Ernesto Valverde is SACKED by Barcelona despite sitting top of La Liga as little-known Quique Setien takes over on two-and-a-half year deal after Spanish giants were turned down by Xavi
* Barcelona have sacked Ernesto Valverde after two-and-a-half years in charge
* Spanish giants are top of La Liga and in the last 16 of the Champions League
* There have been doubts about Valverde's ability to achieve success in Europe
* The club moved for former Betis boss Quique Setien after being rejected by Xavi
* Barca opted against trying to move for ex-Tottenham man Mauricio Pochettino
Barcelona have appointed former Watford target Quique Setien as their new coach having sacked Ernesto Valverde.
It’s the first time the club have dismissed a coach mid-season in 17 years and it comes despite Barcelona being top of La Liga. The 61-year-old Setien was linked with Watford at the start of December before they appointed Nigel Pearson.
In a statement the club said it wanted to ‘publicly thank Valverde for his commitment and professionalism’, but having won the previous two Spanish titles many feel he was treated poorly.
Former Real Betis manager Quique Setien has signed a deal with the club running until 2022. Betis hired Setien at the start of the 2017-18 campaign and he led them to a 6th-place finish
He was booed by Barcelona supporting spectators in Saudi Arabia at the recent Spanish Super Cup and when they were beaten in the semi-final by Atletico Madrid last Thursday the club decided to replace the 55 year old and went for Setien after being turned down by Xavi.
Mauricio Pochettino is highly regarded by president Josep Bartomeu but was always an unlikely contender having previously said he would rather 'work on a farm' than coach the rivals of his former club Espanyol.
The biggest surprise is that Setien will be given a contract for the remainder of this season and for the next two years.
He got Betis into the Europa League two seasons ago playing a Barça-like style of football. At the end of last season he was sacked having failed to build on the previous campaign but he retained support among Barcelona supporters for famously saying that it was not enough to win; he wanted to win playing a certain style of football.
Setien will be officially be announced at the Nou Camp on Tuesday, in the Presidents Suite at 1.30pm CET in a private event, the club have confirmed. A photo session on the famous pitch will then follow.
Not all supporters will be enamored however. Setien is unproven at the highest level and many will see him as a similar figure to Valverde: a decent, honest manager but one who will lack the personality to deal with Diego Simeone and Zinedine Zidane in Spain and Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp in the Champions League.
The club are top of La Liga and Valverde, who had won the previous two Spanish titles, had also guided them to Champions League qualification as group winners.
After that defeat to Atletico Madrid last Thursday in the Spanish Super Cup Barcelona directors Eric Abidal and Oscar Grau took a flight to Doha to offer the job to Xavi Hernandez and when the former captain turned it down they were left with little choice but to go through with Valverde’s sacking anyway, having undermined him with the approach to Xavi.
Vavlerde certainly had no intention of resigning and will be due the rest of this season’s money and the remaining year on his contract.
Former captain Xavi, currently boss of Al Sadd in Qatar, has turned down the Barcelona job
He turned up three hours early on Monday at Barcelona’s Joan Gamper training ground and met with president Bartomeu midday.
The Barca board then held a mammoth four-hour meeting with three names linked to the soon to be vacant post.
Current B-team coach Francisco Javier García Pimienta would have been the emergency option. But ultimately it was Setien who was seen as the safest pair of hands.
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