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Ernesto Valverde has carved out a decent career for himself. Having managed a flurry of sides including Olympiacos, Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal, Valencia, and currently Barcelona.
He has amassed a total of 9 trophies over his ongoing fifteen year long career. Having completed multiple spells at Olympiacos and Athletic Bilbao, Valverde definitely is a pretty experienced manager.
Valverde first rose to prominence as Bilbao's manager, as his side thumped Barcelona 5-1 in the Super Copa de Espana in 2015. Masterminding a 4-0 demolition of the high flying Catalan giants, and later suffocating them in the second leg to a 1-1 draw.
He gave Bilbao their first trophy in close to three decades. While he was lauded as a hero in the streets of the Basque region, not everyone was convinced with his record when he was announced as the successor to the treble delivering Luis Enrique.
Valverde wasn't the high profile manager the fans demanded after being dumped out of the Champions League by a sturdy Juventus side, and all of their inhibitions about him have turned out to be true.
Over the years, Barcelona has had great managers who have left a mark on the club, and they brought something different to the table. Recently, Pep Guardiola turned this club into a serial winner that battered teams in style.
Beautiful football was his thing, and he amazed the world with his meticulous tactics. Luis Enrique came and tweaked that system a bit. He focused on the front three, and he moved the focal point of the team from the midfield to the forwards.
Once again the Spanish giants had the world at their feet. The trio of MSN did things unseen in football before this. Valverde lacks that drive to inspire the side when they're down and out.
Here are the reasons why Barcelona must sack him to return to the pinnacle of European football.
#1 Pragmatic approach
Time and again Valverde has been too conservative in his decision making. Putting out defensive line-ups and ultimately costing the side matches. A prime example of this would be the second leg of the tie against Roma in the Champions League last season.
Having beaten Roma in the first leg by a comfortable 4-1 scoreline, everyone predicted it to be a straightforward tie as the Catalans were already through to the next round. The sensible thing would have been to start with our strongest eleven, score early, and kill the tie as Roma had an outside chance because of their away goal.
Instead, Valverde decided to play Sergi Roberto and Andres Iniesta as the wide players. Roma blasted through a toothless Barcelona as Manolas took Rome to cloud nine as he scored the winner.
That is not how Barcelona plays. No matter what the scoreline is, this club looks to win every single match, be it the Clasico or Copa del Rey clash against a third tier minnow.
He set the side up to sit back and defend the lead, something Barcelona isn't known for. Time and again he has done this, and every time he has - Barcelona drops points, get knocked out of competitions, and look like a shadow of the club that won a sextuple under Pep Guardiola.
#2 Player treatment bias
The thing with Valverde is that if you're in his good book he will play you no matter how bad you play, but if you rub him the wrong way there is almost no going back.
Take for example Ivan Rakitic. No doubt he has been a great player since his arrival from Sevilla, and he played a key role as Barcelona won the second treble under Luis Enrique. But a lot has changed since then.
Rakitic is thirty now, and signs of ageing are clearly visible on the field. He's capable of scoring screamers no doubt, but the team needs someone to control the midfield even more than the goals he gets.
A perennial side-pass merchant, Rakitic now slows down play, and kills counter attacks with his lack of pace and safety first approach. The likes of Alena and Denis see their game time reduced to few minute cameos as Valverde insists on playing him every match he is available.
On the flip side, the story of Malcolm is just unfortunate. Having signed him after hijacking Roma's move for him, the player was on cloud nine having gotten the move to his dream club, but what followed has turned this into a nightmare.
Valverde for some reason seemingly hates Malcolm. For some reason, after the match against Valladolid, Valverde started dropping Malcolm from the matchday squads. For close to ten matches this season, Malcolm has not even made it into the squad, and when he does, he gets a few minutes here and there where he is supposed to impress the boss enough to get more game time.
His treatment at the club has been so bad that when he scored his first goal for the club, he broke down, instead of celebrating his goal.
Players need to treated well if they're expected to perform on the field. The club has invested a lot into the current crop of players, and this kind of player management is going to have an adverse effect on the players as well as results of the side.
#3 Disregard to club philosophy
Over the years Barcelona has become synonymous with a certain brand of football. Free flowing, fluid, beautiful football if you may. The likes of Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, and Busquets maneuvering the ball with grace and panache unseen in world football earlier. In spite of having world beaters in their ranks, Barcelona played as a team.
Now Barcelona wins when individuals play well. Usually, a moment of magic is needed from someone for the team to cross the line. Gone are the days when Barcelona bulldozed through teams and scored eight or nine past some team.
Now it is all about grinding out results, unflattering football, and a dysfunctional defence that gets turned over time and time again. If not for Ter Stegen who has been in superhuman form, Barcelona would have been nowhere close to where they are on the table. Barcelona has been riding its luck and it is just a matter of time before they face an embarrassing defeat.
A return to its core fundamentals is needed. The club has to go back to the values Cruyff instilled in the club, the values that brought the Catalans so much success over the years.
The writing is on the wall, and if Barcelona really wants to return to being the best club in the world, the change has to begin with Valverde.
