Who should be Barça's next coach after Lucho?

DonAndres said:

Valverde is the most 'proven' coach we've hired in a long time, so there's that. Not a guarantee of success, but surely less of a 'risk' experience-wise than Lucho, Tata, Tito, and Pep who all had very little real managerial experience before becoming Barca coach. He's even more proven than Rijkaard was if you don't consider his Netherlands stint to be comparable experience to Valverde's long reign at Athletic.

It's hard to predict what Valverde's Barca would look like. His defensive base has always been built around high press at Athletic. At its heights, Lucho's Barca has been pretty effective at high pressure as well. When we lost it under Tito/Tata our defense was totally shambolic and Pique seemed to be going downhill but after Lucho his career bounced back and I think Gerard has been one of the best CB's in the world over the last 3 years. However, I think Valverde's high pressure is more strategic and with intent. Athletic try to push up and maintain consistent space between the lines even during quick transitions and buildups. The press is implemented almost immediately after dispossession and Athletic try not to 'retreat' when the ball is lost. IMO, he's built one of the most effective high pressing teams in La Liga.

Here are some defensive statistics to show how good Athletic have been defensively:
- 2nd least shots conceded in La Liga this season (9.9, only behind Barca at 9.5)
- tied 4th most tackles per game at 21.1 (most is valencia with 22.7)
- tied 4th least goals conceded per game at 40 (least is Atletico)

And this is with Athletic being an attack minded team. At Barca, Valverde will work with much more control of the ball and the ability to pin opponents back more easily. The high press and high possession system that Valverde implements makes Athletic VERY effective at both attacking and defending as a unit. Attacking moves involve almost all of the players being involved (even off the ball) whereas at Barca under LE we've seen the left/right flanks split during attacks and mostly individual/2-3 player moves to 'overwhelm' opponents. IMO Valverde is much less likely to only rely on MSN for goals/attacking moves and the rest of the team will probably give more significant support.

One criticism of Valverde is how much Athletic relies on crossing/set pieces for aerial goals. This is fairly true for most of Athletic's games. They average 23 crosses per game which ties RM and is one of the highest rates in La Liga. In the recent draw against Leganes it was like something more than 30 crosses attempted throughout the game. I think it's a valid criticism to make of his side, though it may just be Valverde playing to the advantages of his squad. The closest thing he has to a dynamic/mobile scoring type player is Iñaki Williams who, despite a good season, has not been that clinical with only 4 liga goals. Aduriz and Raul Garcia are his two top scorers and they are absolute beasts in the air but very limited elsewhere (they win around 9 aerial duels per game between the two of them). If he's relying on his supposedly only consistent scoring outlets, it makes sense to emphasize the play to their strengths. I don't think it's NECESSARY to attack in a death via cross method but Valverde is probably making the right decision with the cards he was dealt. At Barca he'll have a lot more capable perimeter attackers in Messi/Neymar creating chances and cutbacks will probably substitute for out and out crossing in the gameplan.

Valverde is an intelligent manager and has been hugely successful for Athletic. The Basque-only restriction is not an easy thing to deal with for a team that's trying to fight for European places but he's managed to have 4 very good years despite that. It's also worth considering that his success is in a period where La Liga's top 10 is far more competitive than in the previous decade. The first thing we'll see this summer is the kind of transfers that the board and/or Valverde push for. It's the crucial first step to rebuilding and at this point things don't look all that great as far as our targets go.

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Birdy said:

I come from Greece, and i remember Ernesto's two spells as Olympiacos' coach.
The only thing i don't know is how (and if) he can handle the pressure of a huge club like Barca -because so far he has coached only smaller clubs - but for those people who don't know him as a coach, i have to say only this:
His abilities are amazing! Be prepared for a unique experience and wonderful football. He can make Barca great again!
The team he built in Olympiacos, as a dominant team that goes out to win every game - unlike Bilbao or Villareal or Valencia, where you have to compromise that there are better teams in the league and your highest aspiration is 4th place - was the best team (in Greek football) i have ever seen playing since i started watching football (that is around 23 years ago). He managed even to make Arsenal retreat inside its own box for 60 minutes in champions league game at Emirates in 2011.

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weloveyuner said:

Let's be honest: the only way all Barca supporters would be happy is if Pep agreed to come back and coach the team. Aside from that happening, there is no clear cut choice to takeover the team. But Valverde seems as good as any available.

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Bojan said:

Don't think you're right. Plenty of people who don't want pep back. We've seen there is life after pep by winning the treble.

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weloveyuner said:

Who doesn't want Pep back? I haven't seen any significant portion of the fan base saying anyone but Pep.

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DonAK said:

Klopp never coached a top team until he took over Dortmund either, and it's not like his Mainz team was challenging for the Bundesliga title. Heck his Mainz even got relegated.

Coaches are not born coaching top teams.

Only one who did so is Pep. Not everyone is Pep.

Mourinho, Klopp, Tuchel, you name it. Even Ancelotti started with a failure by changing the system in a winning team in Parma and getting sacked.

Sure, the difference between them and Valverde is that they took over a bigger team when they were younger than 53, but this is a coach that is rated highly in Spain and has REJECTED Barcelona and Real Madrid the last few years alone, just because of his unquestionable loyalty to Athletic Bilbao.

Whether he'll succeed or not is a different matter, but his experience and resume is definitely better than most of the big name coaches people want, including Tuchel who's apparently fought with his players, management and board and is getting replaced by Lucien Favre this summer.

Lucien Favre who at 59 years will coach his first truly major team now too.

He was never my first choice as I preferred Sampaoli, but even he is a risk, and if Valverde comes, he at the very least deserves a chance to prove himself.

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