Welcome to theScore’s weekly column on European football. During the club season, Anthony Lopopolo will uncover the biggest stories in the continent’s top leagues.
When Ernesto Valverde became Barcelona manager, he was considered the right man for the job. Johan Cruyff liked the way Valverde interpreted the game, both as a player under the Dutchman in the 1980s and as a coach at Espanyol two decades later. Cruyff was not alone in his assessment. Pep Guardiola recommended Valverde as a potential successor when he left the club in 2012, and according to The Guardian’s Sid Lowe, Barcelona made several attempts to hire him before eventually appointing him in May 2017.
At the time, Valverde seemed to have all the answers. He had lifted budget-conscious Athletic Bilbao into the Champions League and conditioned his team to play quick, relentless football. More importantly, he had forged a strong defensive record. Barcelona had not. They needed his organizational skills.
It turns out he was too pragmatic for Barcelona. Last week, Valverde was unceremoniously fired, tossed aside by the club after winning back-to-back La Liga titles. Valverde couldn’t deliver the kind of velvety football the world had come to expect from Barcelona, and …read more