Barcelona may need to make another managerial change amid talk that the current boss has already lost the confidence of his team.
Barcelona are currently in a crisis, it’s fair to conclude. Ernesto Valverde was fired following poor results and heavy pressure from the fans as well as the players apparently. Quique Setien has done a decent job, but still not on the level that Barca demand and has already conceded a La Liga lead to Real Madrid by three points, a gap that’s only tipped to widen.
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Most recently, Eric Abidal has come under the scanner after he claimed that the players were not hardworking enough under Ernesto Valverde. Lionel Messi openly confronted the club’s sporting director on Instagram and Abidal has had a meeting with Barca’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu in what could be a decisive turn towards his future.
Diario GOL has now claimed that the Barcelona captain and several of the team’s senior players such as Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets are unhappy with the appointment of Quique Setien. There were initially doubts about the former Real Betis man coming in, but a win on his debut cooled those only for the Valencia loss to re-ignite questioning.
Valencia grabbed a 2-0 win that saw Barcelona lose ground on Real Madrid in the La Liga title race whilst also being unconvincing against Levante. The Catalans’ heavyweights are of the opinion that while Setien has a decent amount of experience, he is still not good enough to be in the Barca dugout and must be sacked this summer if there are no improvements.
Apparently, there is already pessimism in the club’s dressing room over the Champions League tie against Napoli given the numerous issues going on. In addition to that, Barcelona’s record against Italian teams in the knockout stages has been fickle in the last few years, with Juventus and Roma being the perfect examples of what had happened.
Do you see Ronald Koeman or Xavi managing Barca by the start of next season?