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FC Barcelona announce their new coach as they move on from the Luis Enrique era. With Luis Enrique bowing out with his ninth trophy in three years, Barcelona have had to ponder the biggest problem they’ve faced in a while – the question of who can return Barcelona to its roots. They’ve plumped for Ernesto Valverde to take the helm as head coach of FC Barcelona and have signed him on a 2-year deal.  In case you didn’t know Ernesto Valverde Tejedor, born 9 th  Feb 1964, had a fairly decent playing career that saw him play as a forward for Alaves, Sestao, Espanyol, Barcelona (22 apps) and Mallorca, although it was with Athletic Bilbao (170 apps) that he enjoyed his greatest success.  He started off a much more successful managing career in the youth teams of Athletic Bilbao, managing them for six years (as well as a year in between having a stint as assistant manager to the senior side). In his first season as manager of the Athletic senior team he ma...

How can Ernesto Valverde be a great manager for FC Barcelona? Here, we make the case for the former Athletic Club boss. Since Luis Enrique announced that he was going to resign a the end of the 2016-17 season, one name has resurfaced multiple times to fill the vacant managerial position at FC Barcelona. That name is Ernesto Valverde. The current manager at Athletic Club de Bilbao, Valverde has been rumored for the past several months to be the heir apparent to Luis Enrique. As so many Culers do, I see Valverde as a “safe choice” as opposed to a Thomas Tuchel or an Oscar Garcia. However, his style and charisma may not be the most appealing. Despite that, Valverde is the right person to lead this current core of Barcelona players. Here are a few reasons why Valverde is the right man to lead Barcelona. Experience If there is one thing Valverde brings to the table, it is experience in Spanish football. With over 300 appearances as a player in both the Spanish first and second ...

Here is a look at the most pressing issues facing Barcelona’s future boss. BARCELONA, Spain — When you get to manage Lionel Messi, it sounds downright silly to talk about the challenges awaiting Barcelona’s coach-to-be. Yet whoever the Catalan club picks to replace Luis Enrique on Monday will not just be handed a star-studded team led by one of the best players in the world. The chosen one will also inherit a handful of small, but serious flaws whose handling will determine whether he is a success or failure. Media speculation has placed Ernesto Valverde, who recently left Athletic Bilbao, and current Everton coach Ronald Koeman as the leading candidates to replace a worn-out Luis Enrique. “On Monday we will know officially and the coach that comes will have the qualities to carry this team forward,” Andres Iniesta said after Barcelona salvaged its otherwise disappointing season by winning the Copa del Rey on Saturday. “Now our task is to keep winning,” Iniesta said. “W...

Could Athetic Club boss Ernesto Valverde be the next coach of FC Barcelona? Reports are certainly indicating that it could be the case. Mundo   on Monday reported that Barcelona have signed two years long contract with Athetic Club’s boss Ernesto Valverde. According, to report published on site, both RAC1 and Radio Kanal has reported that Valverde has already signed the contract. Despite this news, there are also reports stating that a deal is not in place yet. Mundo Deportivo quoted several important FC Barcelona officials:  “There is nothing at all. Until Monday 29 May, after the Cup final , there will be nothing. That day will be decided in the Sports Commission. In addition, it must then go through the board.” Valverde, the manager of Athletic Bilbao, has a contract that is ending this summer which might be the reason of all these rumors. However, nothing is true until the Barca board of directors led by Sporting Director Robert Fernandez an...

Xavi Hernandez said to  A Bola  in an interview that the fans of Barcelona need to be patient with recent signing Andre Gomes. Andre Gomes hasn’t been the signing that Barcelona hoped for so far. The former Valencia midfielder has seen some time on the field. However, his production has been lacking and it has caused concern with the board and the Barca fans all over the world. What does former Barca midfielder and legend Xavi Hernandez think of the Portuguese man? Here is what he said to  A Bola. Xavi is a club legend who raised through the ranks of La Masia and broke into club’s first team in 1998. Xavi’s unique play-style made him one of the  lethal playmakers during his playing days with Catalans.Recently,  the Blaugrana legend has won his trophy with Qatari side. Among fans he is very popular and many see him coaching Catalan side someday. Xavi with his national side has won two Euros and a World cup. He also talked about Spain’s new coac...

Barcelona have a tough trip to Las Palmas as they try to keep up the pressure on Los Blancos. Form The Catalans are in great from going in to this match with five straight wins in the league, and look to be ending the season well. In contrast to this, Las Palmas have picked up one point in the last five games. The announcement by the manager, Quique Setién, that he is leaving at the end of the season has coincided with a poor run of form, which could be linked. Luis Enrique has a few issues to deal with for this match. Sergi Roberto is suspended due to picking up his fifth yellow card in the league against Villarreal. Gerard Piqué is unavailable after picking up an illness, and Lucas Digne is out due to an injury he picked up against  El Submarino Amarillo . These three join long-term absentees Rafinha, Jérémy Mathieu and Aleix Vidal. Las Palmas have a few injuries of their own to deal with. Kevin-Prince Boateng is out with a foot injury, which is a major blow for them. Dani...

Luis Suarez has told El Periodico  he feels "privileged" to be playing alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar, who for him are the best two players in the world at the moment. Since Suarez signed from Liverpool three years ago, Barca's South American frontline have scored 357 goals between them and helped the Catalan club win a total of eight trophies. They're widely heralded as the best attack in football at the moment, but Suarez modestly lays the trio's success at the feet of Messi and Neymar. "It's any striker's dream to have the two best players in the world either side of you." he said. "In the tight games they can open things up from nowhere and make the difference. I am very privileged. "They're so spectacular because of the way they are on and off the pitch. They continue to amaze you in every training session, in every game... "We are never put together [in training], we're kept apart and it's impossibl...

Barcelona begin talks with Southampton’s Oriol Romeu. In recent years, Barcelona have developed a policy of selling youngsters and bringing them back when they begin to bloom. The only such successful transaction was with Cesc Fabregas. Barca signed Fabregas from Arsenal after he had left the academy because of his failure to get into the first-team. The latest example of this policy is Oriol Romeu. Robert Fernandez never solved the defensive midfielder problem probably due to financial constraint. Steven N’Zonzi of Sevilla was an option but the transfer could not be pulled off. Now, the press is linking Oriol Romeu with a move back to Catalonia. Romeu made his way into the first-team in 2010-11. But that proved to be his only season at Barcelona, as he got only a single appearance. He moved to the Premier League with Chelsea. His Chelsea career was also disappointing, with just 22 appearances in 4 years, and the failure to get into the starting lineup. But then, ...

Neymar has learned his lesson after getting sent off against Malaga costing him an appearance in El Clasico among other matches. While Neymar has been excellent on the pitch, it’s the little things that have kept him off the pitch recently. Barcelona managed to win the most recent El Clasico encounter with Real Madrid thanks to the heroics of Lionel Messi. However, they played that match without the Brazilian star after a red card against Malaga forced a suspension. There are many things that the young Brazilian can take away from a mistake he made that nearly cost the team dearly. He talked about this and other things to beIN Sports. Despite the red card, Barca officials were trying to appeal the ruling on the day off the match against Real Madrid. However, they decided that it was too late and it forced Neymar out of the match. He also talked about his conversation with Lionel Messi over the phone about the situation. The Brazilian mentioned the situation dealing with Messi’s co...

Phillip Cocu earlier ruled himself out of contention for the Barcelona, but has he made a return to the frame. Former Barcelona man Phillip Cocu was there when Barca thumped Osasuna 7-1. We would have assumed that a former Blaugrana had come to his old hunting ground just to check on his old team. But it wasn’t the case. Cadena SER interviewed Cocu and he made some comments that is sure to worry his current team, PSV Eindhoven. Now the question arises whether he is willing to take on that difficult job. Dutch publication De Telegraaf has already reported  that Cocu is high on Barcelona’s shortlist. Phillip Cocu is a highly efficient manager. In his four years in charge of PSV, he has won 5 trophies, including two Eredivisie titles. He also has a win percentage of 64.40 % in his entire managerial career. Although Ernesto Valverde is the favourite to take over at Barcelona, Phillip Cocu is also a good option, despite having never managed outside of the Eredivisie....

Barcelona  play the penultimate game of their La Liga season against Las Palmas on Sunday, a team they have not lost to for over 20 years. But there are a number of other landmarks the club could reach this weekend… Luis Enrique  has just three games left in charge before stepping down from the Camp Nou hotseat but could win his 100 th   La Liga game as a coach on Sunday evening. Last weekend’s win over Villarreal  saw Enrique move onto 99 wins from 150 games in charge of both Celta and Barcelona. One more would be a century for the Spaniard a landmark he will surely be desperate to reach before he steps down. In 150 games as a coach in La Liga Enrique has won 99, lost 30 and drawn 21. Luis Suarez could grab 120 th Barcelona goal Luis Suarez simply loves playing Las Palmas, he has three goals in his last five games against the club, and a goal on Sunday will be his 120 th  in Barcelona colours in all competitions. The Uruguayan is currently the 14...