Ronald Koeman has been named as the man to take over from Quique Setién at Barcelona.
It was a sad day for all those from Barcelona last week Friday. It is a date in need of a moment of silence at Camp Nou. The Spanish giants not only got knocked out by Champions League favourites, Bayern Munich but also got humiliated, playing like a team from South Africa’s PSL.
They lost 8-2 in their quarter-final meeting, putting up a wee fight at their last shot at major honours, and not long after their cup exit was the impending news that followed. To no surprise, the club is said to have parted ways with Quique Setién, and the search for a new boss could be over before it even started.
"Barcelona manager Quique Setien is to be sacked on Monday and Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman could be the man to replace him, says Guillem Balague.La Liga runners-up Barcelona were humiliated in an 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich as they crashed out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage on Friday. (Via: BBC Sport)"
The top three candidates that were named initially were club legend Xavi, ex-Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, and ex-player and current Netherlands boss, Ronald Koeman. But moving on swiftly in their decision-making, the club has named the latter as the man to take them forward and bring back the Barca way.
Club level management questionable
The former Dutch international had an illustrious playing career, winning the European Championship in 1988 and all that. But his two-time managerial stint in the Premier League at club level brought out the best and worst of him.
His last job as the Toffee boss witnessed him getting sacked after spending multiple millions in the transfer window but entertained with a string of poor results, eventually deciding his fate. When he started as Southampton manager in the 2014/15 season he brought them their best success in the Premier League era.
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He guided them to a seventh-place finish which was immediately followed up by an even better placing in sixth place. This forced Everton to step in as they searched for European football and felt Ronald was the man to take them there. Or so they thought!
He joined Everton in the 2016/17 term and did what he had to. He got them to seventh in the standings and they qualified for the Europa League, something they still haven’t managed since. Not long after, the Dutchman got the boot in October of 2017, behind one of their worst starts in the Premier League.
But things have changed since then. He has proven that if he works with some of the best in the world like he has with the Netherlands international side, he can bring in the best results. However, it is going to take more than a change in management to achieve glory and continuously do so.
Ronald Koeman has been choosen as new Barcelona manager. He's going to leave Holland National team to join Barça - official statement on this week. Here we go! 🤝🔵🔴 #FCB #Barcelona #Koeman
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 17, 2020
The club needs to give him time to build. This makes it seem like a bad choice not to bring in Xavi as the new head coach. He enjoyed the club’s most successful period and knows exactly what identity is needed at the club to produce the Barca way.