Barcelona have officially announced that Quique Setien is no longer their first-team coach, and that his successor will be appointed ‘in the coming days’.
The decision comes after the Catalan giants crashed out of the Champions League in embarrassing fashion last week, falling to an 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in their quarter-final tie.
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That followed on from falling short in the Copa del Rey as well as surrendering their La Liga crown to rivals Real Madrid this season, and so coupled with the decision to sack Ernesto Valverde during the campaign, this is the latest blow for the Spanish giants as they now face an important summer to get themselves back on track.
As confirmed in the club’s statement, Setien is no longer their coach and importantly it’s noted that a successor will be announced ‘in the coming days’, while there will be a ‘wider restructuring of the first team’.
Given the short turnaround this summer between seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s imperative that Barcelona move quickly to allow their new coach time to bring in players that suit his ideas and plans moving forward and to give him time to settle, adapt and get his philosophies across to the squad ahead of the new campaign.
In turn, fans will perhaps be reassured that the club will move quickly on that front as they should have a new coach in place by the end of the week based on the statement above, but it will certainly be interesting to see what is meant by the restructuring of the first team.
With a number of ageing stalwarts like Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez still holding key roles, there is concern over Barcelona in the long-term, while results this season have raised worries over the short-term future too.
As a result, time will tell what the hierarchy and new coach decide to do to ensure that they can be competitive from next season onwards.
? Quique Setién no longer first team coach.
The new coach will be announced in the coming days as part of a wide ranging restructuring of the first team.— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 17, 2020