasons at the club.

                          

However, not all damaged managers have been successful after taking the reins at Barcelona. One noteworthy example would be Louis van Gaal. When van Gaal was first hired by the club in 1997, he was considered one of the top managers in the world following his accomplishments with Ajax. His first stint as Barça manager saw the club win consecutive league titles but failed in Europe. However, when he was hired by Barça again in 2002, it was fresh from his unsuccessful stint as the Netherlands manager who failed to qualify for the World Cup. The second era of van Gaal with the Blaugrana lasted a few months before he was fired due to the club’s woeful league position. Then there is Quique Setién, who joined Barcelona midway through the 2019-2020 season without much of a successful reputation. He had been hired after leaving Real Betis where they regressed from 6th to 10th in the league standings, and he tried his best to showcase his commitment to the Blaugrana's possession-based style of football. However, Setién only lasted a few months without winning any major silverware and will forever be remembered as the manager in charge during that 8-2 defeat to Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich side in the 2020 Champions League Quarter-Finals.

                          

Barça has a history of hiring managers based on their potential to align with the club's footballing philosophy and their ability to meet the high expectations of both the club and its fans. Hansi Flick’s hiring is a slight deviation from Barça’s DNA, where the hope is he will mutate that DNA with the German football DNA to create a new successful formula for success. Hopefully his hiring will usher in a new successful era for the Blaugrana, and thereby end years of frustration in Europe while also navigating the club to more success in domestic competitions. 

Barça Clause delivering gifts.

You better watch out.
You better not cry.
You better not pout.
I'm telling you why.
Barça Clause is coming to town.

Barça, the club that keeps on gifting to other clubs. Over the years, Barça have become jolly old Saint Nick, by sending gifts in terms of money, blown leads, and points. Three straight seasons where Barça fans felt like they only got coal in their stockings.

Year one of Mister Valverde, Barça almost went unbeaten in league. Paid Liverpool about €160 million for Coutinho, and enjoyed a three-goal aggregate lead against Roma, only to squander it in Rome. It felt like a fluke, but the worst was yet to come.

Year two of Mister Valverde, Barça win the league again. Semi-Finalists once more in Champions League Football. Defeated Liverpool 3-0 at the Camp Nou, only for them to gift that lead and lose 4-0 at Anfield. Coutinho was a non-factor, while Liverpool used the €160 million to sign Virgil van Dijk and Alisson to go on and win their 6^th Champions League title. Proceeded to lose the Copa del Rey Final to Valencia which allowed them to celebrate their first domestic achievement in a decade.

Year three of Mister Valverde, he didn’t make it past January. Setién was now the man, although were dumped out of Copa del Rey by Athletic, and lost El Clasico in Madrid, Barça enjoyed a two-point lead before the pandemic break.  Barça gifted the lead back to Madrid and finished five points behind Los Blancos as runners-up. Champions League is all that’s left with Barça an away goal advantage following their 1-1 draw in Naples. Will they overcome Napoli or gift them a spot in the Quarter-Finals?

Messi sees what the board has been doing.
It’s unsure how much more he can take.
He’s seen the board do more bad than good.
So please Barça, be good for goodness sake!

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.

Barça begins the Quique Setién era.

Well, it finally happened. FC Barcelona fired Ernesto Valverde on Monday and brough in Quique Setién as the club’s newest manager. Things had to change and Barça finally decided to become proactive by being reactive and firing Valverde following their loss to Atletico Madrid in the revamped Spanish Super Cup. Valverde’s era was bittersweet with some success but the disappointments will haunt him forever. Quique Setién now is the man to lead the charge and it won’t be easy.

We really were spoilt under the presidency of Joan Laporta. During his reign, the Blaugrana only had two managers, Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola. Since then, the Blaugrana have had five different managers. Elections are not that far away so we shall see if Quique Setién will still be the manager by then. For the time being, he has a tough task of rejuvenating a team that has slept walk this season.

Time will tell if Quique Setién was the right hire or not. Valverde came highly rated by many and in the end, many were glad to see him leave. He is already facing one difficult task of finding out what is the best formation and lineup for this team. The absence of Luis Suárez, out with an injury, and Carles Aleñá, out on loan, leaves him somewhat shorthanded. The first area of concern is whether the board will support Quique Setién or work against him. Will they bring him the players he wants or will they sign players they want without his input or approval?

With Suárez out, it’s time for Griezmann to shine but will others also step up? The team has regressed defensively and Setién will not only have to address that issue, but also improve their mental confidence which has become an issue when things don’t go their way. Hopefully Setién will also entrust La Masia and give more minutes to Barça B players such as Riqui Puig with the first team. It’s foolish to expect a quick turn around under Setién but it does feel good to feel optimistic about Barca again.