Ronald Koeman

[khaled_a_d]

Now knowing Brendan speaks Spanish, it makes him a very logical choice. Given that Xavi will probably not come right now.

Plus, here is an interesting stat for you. Barcelona has had 9 British managers in their history. 8 of those have won trophies at the club. The only 1 that didn't was the second ever manager in our history and was managing the club for less than a year. So he basically doesn't even count (thanks for helping set up the club though!).

History is on the side of Brendan Rogers.

Yeah, doesn't seem real for those who watched Barca past 2 decades, but historically we once had strong ties with British football

 

[DonAK]

Barca have been such a risk averse team when it comes to hiring managers of late.

You either get a safe underwhelming choice or a familiar underwhelming face. Even Bayern who tend to stray on the safer side took a leap of faith with Niko Kovac, which didn't work out, but then did it again with Hansi Flick which we all know worked out very well for them.

I was on the Erik ten Hag hype train a couple of years ago, but he's fumbled it in Europe last couple of years even when his team was better than the opposition. He's still a good manager, but I would rather bet on a younger guy if we're going to take a risk here.

Nagelsmann would have been my first option, but he's at Bayern now. He was seemingly the guy Laporta talked about in February too when he said some coaches in Germany fit in well within Barca's philosophy and structure.

I would take a leap of faith with Xavi or maybe even Brendan Rodgers if our options are limited. It can go badly like with Pirlo or turn out well like it did with Zidane.

In the end it doesn't really matter who the manager is if we don't move on from some of our older players.

Our next manager need to be someone the club think can lead a new project. So someone that stays here for at least as long as Pep did.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Barca have been such a risk averse team when it comes to hiring managers of late.

What?
I mean look at our hiring since Laporta took over in 2003:
Rijkaard: A guy who has lead Sparta to their first ever relegation.
Pep: 4th division Barca B coach.
Tito: assistant coach in his whole career.
Tata: never been to Europe before Barca, and likely after Barca too.
Lucho: Failed at Roma, hired mostly because Barca B
EV: Never coached big teams, was a risk on a smaller club coach.
Setien: We fired a coach leading Liga table, no one was lined as replacement and we had to convince Setien to stop taking the flight to Cairo to coach Pyramids FC
Even with Koeman, the safer choice was Pochettino or Allegri , although non of them would have accepted the situation offered to Koeman.

If anything, we haven't taken the proven, less risky choice for almost 2 decades now.

Our problem is more related to being fixated on Barca DNA, but they have basically turned it into Barca connection.

 

[Messigician]

If only Valverde could stop bottling champions league he would still be Barca?s coach. The guy slapped up Madrid and Atletico in his sleep every season. Koeman can?t even do it awake.

 

[Rassvet]

If only Valverde could stop bottling champions league he would still be Barca?s coach. The guy slapped up Madrid and Atletico in his sleep every season. Koeman can?t even do it awake.

The players bottled it, not EV

 

[Porque]

Yeah, doesn't seem real for those who watched Barca past 2 decades, but historically we once had strong ties with British football

Yeah, it is a bit annoying for the club to hold to this Catalanship as well in my opinion, to the extent that it becomes a self-imposed elitism. I get what the club represented during the Franco regime and the outlet it provided, but at the same time the roots and founding of this club was by foreigners. We can not forget that and alienate that, especially in a now globalised supports base where we have more fans outside of Catalunya than inside of Catalunya.

And like you say, we had historic ties with Britain which has been forgotton since the 90s, where this Catalan La Masia DNA stuff has taken over to the extreme.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Yeah, it is a bit annoying for the club to hold to this Catalanship as well in my opinion, to the extent that it becomes a self-imposed elitism. I get what the club represented during the Franco regime and the outlet it provided, but at the same time the roots and founding of this club was by foreigners. We can not forget that and alienate that, especially in a now globalised supports base where we have more fans outside of Catalunya than inside of Catalunya.

And like you say, we had historic ties with Britain which has been forgotton since the 90s, where this Catalan La Masia DNA stuff has taken over to the extreme.

It is weird.
The club is supposed to be "politically " left , a progressive and more revolting one.
But it is acting like extreme right wing at times.
La Masia players are preferred just for sake of it, coaches who only connected to the club will be hired etc.
Fans are like that too, the La Masia cult basically treating new signings like an extreme right wing treating an immigrants.
For me, players under contracts should be treated the same, players who aren't should be signed based on merit and fit, same for coaches.
Some traditions are nice, but not elitism.

 

[Richard.H]

It is weird.
The club is supposed to be "politically " left , a progressive and more revolting one.
But it is acting like extreme right wing at times.
La Masia players are preferred just for sake of it, coaches who only connected to the club will be hired etc.
Fans are like that too, the La Masia cult basically treating new signings like an extreme right wing treating an immigrants.
For me, players under contracts should be treated the same, players who aren't should be signed based on merit and fit, same for coaches.
Some traditionsis nice, but not elitism.

You will get a ton of fans (especially the ones from Barcelona) disagreeing with this. I can assure you that many Catalans feel like the club is going more away from their roots (of the Cruyff era) than closer to it. Before COVID, the camp nou was packed with more foreigners than locals, the sponsor on the shirt appeared, and club being a lot more globalized with social media largely in English. Most locals aren't very pleased with this. Many of them hold on to La Masia and favoritism to previous club legends as a huge part of the identity that still makes Barcelona the prime club that represents Catalunya.

 

[serghei]

Barca have been such a risk averse team when it comes to hiring managers of late.

You either get a safe underwhelming choice or a familiar underwhelming face. Even Bayern who tend to stray on the safer side took a leap of faith with Niko Kovac, which didn't work out, but then did it again with Hansi Flick which we all know worked out very well for them.

I was on the Erik ten Hag hype train a couple of years ago, but he's fumbled it in Europe last couple of years even when his team was better than the opposition. He's still a good manager, but I would rather bet on a younger guy if we're going to take a risk here.

Nagelsmann would have been my first option, but he's at Bayern now. He was seemingly the guy Laporta talked about in February too when he said some coaches in Germany fit in well within Barca's philosophy and structure.

I would take a leap of faith with Xavi or maybe even Brendan Rodgers if our options are limited. It can go badly like with Pirlo or turn out well like it did with Zidane.

In the end it doesn't really matter who the manager is if we don't move on from some of our older players.

Our next manager need to be someone the club think can lead a new project. So someone that stays here for at least as long as Pep did.

So true, pisses me off.

Out of all managers post Pep, the only what who had a connection with Pep's direction and style was Setien, and he massively lacked in all other areas, and he was basically a temporary manager who was here because nobody wanted the job. We might as well count him out as a manager completely the Amigos were running the team in most ways.

So, we had the following managers:

Tito - purely on the basis of being Pep's manager. The poor guy had cancer, couldn't even do his job after a few months.
Tata - fuck knows why. Probably being an Argentinian played a role.
Lucho - good manager, but not really a Barca-DNA type of manager. As a player, he was a very Real Madrid-like, physical attacker with a great mentality. Also had a super team to work with, so kind of hard to not do well with that stacked talent.
Valverde - more of a pragmatic manager, who was not a bad tactician, but lack personality and authority big time. Like a worse, Spanish Pochettino/Mourinho type.
Koeman - a combination of Lucho's personality (most of his qualities stem from this, some of his flaws too) and Valverde's style, while being tactically inferior to both.

Where the hell do you see Barca-DNA in these managers? Most were tier B or C managers, with some experience, which counted in them getting the job. This is no surprise since Rossell and Bartomeu wanted to detach themselves from the Laporta-Guardiola model. As I said, ZERO Barca-DNA managers got the job post Guardiola.

 

[serghei]

I can take a leap of faith with Xavi, I can't take a leap of faith with Xavi wbile Busquets/Alba/Pique are here.
Xavi will be burned with current squad, if he is indeed a good manager then big chance we will waste his career if he comes too early.

Hmm, if he is to be a great manager he has to be prepared to make the tough calls. So, if you think Xavi can be burned by the old players, then you don't think he'll make a very good manager. It's a big flaw to have if you let personal bias stand in the way of making the best decisions for the team.

I think Xavi has more balls than people believe. He doesn't fit the Amigo profile. Different character compared to likes of Pique, Alba. There's a pretty big chance he instills discipline, man worked for long spells under very tough managers who took no shit, like LvG, Rijkaard, Guardiola. He was one of the most hardworking and disciplined players I've ever seen, so pretty slim chance he accepts slackers in his team just because he used to play with them 5-6 years ago.

Laporta will also help him in this direction. These 2 need to collide and really move this team in the right direction. Partner up, clear the oldies that are past it and unmotivated and build something.

It is weird.
The club is supposed to be "politically " left , a progressive and more revolting one.
But it is acting like extreme right wing at times.
La Masia players are preferred just for sake of it, coaches who only connected to the club will be hired etc.
Fans are like that too, the La Masia cult basically treating new signings like an extreme right wing treating an immigrants.
For me, players under contracts should be treated the same, players who aren't should be signed based on merit and fit, same for coaches.
Some traditions are nice, but not elitism.

Seems like some people define Barca-DNA like purely being involved with Barca at some point in some position. That's not what it is about. Look at Koeman, man took a shit on one of the purest Barca-style midfielders to come from La Masia in quite a while. He is a Barca legend, but his football taste is not that much connected with modern Barcelona.

 

[serghei]

If you guys want a Barca-DNA type of manager look at the guys saying they were inspired by Pep's Barca (who is basically a modern variation of Cruyff's philosophy). Tuchel and Nagelsmann have said it repeatedly. Xavi would be a new one. Bielsa is one with many similar points as well.

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bunde...barcelona-is-my-role-model-thomas-tuchel-7289

Same with Tuchel, see below. These are some of the best modern offensive managers, who have implemented a lot of ideas from Barca of that period. You can see they studied that team intensely, something they humbly admit many times.

https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/news/pep-guardiola-chelsea-thomas-tuchel-20545343

You have Bayern hiring Barca-DNA worshippers, and you have Barca fans saying we should not do that. Because we hired Valverde and Koeman

 

[fergus90]

Hmm, if he is to be a great manager he has to be prepared to make the tough calls. So, if you think Xavi can be burned by the old players, then you don't think he'll make a very good manager. It's a big flaw to have if you let personal bias stand in the way of making the best decisions for the team.

I think Xavi has more balls than people believe. He doesn't fit the Amigo profile. Different character compared to likes of Pique, Alba. There's a pretty big chance he instills discipline, man worked for long spells under very tough managers who took no shit, like LvG, Rijkaard, Guardiola. He was one of the most hardworking and disciplined players I've ever seen, so pretty slim chance he accepts slackers in his team just because he used to play with them 5-6 years ago.

Laporta will also help him in this direction. These 2 need to collide and really move this team in the right direction. Partner up, clear the oldies that are past it and unmotivated and build something.



Seems like some people define Barca-DNA like purely being involved with Barca at some point in some position. That's not what it is about. Look at Koeman, man took a shit on one of the purest Barca-style midfielders to come from La Masia in quite a while. He is a Barca legend, but his football taste is not that much connected with modern Barcelona.

I think that's because the previous board members treated it that way. Tried to spin someone having 'Barca DNA' when they had a stint at the club at some point. Obviously, that successful style associated with Barca is from the players that have been coached through the age groups in Masia and learnt that way of playing.

You could imagine someone like Henry being appointed and then the media spinning it as him having Barca DNA, when in reality he said himself it's like he had to relearn how to play football.

 

[serghei]

I think that's because the previous board members treated it that way. Tried to spin someone having 'Barca DNA' when they had a stint at the club at some point. Obviously, that successful style associated with Barca is from the players that have been coached through the age groups in Masia and learnt that way of playing.

You could imagine someone like Henry being appointed and then the media spinning it as him having Barca DNA, when in reality he said himself it's like he had to relearn how to play football.

Exactly right. Playing at Barca, even becoming a legend, is not the same as being invested in the philosophy of fluid possession-football as far as management is concerned. Many players maintain their individual profiles and contribute in the team in a strictly professional way.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Seems like some people define Barca-DNA like purely being involved with Barca at some point in some position.

If we are being honest with ourselves, Barca DNA is mainly about a marketing strategy for the club that was widely used under Rosell management too.
It is a successful one tbf but it is backfiring.

Look at Koeman, man took a shit on one of the purest Barca-style midfielders to come from La Masia in quite a while. He is a Barca legend, but his football taste is not that much connected with modern Barcelona.

Barca has been all about attacking football more than anything. You can argue Koeman fits the bell. I've different view of Puig btw but it is a side discussion.
But overall I think we agree that Barca DNA became something that it isn't, it is basically a nostalgia driven slogan atm.
Hire former player/assistant or a dutchie and it call it Barca DNA

I think Xavi has more balls than people believe. He doesn't fit the Amigo profile. Different character compared to likes of Pique, Alba.

I said it before and I will say it again, for me Xavi ,alongside Puyol, are the original amigos. They were the amigos version one.
Xavi has severely declined after that 2011 season, still kept his place as undisputed starter despite younger good player (Cesc & Thiago) due to his status in the club, more than his real production. Something that forced our best young talent at that time to leave (Thaigo)
He challenged the coach in training in front of his teammates, telling him "that isn't how we do things here" which even curent amigos didn't do.
Xavi benefited massively from having Puyol to keep the team in check, and then having Lucho and an elite team in his sole year as team captain.
I never really understood the whole "Xavi is great leader"thing. For me he was closer to Iniesta in terms of leadership.

And if we judge him based on the way he talks (you did that before) then he talks about his former teammates and how they aren't the problem.
If anything, I think someone like Busquets will be the heart of his team

Hmm, if he is to be a great manager he has to be prepared to make the tough calls. So, if you think Xavi can be burned by the old players, then you don't think he'll make a very good manager. It's a big flaw to have if you let personal bias stand in the way of making the best decisions for the team.

Managers are just like players, has their situation affects their career.
You put a manager in favourable situation and they do well, people will say they are elite. Put them with a bad one and suddenly they are frauds.
I think it is just a different and unconventional situation for him, to come and tell players who once carried him (between 2012-2015) that they are unnecessity, from my understanding he didn't even do that in Qatar.
Would Xavi implement the changes with the amigos? maybe, but I highly doubt it will happen in year one.

 

[serghei]

All big teams usually play some form of attacking football. Zidane and his crosses-style is attacking football by most metrics, it's just a different type of attacking football. Barca-DNA for me is more about possession as a purpose of controlling a game, elaborate and intensive off-the-ball movements as a way to create chances using frequent triangles, 1-2s, and other combinations (since possession is not the ultimate purpose, creating chances and scoring goals is), and pressing as the main way to defend without it. It's not a general theme, it's more niched than that.

This is Barca style as we know it on the best periods the club has seen, with Cruyff's Dream Team from the 90s, and with Guardiola in late 00s and early 10s. Elements from the style were kept under subsequent managers, like Rijkaard in early 00s, and Lucho in mid 10s, albeit with a more star-driven top-heavy approach.

Well, I disagree about what you said regarding Xavi. We'll see what he will do if he comes. Laziness and unprofessionalism are key elements of the rot instilled by the Amigos culture. It's not simply contesting the manager, that's not even a big problem for me. I didn't see any laziness and unprofessionalism from Xavi the player. And the fact that as a captain he accepted the bench role in 2014-15 speaks highly of him as a Barca fan and legend.