Ronald Koeman has paid the price for Barcelona‘s miserable start to the season by losing his job after 14 months in charge following a 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Wednesday.
That loss, Barcelona’s fifth of the campaign in all competitions, saw the club slide down to ninth in the table, six points behind league leaders Real Madrid, who beat them 2-1 at the Nou Camp in Sunday’s El Clasico.
The club also face the ignominy of possible Champions League elimination as they are third in their group at the midway point after losing to Benfica and Bayern Munich in their opening two fixtures.
Barcelona won the Copa Del Rey in Koeman’s first season, but finished third in La Liga and crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage following a comprehensive 5-2 aggregate defeat to PSG, who then signed their greatest ever player Lionel Messi in the summer.
A Barcelona statement read: “FC Barcelona has relieved Ronald Koeman of his duties as first-team coach. The president of the club, Joan Laporta, informed him of the decision after the defeat against Rayo Vallecano. Ronald Koeman will say goodbye to the squad on Thursday at the Ciutat Esportiva. FC Barcelona wishes to thank him for his service to the club and wishes him all the best in his professional career.”
Attention now turns to who will replace the 58-year-old in the dugout and oversee a huge rebuilding job centred around exciting prospects Ansu Fati, Pedri, Gavi and Ronald Araujo.
Barcelona next manager odds
- Xavi – 1-9
- Roberto Martinez – 17-2
- Marcelo Gallardo – 10-1
- Antonio Conte – 12-1
- Oscar Garcia – 14-1
- Ralf Rangnick – 14-1
- Erik Ten Hag – 16-1
- Joachim Low – 19-1
- Andre Villas-Boas – 22-1
- Marcelo Bielsa – 22-1
- Albert Capellas Herms – 22-1
- Andrea Pirlo – 22-1
- Domenec Torrent – 22-1
- Thierry Henry – 22-1
Odds via Betfair and correct as of 28 October
Xavi
Legendary former player Xavi is the overwhelming candidate to replace Koeman with reports claiming that discussions are already underway between Barcelona and his current club Al-Sadd. Xavi, who is second only to Messi on Barcelona’s all-time most appearance list, has enjoyed a successful two-year stint in charge of the Qatar-based club, winning seven trophies in total including one league title.
The 41-year-old won 27 trophies during a 17-year career in Barcelona’s first-team and would be a hugely popular appointment to the club’s fans given his history at the club and links to the hugely successful Pep Guardiola era.
Roberto Martinez
Roberto Martinez’s Catalan links have also seen him emerge as a frontrunner for the post. The Belgium manager has been strongly linked with the job in the past, in part due to his close relationship with Barcelona’s sporting advisor Jordi Cruyff, the son of the club’s iconic former player and manager, Johan.
Martinez was non-committal when asked whether there was any substance to rumours linking him with a move to the Nou Camp ahead of Belgium’s Nations League matches earlier this month, saying: “In football, you never know what tomorrow will bring.”
Marcelo Gallardo
Former Argentina playmaker Marcelo Gallardo is drawing admiring glances from clubs across Europe due to his impressive work in charge of River Plate, whom he played for in three separate stints during his playing days. Gallardo has won 12 trophies since taking charge of River in 2014, including two Copa Libertadores’ and was named South America’s manager of the year in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Antonio Conte
Recently linked with the Manchester United job, Antonio Conte certainly has the pedigree to manage a club of Barcelona’s standing, although there are question marks over whether he would be a good stylistic fit. Conte led Inter Milan to the Scudetto last season, the fifth major league title of his coaching career after winning three Serie A titles with Juventus and a Premier League at Chelsea. Whether the Italian would entertain the prospect of remodelling a team with a limited budget remains to be seen given one of the main reasons for his departure from Inter was due to budgetary constraints.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3Bo4HJB
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