5 reasons why Ernesto Valverde was sacked as Barcelona manager

After months of intense speculation, it is finally official, Ernesto Valverde has been relieved off his duties as Barcelona manager after two-and-a-half years in charge of the Catalan club.

The 55-year-old was appointed by the Blaugrana as Luis Enrique's replacement in May 2017 and commenced work in the 2017-2018 season.

In his debut season on the Barcelona bench, Valverde inspired the club to the domestic double and almost finished the entire league campaign undefeated for the first time in the club's history. But a shock 5-4 loss to Levante on the penultimate weekend of the season meant that the record was not achieved.

In his second year, although they failed to defend their Copa title, falling to a 2-1 defeat to Valencia in the final, the Blaugrana successfully retained their La Liga crown , with a nine-point gap recorded over second-placed Atletico Madrid and a 19-point advantage over eternal rivals Real Madrid.

Ernesto Valverde won a total of four trophies in his time as Barcelona manager, while he also posted a 66.9% win ratio.

However, despite his triumphs in the league, the former Athletic Bilbao manager was never far from speculation surrounding his future and it was not a major shock when his contract was terminated to be replaced by Quique Setien.

There are several factors that led to Ernesto Valverde's sacking as Barcelona manager and in this piece, we shall be highlighting five reasons why he was fired by the Catalan giants.

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#5 His pragmatic style of play

Ernesto Valverde

Barcelona are well known for their possession-based system of play, and this style has been ingrained in the club's DNA since the time of Johan Cruyff's spell at the club.

The legendary Dutchman laid the template and future stalwarts like Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique perfected it, guiding the club to new heights over the last decade.

Fans of the club are so used to this aesthetic system that not only are Barcelona expected to win every match they play, they are also expected to win in style while sticking to the set standard of playing.

Ernesto Valverde won matches (97 of the 147 he managed) and also has major trophies to show for his time at the Camp Nou.

However, he was often chastised for his uninventive and pragmatic style, with his safety first tactics drawing the ire of supporters and rivals alike.

Even in victory, Valverde failed to truly win fans over and having watched their beloved side labour to victory on several occasions over the last three seasons, they would hope the new man in charge can revert to the more expansive and aesthetic football that they are used to.

#4 Consecutive embarrassing eliminations from the Champions League

AS Roma v FC Barcelona - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg

When Barcelona were drawn against AS Roma in the quarter-finals of the 2017/2018 Champions League campaign, many would have been forgiven for dismissing the fixture as an easy ride for the Catalans.

They were on a run of 13 matches without defeat in all competitions, while they had lost just one match all season (away to Espanyol in the Copa del Rey).

Things seemed to go to plan in the first leg when Barcelona posted a comfortable 4-1 victory and many saw the second leg at the Stadio Olimpico as nothing more than a mere formality.

However, in shocking scenes, a star-studded side led by Lionel Messi capitulated, leading to one of the most memorable comebacks in Champions League history.

Just like that, Barcelona were eliminated and their dreams of the treble were ended, although their triumphs in the league and Copa del Rey helped calm the storm.

Anybody who thought that Roma debacle was a one-off were in for a shock, as just a season later, Barcelona were on the receiving end of an even more improbable comeback in the semi-finals, with Liverpool defeating them 4-0 to overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit.

Calls for Valverde's sack were overwhelming in the aftermath of that Anfield disaster but even though he survived the axe, the reality that he oversaw consecutive embarrassing eliminations from the Champions League was a Sword of Damacles hanging over his head that was finally dropped in January 2019.

#3 His inability to get the best out of marquee signings

Coutinho was signed for a club-record fee in January 2018

Barcelona have a history of being frugal in the transfer market and relying on promotion and integration of youth team players into the senior squad instead.

However, the increased competitive nature of the transfer market has led to the club abandoning this model and changing its spending habits in the last few years.

Barcelona have spent over a billion pounds in players signing in the last five years and a large chunk of that was spent during the tenure of Ernesto Valverde.

The former Olympiakos manager lost the services of the hugely talented Neymar just few days into the start of his tenure and in the Brazilian's stead, the club turned to the highly-rated youngster Ousmane Dembele, signing him for a club record €110 million from Borrussia Dortmund.

The French international saw his debut season hampered by injuries and just few months after his arrival, Barcelona once more smashed their transfer record, paying Liverpool the sum of €142 million to sign Philippe Coutinho in January 2018.

However, none of the two men were able to fully integrate themselves in the Barcelona first-team and Coutinho was loaned out to Bayern Munich after just 18 months in Catalunya, while Dembele continues to battle injury problems and accusations of his unprofessionalism.

Antoine Griezmann became the latest big-money signing to arrive Camp Nou when he signed for Barcelona over the summer; but the World Cup winner has blown hot and cold and is yet to hit the strides that made him one of the best players in the world at Atletico Madrid.

Almost €400 million was spent on signing just three players; this is a huge sum (even by the standards of today's highly inflated market) and the fact that none of the three players truly flourished under Valverde's tutelage was a major indictment on his tenure at the club.

#2 Lack of success in the Champions League

Last season, Lionel Messi stated that he wanted to bring the Champions League back to Camp Nou

In 99.9% of the clubs in the world, two league titles in two years is enough to guarantee immortality for a coach but Barcelona are unlike most clubs and the standards are set much higher at the Camp Nou.

With seven La Liga triumphs in the last ten years, fans of the club would be forgiven for looking at winning the league as the barest minimum and they are so used to triumphing in Spain that it has almost become routine for them.

It is on the continent where the club wants to truly show its dominance, with the affinity for the Champions League created during the golden years under Pep Guardiola between 2009 and 2011.

This quest for European glory was heightened by Real Madrid's three-peat between 2016 and 2018 and for every year that Los Blancos won the Champions League, winning the league title begun to take less significance in the eyes of the Barcelona faithful.

The club apparently got so desperate that captain Lionel Messi stated that his mission at the start of last season was to bring the Champions League back to Camp Nou but unfortunately, despite his best efforts, he could not deliver on his aim.

Ernesto Valverde had two full seasons to achieve European glory and for all the complaint of his pragmatic style of play, a Champions League triumph would have given him a stay of execution for some years but his failure to do so meant that it was always a matter of time before he got the sack.

#1 The club's poor run of form this season

Atletico Madrid defeated Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final

Barcelona ended last season by falling to Liverpool in the Champions League and Valencia in the Copa del Rey and in hindsight, these were premonitions of what was to follow this term.

The Catalans begun their La Liga defence in the worst possible way, losing 1-0 away to Athletic Bilbao on the opening day and things got worse from then on, with Barcelona winning just two of their opening five league matches.

Results picked up significantly following the return of Lionel Messi but by then, the seeds of doubts had already been planted about Ernesto Valverde's inability to effectively manage the club.

There have been some positive results this season, with victories over Sevilla, and Atletico Madrid in the league, as well as wins over Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League but there have been far more unconvincing results.

Losses to Levante and Granada were shocking to say the least, while there were also inspiring stalemates against Real Madrid, Osasuna, Real Sociedad, and bottom-placed Espanyol.

The latest setback came when Barcelona fell to a comeback defeat against Atletico Madrid, a team that they have not lost to since April 2016.

The defeat meant that the Catalans could not defend their Spanish Super Cup title and apparently, this was one setback too many this season for Barcelona.