Yes, 7 of the last 11 managers have been Spanish. 5 of the last 6, only Martino being Argentine. Before Pep, three foreigners in succession were in charge. Van Gaal, Antic and Rijkaard.
Bad news. Luis Suarez will have to do the drastic measure regarding the knee that has troubled him for a long time. A surgery will keep him on the sidelines for four months. Barcelona can't count on him until the very end of 2019-20 season. This tough blow could make the club look for a striker during this transfer window, but also give more opportunities to Fati and Perez. Maybe Griezmann benefits too, who knows...
For the first time since 2003, Barcelona have sacked the manager. Such contrasting results in these two cases. When Van Gaal was fired in January of 2003, Barcelona were just three points above relegation zone and twenty points or so behind Sociedad. Now, Valverde was sacked while Barcelona are top of the table on goal difference.
Should have done it in the summer when the second successive European collapse happened. And as much as I am glad he left, he deserved more honesty from the board, who repeatedly backed him for months while the fans wanted his head, but suddenly started searching for new managers in the middle of the season, with Xavi and Koeman declining the offer. I can imagine how betrayed he must feel, can't wait for certain other people to leave as well.
145 games, winning 97, drawing 32 and losing 16. Thanks for your contributions in our back to back La Liga title victories, one Copa del Rey and one Supercopa, Txingurri. But this just wasn't going to work.
His replacement has signed a contract until 2022. He is someone I praised before and mentioned as one of the guys I would welcome here.
Ronald Koeman, Erik ten Hag and Quique Setien all try to impose football that Barcelona prefer so I would approve if one of them arrives.
His last two jobs include managing Las Palmas, a team he took over when they were in relegation zone and led to respectable midtable 11th place.
He really made a name for himself in Betis though. The Andalusian club finished 15th right before he joined, and in his first season as their manager, he guided them to sixth place finish which brought them Europa League football in 2018, Betis' finest moment since the mid 00s. Next season was less impressive as Betis finished below European places, but they did record a historic double of wins, beating Barcelona at Camp Nou and Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. And they did it in style.
Quique... The way he speaks and sees football, and considering he's been in Spanish football for four decades as a player and a manager, you would be excused for thinking he was one of the former Barcelona men. But this is the first time he is associated with the club.
"Victory is not worthy on its own. It must come as a result of doing things well" These words from Setien might explain why Valverde didn't keep his job even after being top of La Liga on 81 out of 95 match days he managed Barcelona.
Like his predecessor, he has never had a job this big. But their styles couldn't be more different. Ernesto wanted to play it cautious even with one of the best teams on the continent. Quique wanted to impose attacking possession football with average teams in comparison.
"I like it when my team play well most of the time, having the ball, because I know that in this way I will have many more chances to win than the rivals. Sometimes football is unfair, but in the long run if you do things right you will have more successes than failures. And that is sometimes difficult to understand; this reasoning is mine"
"People want to see your team win. Many do not care about the ways. I care and I already explained this to Real Betis when they hired me. I told them 'you know how I am, you know what I'm going to do, if you're really not sure about this, it's better to sign another coach'."
There is never guarantee for success. But having someone who has the same philosophy as the one that made Barcelona such a special club makes me excited for the next season so much. As far as this one is concerned, I would be thrilled if Barcelona retained La Liga. The race couldn't be tighter at the moment, and with one of our best players out for majority of the remaining games, the challenge has become a lot harder now. But it's possible.
Benvingut, Quique!