Here, we begin to analyze the hire of new Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde and what he can do to change the club for good.
Earlier this week, Ernesto Valverde was officially announced as the new manager of FC Barcelona. The decision to appoint Valverde has polarised the opinion of the Catalan supporters. While some think that the decision to hire a former player in Valverde is a move in the right direction, another segment of the fan base is of the belief that the move shows a clear lack of ambition by the board members.
Valverde played for Barcelona under Johan Cruyff from 1988 to 1990 before becoming a cult figure at Bilbao. As a manager Valverde has won six titles including a 5-1 aggregate win against Barcelona to lift the Spanish Super Cup with Athletic Bilbao. But now as the newly appointed Barcelona manager, Valverde faces the biggest challenge of his career.
Valverde has never managed a team the magnitude of FC Barcelona. From now on every time his team steps onto a football field, they will more than likely be favourites to win. It is this pressure to win on every matchday that Ernesto Valverde has to learn to cope with more than anything else.
He will be expected to bring the best out of Barcelona’s famed attacking trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar. He also has to improve an underwhelming midfield and galvanize a leaky defence. In today’s inflated transfer market both these tasks will be difficult to achieve.
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It is easy to feel that better options were available for Barcelona. Both Laurent Blanc and Thomas Tuchel have experience at managing big clubs. But there is more to this selection than meets the eye at first.
Valverde has 14 years of experience managing in Spain. None of his direct rivals for the job had even managed in Spain previously. His stint at Barcelona as a player also satisfies the club’s policy of appointing former players as manager.
It is true that he doesn’t have the experience of managing a club as big as Barcelona. But both Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique didn’t have any such experience. Yet they enjoyed tremendous success managing Barcelona.
Valverde will infuse youth into an aging team. Over the years, he has proven his skill at nurturing talent and integrating them into the first team. It has been a long time since a La Masia graduate managed to become a star at the club.
Valverde’s style is similar to his predecessor Luis Enrique. Although he used to play under Cruyff, he isn’t obsessed with keeping possession of the ball. Thus the team should not have a hard time in spite of the change in management. The coming summer is going to be the most important for Barcelona in a long time. For the first time in years they find themselves behind their eternal rivals Real Madrid.
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Overall, Valverde will have to rebuild a squad that has stagnated over the years. A lot of old faces will make way for new ones. That is the price for success. The winds of change are blowing at Camp Nou. We just have to accept the pains they bring with them.