LaLiga English

Koeman’s Barcelona tenure could be short lived with possible return of legendary duo

The Presidential system at football clubs outside of UK can throw up interesting situations like the one that just emerged from the chaotic mire at Barcelona.

The team was in such a horrendous mess that head coach Quique Setien had to leave his hot seat this summer, having taken over last January from Ernesto Valverde who was removed despite the latter having helped the club win silverware and led them to the top of the LaLiga table. By now, any new manager with visions of taking over the reins at the Blaugrana would be well cognizant of the fact that accepting the job with elections looming around the corner is most likely to be a dicey proposition at best.

Hopeful candidates are often prone to pledge new signings or managers to garner votes to boost their chances of winning, in which case it appears that current boss Ronald Koeman isn’t at all secure in his job right now.

A report from Football Espana has recently looked at some comments from Presidential hopeful Victor Font, which could potentially spell bad news for the hard-nosed Dutchman who could have been a tad too quick in diving headlong into the Barca cesspool at Bartomeu’s behest.

Earlier reports had emerged quoting a leading presidential candidate’s resolve to prematurely terminate Koeman’s tenure by bringing in former club legend Xavi to replace the Dutchman. And now they cite a story from Marca where Victor Font has indicated that the wants the club to go back to their traditional style of play, and that means bringing back Pep Guardiola and Xavi to manage the side.

Although the idea of Pep stepping back into the Barca circle did seem ridiculous a few months ago, his Man City side have begun to stutter. Besides, he’s also proven many times that he is not predisposed to stay at the same club for too long, with the itch to move invariably surfacing every five years or so.

The great news is that if he and Xavi were truly to return to the Nou Camp, then it would give them the best chance of getting the best out of Messi in his final years, while they could also groom Xavi to take over completely when Pep decides he needs another break in the future.

Marca also point to previous reports from Font where he stated that Koeman wouldn’t be kept on no matter what he does this season, so it could well be an even shorter tenure for the Dutch manager than the one Quique Setien endured.