It’s starting to feel like most managers only have two or three years at a club, but that’s especially true for most elite teams.
It might have been inspired by Pep Guardiola, who moves on every three or four years, and it now seems almost impossible to see someone emulating what Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger managed, with both lasting over two decades in charge at Manchester United and Arsenal, respectively.
Barcelona are still well-placed to win every competition this season, but every game seems like a struggle for them just now. It’s not clear what kind of style Ernesto Valverde wants his team to play. It even looks like the plan is just to get the ball to Messi and let him do the rest, but that can only get you so far.
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It’s only natural for the Barca fans to wonder if it might be best for Valverde to move on. Anyone hoping the club might be looking to sack him will be left disappointed after a recent interview with Eric Abidal in Sport.
The former Barca defender is now the club’s sporting director, so you would think that he has some responsibility when it comes to the future of the manager. He was speaking about Valverde when he said this:
“I don’t know if it will be the last season because he has the decision. The only thing I know is that we talked face to face about the situation recently. He knows what happens in everyday life and continues with his things and we share the information. He will decide when he must decide. He will say it and nothing else.”
When asked about a possible replacement he said: “I can assure you that no one has spoken to anyone.”
It’s hard to say if that really means Valverde is safe. It would be pretty shocking for a club chief to come out and criticise his own manager in the press, it would undermine the club and be off-putting for any future candidates.
Time will tell just how much power the Spaniard has over his own future, but it certainly sounds like he will be there until the end of the season at least.