Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Barcelona are searching for a new manager this summer after Luis Enrique’s announcement back in March that he was to leave the Nou Camp hotseat at the end of the season. Enrique will bow out this weekend when Barcelona take on Alaves in the Copa Del Rey Final and in regards to his replacement being named the appointment is not all that far away.
That is because with the announcement that Ernesto Valverde has departed from Athletic Bilbao earlier in the week it makes it should now been a mere formality that he is the man to take the reigns from Luis Enrique and take charge of the Catalan giants.
Barcelona have had to make do with the disappointment of finishing runners up in La Liga this season after being pipped to the post by Real Madrid on the final day by a margin of three points. It was ultimately their lack of consistency early in the season that proved to be their undoing.
Defeats to both Alaves and Celta Vigo when Luis Enrique took his opposition too lightly and made wholesale changes saw them come unstuck while the killer blow would have undoubtedly been the defeat to Deportivo a few days after that heroic victory over PSG in the Champions League Round of 16.
It may not be the perfect send off this weekend but Barcelona can go out on some form of a high should they beat Alaves and exact some revenge for that early season defeat. A win here would be Barcelona’s third successive Spanish cup success.
Should they win that would go alongside a Champions League in 2015 and successive La Liga titles in 2015 and 2016 as part of Enrique’s trophy haul while in charge. Whether he is remembered in the pantheon of great Barcelona managers will have to be debated.
A club legend and part of Johan Cruyff’s early 90’s Dream Team he never quite garnered the same affection when in the role of manager as it was apparent that he did not quite have the respect of a dressing room in the same way as Pep Guardiola did.
The next incumbent Ernesto Valverde leaves the San Mames having reached 7th in La Liga with Athletic, a position that if Barcelona win the Spanish Cup Final will secure a return to the Europa League next season. There is no doubting the impressive job he has done in the Basque Region over the past four seasons but when Barcelona comes calling it is very hard to say no.
Add to the fact that Valverde is a former Barcelona player albeit for a two season spell in which he made 22 appearances and a return to the Nou Camp seems all the more likely, although in fairness it is his impressive managerial c.v. that has alerted the attention of the Barca hierarchy.
A manager of no fewer than 4 La Liga clubs already in his career, his stints in Spain have only heralded a Spanish Supercup back in 2015 but he did win 3 Greek titles with Olympiakos in 4 seasons, although truth be told if Olympiakos do not win the league over there it is considered to be a disaster.
His trophy haul may not be as glittering as that of Luis Enrique’s but he has certainly been on the radar of Barcelona for a very long time and the interest would have accelerated a few months ago once a new manager had to be found, it looks like in the next few days they will finally get their man.
