Barcelona: 5 possible replacements if Ernesto Valverde is sacked
As pressure mounts on FC Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde, here are five candidates who could take over if a change is made at Camp Nou.
In the span of a week FC Barcelona have stumbled in both La Liga and the Champions League. At a club like Barcelona, with one of the world’s most talented rosters, each successive failure places more pressure on the shoulders of manager Ernesto Valverde.
Despite winning La Liga in 2018-19 by a wide margin, their loss in the Copa del Rey final and a second consecutive collapse in the Champions League semifinals left Valverde with seriously questionable job security heading into the 2019-2020 season.
Valverde’s man-management skills and tactics have all been called into question, as he failed to get the most out of several talented attacking players. Ousmane Dembele remains, but Malcom left for Zenit and Philippe Coutinho’s success at Bayern Munich is a potential indication of how badly Valverde whiffed on integrating the Brazilian into his squad.
Barcelona lead La Liga on goal differential, but their grip on the league is far from firm, with rivals Real Madrid sitting in second on the same number of points.
Though undefeated Barca also lead their Champions League group by one point over Borussia Dortmund, their +2 goal differential through four matches is an indication of how they could easily be in a much different situation.
This week, coming off a woeful 3-1 loss to Levante they failed to score at home against Slavia Prague in the Champions League, thus cranking the heat under Valverde’s already-warm seat.
Scapegoat or not, Valverde is feeling the pressure with rumors swirling that he could be fired. La Blaugrana expect nothing less than perfection – in all competitions – and if Valverde cannot provide that, he’ll be sent packing. And if that ends up being the case, here are five possible replacements for the 55-year-old.
Marcelo Gallardo
River Plate manager Marcelo Gallardo is starting to be linked strongly to the Barcelona job. Gallardo has a great resume in South American football, having led his club to two Copa Libertadores victories.
His success in that high-pressure competition – South America’s equivilent of the Champions League which is unlike any other in terms of passion – should translate well to a similar competition in the Champions League. Barca want the same type of perennial excellence in the Champions League that Real Madrid achieved with Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo a few years ago, so perhaps Gallardo could be the one to team up with fellow Argentinian Lionel Messi and unleash the full potential of this talented side.
Gallardo is highly-regarded for his man management skills and tactics. Barcelona legend Pep Guardiola recently told Argentina’s TNT Sports, “What Gallardo has done at River is incredible, with regards to results and delivering consistently year after year.”