Ronald Koeman has taken on the managerial job at Barcelona on the back of an ignominious Champions League exit for the Catalan club at the hands of Bayern Munich. Barcelona have been in a gradual decline for a couple of years now. They have become a cheque book club rather than one who complemented their famed La Masia Academy graduates with the odd purchase or two and now appear a club all at sea.
There has been the recent Lionel Messi attempted divorce – with the near break up played out in public and in all likelihood only delayed until next summer – and on top of that the man who employed Koeman to replace Quique Setien – punted alongside sporting director Eric Abidal following the embarrassing Bayern defeat – President Josep Maria Bartomeu’s jacket is on the Catalan equivalent of a shoogly peg.
If there is a more political club in football than Barcelona, I’ve yet to see it, much of Catalan politics is run through Barcelona. They are very much “Més que un club” and the saying goes a successful Barcelona makes for a content Cataluña. If that’s the case the region must be in a state of heightened anxiety at the moment. And stepping into the breech, chaos, political storm and with a squad requiring a complete overhaul alongside a crippling wage bill steps Ronald Koeman with Henrik Larsson by his side. No mean feat.
Even if Koeman and Larsson were to be successful they may not last beyond March next year. The presence of a former player hangs over the management team from day one. The man the ‘Socios’ would prefer and the man who wants the managerial role is the legendary former player Xavi. He was approached and declined the offer. It’s not that Xavi doesn’t want the job; he just doesn’t want it now and doesn’t wish to work under the current president.
However presidential rival Victor Font will take on Bartomeu in the next round of elections next year. Font has made no secret that his first job would be to appoint Xavi as Head Coach and it won’t matter who is in place at the time. What’s more Xavi it would appear is more open to taking on the role if Font is elected president.
Font isn’t the only one running for election on the Xavi ticket either. Larsson and Koeman may be about to find – by the time the election come round in March next year if they don’t get come around sooner – that they backed the wrong horse in being Josep Maria Bartomeu’s chosen team.
