Barcelona hierarchy and players deem Quique Setien as unconvincing.
Poor results and performances along with quarrel with the dressing room might be enough to force Quique Setien out of the coaching role at Barcelona.
The Catalans are prepared to part ways with Seiten unless he shows results with drastic improvements. The squad are currently chasing Real Madrid for the La Liga titles while not having any realistic changes at the current Champions League campaign.
The experienced manager took over Ernesto Valverde in January in order to improve the squad’s performance as they often seemed to rely heavily on Lionel Messi despite having many talented footballers among them.
Despite showing signs of improvement, their latest performance against Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao, and Celta Vigo has shown significant signs of issues that are still lurking. The heavy reliance on Lionel Messi is still present and evident in every match.
Club president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and sporting director, Eric Abidal, recently met with the Spanish coach to discuss the current state and future of the club. RAC1 had reported that the trio were analyzing the current performance while discussing Setien’s future.
One thing is clear, if Setien fails to deliver huge improvements to the squad’s performance, he will most likely be sacked before or after the current season.
Here are 8 potential candidates that the Barca hierarchy could choose to replace Setien.
GARCIA PIMIENTA
Garcia Pimienta is the current Barca B manager who was very closely linked with the first-team job when Ernesto Valverde was tipped to be removed. The 45-year-old has not only been a coach for the youth at Barca since 2006 but is also a La Masia graduate himself. He was a Barca player from 1975 to 1999 along with being a coach at La Masia since 2006, meaning he has been closely working with the Catalans for close to 40 years. He is still available as a temporary replacement for Setien as Barca desires either Xavi or Guardiola but Garcia has the potential to become one of the greatest to coach the first-team. AS reported that Pimienta could take over Setien for the remainder of the current season if the team gets negative results against Atletico and Villareal.
EUSEBIO SACRISTAN
Eusebio has been associated with Barca for many years. He spent 7 years at the Camp Nou as a player where he made 203 appearances. He was the former Barca B coach from 2011-2015, qualifying him to taker over the first-team role any day. To further qualify him as a great candidate, the 56-year-old also spent 5 years, from 2003-2008, as an assistant coach under Frank Rijijaard.
He is currently available in the market after poor managerial spells with La Liga sides, Sociedad and Girona. While many better options are available to take over Setien, Sacristan is a strong option as he truly understands the Barca philosophy.
LAURENT BLANC
Blanc is well known for his spell with Paris Saint-Germain from 2013-2016. An attacking-minded coach who focuses on possession and ground passes, Laurant was previously linked with replacing Setien at Real Betis. The 54-year-old is well known for his capability of turning a club around to find success, as he did with both PSG and Bordeaux.
His achievement of taking Bordeaux to win the Ligue 1 title for the first time in 10 years is remarkable. With the Parisiens, he won every french title available. His only regret was not winning the Champions League. He is currently available as he is yet to coach a team since 2016, but it is unlikely that the French coach would take over at Camp Nou as there are many more candidates available that better fit the club.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO
The former Tottenham coach was regrettably sacked despite his 2019 Champions League finalist achievement after poor performances in the following season. The Argentina international is openly looking for a new managerial role elsewhere with many Cules wishing for his arrival. Unfortunately, despite being a great fit for Blaugrana, Pochettino’s love for local rivals, Espanyol, is too big for the coach to get over. The only way he signs for Barca is if his ambition to join a great team is higher than his love for his former club; as a coaching role at Camp Nou is a once in a lifetime opportunity for any manager.
RONALD KOEMAN
The current Netherland national team coach, Ronald Koeman, was once an assistant coach under former Barca boss, Louis Van Gaal. He has the potential to be a success at Camp Nou like former players turned coaches, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique. Lionel Messi has previously displayed his desire of wanting Koeman’s arrival before he retires.
Unfortunately for Messi, Koeman is under contract with the Dutch national team until 2022 but AS has reported that there is a special clause in his contract that allows him to leave his current role in 2021 (after the EURO 2020) in order to coach another. The special condition in the clause is that he is only allowed to leave for one club, FC Barcelona. The La Liga champions can either give Setien another season or sign a temporary replacement to eventually have Koeman in 2021.
MARCELO GALLARDO
Marcelo signed a new contract with his current employers, Argentina’s River Plate, that extends his stay until 2021 but the coach had previously been heavily linked to take over former coach, Ernesto Valverde.
Gallardo found major success in Argentina after taking over former River Plate coach, Ramon Diaz, in 2014. Diaz was considered the most successful coach in the history of River Plate, but Gallardo surpassed his success within five years. His strongest attribute has been identifying great youth talent as he is responsible for promoting some of the best Argentine talents in recent years. His addition could mean many La Masia graduates like Riqui Puig and Ansu Fati, finding more minutes with the first-team.
XAVI HERNANDEZ
One of the biggest favourites to land the spot, the former midfielder is the perfect candidate to take over Setien. He not only knows many of the current squad like Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, and more, but he is also respected by them.
Many believe that both Ernesto Valverde and Quique Setien found it difficult to earn the squad’s respect and trust, but Xavi’s past will speak for himself as one of the smartest minds in world football. Among all the candidates, Xavi has the most probability to actually control the squad enough for them to follow his philosophy that is similar to that of Johan Cruff.
The only problem is that Xavi has voiced that he will only return post the 2021 Barca presidential election while further stating that he wants the new president to be someone who would grant him enough power to make the right changes.
PEP GUARDIOLA
One of the other favorites to land a reunion with Barca, Guardiola has been closely monitored by the Barca hierarchy as a possible replacement. His current contract with Manchester City expires in 2021 after the Spaniard signed a contract extension in 2018. Having said that, Daily Mail reports that there is an additional clause in that contract that allows him to leave a year earlier.
There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to Guardiola’s future with the Premier League side especially as his biggest desire is to win the Champions League but the latest bans received by the Etihad side can be enough to push him away.
Diario Gol reports that, like Xavi, Guardiola will also return only when Bartomeu resigns and he has the complete autonomy to make decisions. He also desires Xavi to return as a sporting director.
Who do you think will replace Quique Setien at the Nou Camp?