Barcelona coaching candidates: Rafa Marquez, Thiago Motta, Michel and who else could replace Xavi

In less than 24 hours, two of the most important management positions in football have opened up as xavi Hernández announced that he will leave his position Barcelona manager starting June 30. This comes immediately after Jurgen Klopp will also step down as Liverpool manager at the end of the Premier League season. While these two top positions are vacant, the candidates for them are quite different, as Barcelona is not only a slightly less attractive destination, but also needs a manager who can oversee a bit of rebuilding, unlike a Liverpool side who He is already prepared to win.

After burning a club legend like Xavi less than a season after lifting the La Liga title, it is essential that the next signing is the right one. A Barcelona season is not a success without titles and there is also the possibility of returning to the Camp Nou in November once the construction project of the historic Barcelona stadium is completed.

Antonio Conte and José Mourinho are coaches on the market who have won their fair share of titles, but they are also not coaches who can help Barcelona get through this period of turmoil. Conte is a demanding coach who needs to be fully in sync with the board and also prefers to spend a significant amount of money on older players to help a team win now.

While that is one way of operating, what Barcelona values ​​is not the careful management of incorporating youth, and that is even before imagining the battles that Joan Laporta and Conte would engage in over possible transfers if the Italian were put to work. post. With Xavi no longer having the backing he needed, it would only be a matter of time before a public disagreement caused a distraction.

When it comes to Mourinho, there is a bit of a problem to address. Only two coaches have coached Barcelona and real Madrid during their careers, Enrique Fernandez and Radomir Antic. Each of them was in a very different era of football and it does not seem that the solution for stability in Barcelona is to bring in a coach who won almost everything there is to win with Real Madrid. But after analyzing why some of the most successful free agent managers won’t be working in charge of Barcelona, ​​let’s look at who should be on Barcelona’s short list.

The favorite: thiago Speck

Currently in charge of Bologna In Serie A, the former Barcelona midfielder has the club within striking distance of a European spot thanks to careful tactics in which one goal is sometimes enough. The individual brilliance of Joshua Zirkzee He has helped Motta take the team to new heights, but Motta’s pragmatism is what puts the young Dutchman in the best position to succeed. Imagine those tactical wrinkles while you have raffin and Joao Felix at his disposal and Motta could revitalize Barcelona or crash and burn.

The biggest concern with Motta’s appointment is that, although he understands the spirit of Barcelona, ​​would the pressure of managing a club like Barcelona be too much for him? Motta’s previous stops in Genoa and Spezia They weren’t exactly stellar and, with the eyes of the world on you, a bad run at Barcelona can sink a coach. Xavi sometimes found it difficult to cope with some of those public pressures, but managing them and protecting the players from them is part of the job that a coach does not normally experience until he has made a European career or been thrown into the dugout. for the first time in a big club.

The difficult option to get: Andoni Iraola

After doing exceptional work with Vallecano RayIraola received the call from the Premier League to join Bournemouth. At first, it seemed like she was struggling to adjust to England but he quickly found his footing and has the Cherries playing exciting football boosted by smart signings. The improvement of players like Dominic Solanke Under Iraola he has also been a bright spot and no matter the size of the opposition he has had the Cherries well prepared to take on the challenge.

The problem is that Iraola has only been with Bournemouth since the summer, so depending on his contract with them, he would probably require Barcelona to pay a buyout if that is the direction they wanted to take. For a club trying to curb spending, that may not be the easiest sale as Bournemouth will not want to lose their man so quickly.

A potential option: Michel

In Girona, Michel is getting the most out of players many had never heard of before his arrival and although the defense can be too open at times, when you score as many goals as Girona, that’s fine. A good example of how Michel’s tactics work is the performance of Artem Dovbyk. The Ukrainian is dominant in the air and is one of the first in the race for the La Liga golden boot after a seamless transition to the team from Dinipro-1. The aggressiveness with which Girona plays would be welcome at Barcelona, ​​​​where at times this season football has stagnated. Michel, who is also a member of the City Football Group system, has had more exposure than most managers in a similar position to his. Girona crushed Barça 4-2 in December.

The boy of the house: rafa Marquez

Currently managing Barcelona B, one of the easiest things Barcelona can do is elevate Márquez’s role. Having played alongside Xavi and managed in the club system, Márquez is familiar with the sporting director. decor and Laporta, which would allow a good working relationship. But as with Xavi’s appointment, almost everything related to football would be unknown. The advantage of Barcelona playing with so many teenagers at the moment is that they have gone through Márquez’s system, but that does not show that they can perform at the top. It would be a very risky decision.

Other options: Francisco Javier García Pimienta, Marcelo Gallant

the palms They are one of the best stories in La Liga this season and Francisco Javier García Pimienta has been fundamental to it. Like others on this list, he is someone who doesn’t have a lot of club experience, but if you follow a trend, it will be difficult for Barcelona to court a manager with that experience in their current situation. Las Palmas’ defense has been solid, but that is more due to the exceptional performances of goalkeeper Álvaro Valles. Their 12.12 goals avoided is the highest figure in La Liga by eight goals, which would say that the 19 goals conceded by the ninth-place club is far from sustainable in the long term, so if he moves elsewhere , you may need Valles to follow you.

In the case of Gallardo, he has a strange managerial situation. The 48-year-old raised some of the world’s best talents with River Plate in Argentina, such as Enzo Fernández and Julián Álvarez, but when he left the club’s management in December 2022, it seemed that Gallardo would be destined for a higher position or had something planned that didn’t happen. He then spent almost a year away before succeeding Nuno Espirito Santo at Al-Ittihad, where he managed nine games. If any club wanted to keep him away from the Saudi Pro League, it could be possible.