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Barcelona are one of the most decorated clubs in world football and have enjoyed unrelenting success over the years. The Catalan giants are renowned for their brand of free-flowing attacking football and are amongst a handful of clubs to have produced style and substance in equal measure.
Some of the greatest managers in the history of the game have graced the Camp Nou over the years, as the club dominated La Liga as well as Europe for sustained periods. Most recently, Pep Guardiola's all-conquering team set the standard in Europe, while Luis Enrique's pragmatic Catalans sealed an unprecedented treble less than five years ago.
However, in recent seasons, Barcelona have suffered due to a combination of factors on and off the pitch.
With the old guard of Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez approaching the twilight years of their careers, the Catalan giants are in desperate need of a rebuild.
Barcelona look to kickstart a new era under Koeman
Ronald Koeman has been appointed as Barcelona's new manager after the club's dismal 2019-20 campaign. The Blaugrana finished trophyless and surrendered the La Liga title to arch-rivals Real Madrid, while they were embarrassed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
The Dutchman has his work cut out for him to accomplish what managers in the past have failed to do so — successfully oversee a rebuild and shape a new era at the club.
On that note, here are five managers who failed miserably for Barcelona and went down in the history books for all the wrong reasons.
Note: The list is in no particular order
#5 Quique Setien | January 2019 - August 2019
Starting off with the most recent name on the list, Quique Setien's Barcelona dream quickly turned into a nightmare. The former Real Betis manager was drafted in midseason as a replacement for Ernesto Valverde, who was sacked for his failure to turn around a series of underwhelming results.
Setien's eye-catching brand of football appealed to the Barcelona board, while the 61-year-old's Cruyffian philosophy was also something the Catalans craved for at the time. Right from the get-go, it never felt like the right appointment, considering the time of his arrival and the state of the squad he inherited.
Barcelona's ageing stars reportedly fell out with the manager and his coaching staff, as videos emerged of Lionel Messi ignoring Setien's tactical advice during a La Liga game. The Catalans were pipped to the league title by Real Madrid and their misery was compounded in the Champions League against Bayern Munich.
Hansi Flick's rampant treble chasers recorded a comprehensive 8-2 victory, a result that sent shockwaves across Europe and eventually cost Setien his job. The Spaniard did not have enough time to turn this around at the Camp Nou, but his short stint at the club was catastrophic, to say the least.
#4 Ladislav Kubala | May 1980 - November 1980
A prolific goalscorer for Barcelona back in the day, Ladislav Kubala had two notorious stints with the club as manager. While his first stint lasted the best part of two years, the second one went down in history for all the wrong reasons. Kubala was the manager of the Spanish national team in 1980, when Barcelona came calling for him once again.
The Hungarian accepted the Barcelona job while he was still in charge of Spain — a situation that is comparable to Julen Lopetegui and Real Madrid in 2018 — and endured a disastrous spell in the 1980 European Championships.
Things got worse for Kubala in Barcelona, as he won just six of his 13 games in charge in his second stint at the club. He was relieved of his duties midway through the season, with Helenio Herrera replacing him at the helm of Barcelona.
Also Read: 5 players who will play for Real Madrid or Barcelona in the future
#3 Lorenzo Serra Ferrer | May 2000 – April 2001
Lorenzo Ferrer was named Barcelona manager to replace the outgoing Louis van Gaal, who was relieved of his duties after a series of underwhelming results in the 1999-2000 season. The Spaniard made a name for himself at Real Betis, having cemented the club's La Liga status and spearheaded them to a spot in Europe.
Despite his decent track record, Ferrer never stamped his authority at the club and was sacked in the latter part of his first season. He was also involved in a notorious episode with Emmanuel Petit, who had joined Barcelona that summer from Arsenal.
Despite being a big-player for club and country, Petit was relatively unknown to the Barcelona manager. The former Arsenal man opened up on the incident and admitted that he was taken aback by Ferrer's negligence.
"Richard [Dutruel] was translating and he was translating normally when he suddenly stopped and after five minutes he turned to me and I saw 'Mayday, Mayday' flashing in his eyes,"
"He told me, 'The coach wants to know in which position you play.' We'd just finished the Euro. I looked at the coach, looked at Richard, and said, 'Is he joking?' Richard replied, 'He's not joking.'
"So, I said to him, 'I want you to ask him where he has been for the last two years. Has he been kidnapped? Was he in the jungle where there was no TV?'
"The bloke was taking the piss out of me."
As Barcelona endured a dismal league season domestically as well as in Europe, Ferrer was sacked in April 2001 with the Catalan giants a staggering 15 points behind the league leaders at the time.
#2 Louis van Gaal | May 2002 - January 2003
While Louis van Gaal won two La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey and a UEFA Super Cup in his first stint as Barcelona manager, his second spell at the club turned out to be a bit of a disaster.
The Dutchman fell out with Rivaldo and let him leave the club on a free transfer despite the Brazilian having a year left on his contract at the time. Additionally, the players he signed failed to hit the ground running, with Juan Roman Riquelme, in particular, seen as a big-money flop.
Van Gaal's side continued to blow hot and cold in the 2002-03 season, as they struggled to mount a title challenge. Results went from bad to worse since the turn of the year and Barcelona decided to sack the Dutchman for the second time in three years.
At the time of his sacking, the Catalan giants were just three points above the relegation zone and a staggering 20 points behind league leaders Real Sociedad.
#1 Tata Martino | July 2013 - May 2014
After the unexpected departure of Tito Villanova, Barcelona appointed Tata Martino as their new head coach for the 2013-14 season. The Argentine had made a name for himself with Newell's Old Boys in his home country, a club where Lionel Messi played in his formative years.
Barcelona raced off the blocks under their new manager and started the season in stunning fashion, as they put themselves in pole position for the La Liga title.
However, the Catalan giants were pipped by Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid to the title on the last day of the season, as they finished trophyless despite their solid start to the season.
Martino announced his decision to leave the club after a solitary season at the Camp Nou and provided a damning assessment of his stint at Barcelona.
"My Barça was an utter failure. Normally failure means not winning. My view on that is different. If Barça had played their own style but not won the title, it wouldn't have been a failure. But we didn't win and we didn't play well either."
"We suffered a lot from several non-sport related issues that all came at the same time."
"This league title would just have been one more and wouldn't have contributed anything to the club. My decision to leave wouldn't have changed either."
"There was no need to extend something that had been dead for quite some time. I didn't enjoy coaching Barça, but I don't think I would have enjoyed it [that situation] anywhere."
He was eventually replaced by Luis Enrique, who went on to experience success domestically as well as in Europe with Barcelona.
Also Read: 5 Barcelona stars who could be cast aside by Ronald Koeman
