Welcome to TalkBarca. In this article, we are going to discuss the best possible manager to replace Ernesto Valverde and take Barcelona by storm. Previously, we covered an article on how Ronald Koeman is the most favorite Manager for this slot. We also discussed how limited we have been in pursuit of managers. This is exactly, why we are covering this article. It’s because we have to look outside the box and take a look at all the best possible options for the Barcelona Manager position. Our merit for selecting a manager should be his mentality, philosophy, and style of play rather than having a history with the club.
Best Possible Manager For Barcelona:
The search for Valverde’s successor is ON. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean the successor for Valverde’s legacy, I am talking about the managerial role at Barcelona. To be honest, we need a strong character taking bold decisions and having everything under his command, unlike Valverde who is just a pawn for the Board. So, with that in mind, we will be looking for managers who are not only technical but also have our style of play and philosophy or should I say Barca DNA.
QUIQUE SETIEN :
Quique Setien is one of the most linked managers to FC Barcelona. He was linked with Barca earlier in January 2019 as well as in the start of the 2019/20 campaign. In fact, Quique Setien offered himself to Barcelona and publicly stated his desire to coach Barcelona. That offer was not taken seriously and no action was taken. His last managed club was Real Betis. Considering his career, he has stayed mostly in Spain, both as a manager and as a player. As a player, he had a long career of about 19 years. He played as a central midfielder. His nickname is El Maestro because of his passing ability. Furthermore, Quique Setien is regarded as a major team player, who put his team ahead of his individual records.
Career as a Player
This trait at the personal level is very positive to see when linking him with Barcelona. The reason is that Barcelona’s style of play is also based on team plays and playing for the benefit of the team rather than individual achievements. Quique has also played for La Liga’s dominating side Atletico Madrid. He played 3 seasons there, and the first 2 were really successful. He has also played for Levante and he had a great career over there as well. This shows that Quique is someone who knows football in Spain really well and he is aware of what works here and what does not.
At the International level, he has appeared for Spain a few times. This all links up to him being a really old customer to the footballing world in Spain. Quique Setien does give me a vibe of being better than Ernesto Valverde. Valverde never got going with our style and mentality. I think this cannot happen under Quique.
Career as Manager:
Quique has had a long career even as a manager. However, I’ll take a look at Real Betis only which is his previous club. He is no longer their manager, but, his time at Betis is worth noticing. During his time at Real Betis, he managed 94 games out of which he won 40 games and drew 21 games making this a win percentage of 42.55%. On paper, these stats are not worth noticing. However, if we dig down, we would see what a successful 2 years he had with Betis.
Final thoughts:
My final thoughts on Quique Setien are positive. I think he is a really experienced professional especially in the premises of Spain. He knows how things work around here, and his experience can benefit Barcelona a lot. His playing style resembles a lot to ours. Moreover, he is known for player management and he is really good with young players. However, his experience of playing in Europe is really limited. This could harm us, because regardless of which stage we reach, Barcelona always plays CL. Therefore, the board must think more than twice before initiating talks with Setien.
ERIK TEN HAG:
Another manager linked to Barcelona is Erik Ten Hag. Erik is from the Netherlands, and currently, he is the manager of Ajax FC. Erik’s link to Barcelona is a big rumor, and his arrival at the club might solve many of our problems. However, let us first take a look at his career.
Career as a player:
As a player, Erik didn’t shine a lot. Erik played as a Center Back and played for 6 clubs in total. Ten Hag played 336 games in his career and scored 15 goals in them. Erik finally retired in 2002. He never delivered any magical performances or gained a lot of fame as a player. However, his career as a manager is worth noticing.
Career as a manager:
Erik’s main achievements came as a manager. Especially, when he managed Ajax FC, he experienced the peak of his career. Now, I favor Ten Hag to come as our manager because of his successful campaign with Ajax in Eredivisie as well as the Champions League. If we look at the way Ajax plays, it is very similar to the Barca style of play.
Cruyff laid the foundation of Ajax FC, the same guy who changed FC Barcelona. If a manager like Ten Hag, can improve our condition implementing our style of play, why would we not want him? As a manager, Erik Ten Hag also managed Bayern Munich II.
He became the senior coach at Ajax in Dec 2017. After that Ajax has shown great performances and played what you call beautiful football. In 2019, he dragged Ajax to the UEFA Champions League Semifinals with his brilliant tactics and man-management. During their campaign, Ajax beat the defending champions Real Madrid in the Round of 16 stages. Following that, in the Quarterfinals, Ajax beat the Italian giants, Juventus.
Ajax also was favorite to win in the Semifinals, but, ill fortune and a master class from Lucas Moura from Tottenham prevented them from reaching the grand stage. Later, Ajax, lead by Ten Hag won their league, Eredivisie.
My final thoughts:
Personally, I think that Erik Ten Hag is the best choice as a manager for FC Barcelona. The reason is that Erik Ten Hag is well aware of the Cruyff philosophy of football. Furthermore, Ajax is a team that plays similarly to us. Therefore, if Ten Hag has managed Ajax perfectly, he can definitely change Barcelona. Lastly, Erik has also been really good in the Champions League, something we need badly.
PEP GUARDIOLA:
Pep Guardiola’s link to FC Barcelona has also been circulating for some time. However, we all know that this is really not possible. The chances of Pep Guardiola coming back to Barcelona is very narrow. Coming to his career as a manager, he completely changed us. I am only going to take a look at what he achieved with Barcelona. He picked us up and made us the most dominating side in Europe. We won The Treble under Pep Guardiola. Messi also experienced the peak of his career under him. Pep Guardiola has been a legend in Barcelona and the fans would literally dance all night with him returning to the club.
However, his return to Camp Nou is really difficult considering his nature. Pep Guardiola likes to take new challenges and therefore, it is difficult that he moves back to Spain. He even cleared it out in a press conference that he is staying at Man City until 2021. Therefore, his move back to Barcelona is a big no.
Verdict:
With Pep Guardiola out of the picture, we have 2 managers who can comfortably fill in the shoes of Valverde. To be honest, I would like anyone of these two to take charge of the managerial position ahead of Ronald Koeman. There are also a few other options which we can cover later. For the time being, I believe Erik Ten Hag is the best possible candidate for the role of Manager at FC Barcelona.
Well, guys, that’s all from us today. What are your thoughts on this article? Who do you think should be the next manager of FC Barcelona and why? Let us know your feedback in the comments below. Until the next time, Visca El Barca!
