Issues reportedly loom FC Barcelona as the team faces the biggest hurdles of the season—successfully emerge the victor in its last six games to overthrow Real Madrid in La Liga standings.
The recent Barcelona news is filled with internal conflicts. Fans saw a glimpse of it during the Saturday match against Celta Vigo. Coach Quique Setien’s career is reportedly on the line unless the team’s fate changes in the last few games to come.
Mail Online rounds up all the issues that loom Barca, which reads:
A coach without authority, a coaching assistant that players appear to have no respect for, an incompetent board selling a player in the last month of the season because they have to balance the books, furious senior players sick of the shambles, a league title slipping away, and the possibility of a second sacking of a coach in one season.
Barcelona news: is there unrest in the locker room?
Things heated up following the disappointing 2-2 La Liga match against Celta Vigo, which resulted in Real Madrid bagging a two-point cushion against Barcelona. During the match, fans saw a glimpse of Lionel Messi—a football fan favorite—outrightly dismissing Coach Quique Setien’s assistant manager, Eder Sarabia.
This is very clear that Messi does not respect Eder Sarabia, Quique Setien's assistant manager.
A shame that Barcelona is going through this. https://t.co/c77ysunsID
— Bill Eshun (@Bill_Eshun) June 29, 2020
Mail Online reports that Messi turned his back on Sarabia while muttering something to himself. Online sports publication Goal notes that the players have turned against Setien “due to confusion at his tactics and unhappiness at his comments in the press.”
Players feel the same way for his coaching assistant Sarabia, which explains Messi’s behavior towards him. Per the media outlet, Setien’s career is on the line, as even the board has lost confidence in him.
It is said that only a La Liga Championship title could redeem Setien from getting booted. Setien, a veteran coach, initially took the coaching job in January, as a replacement of Ernesto Valverde.
📰[GOAL] | Barcelona plan to sack coach Quique Setien at the end of the season unless there is a radical improvement
🔵 Barcelona are prepared to sack Quique Setien as manager unless results drastically improve and they win the Liga title or Champions League this season pic.twitter.com/46qrR6iaYg
— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) June 29, 2020
He has a two-and-a-half-year contract with Barcelona. However, the sports media outlet’s sources say that Setien will likely “leave his post in the summer,” should the team’s performance continue to slump.
Coach denies locker player unrest
However, Channel News Asia highlights that Setien has denied the rumors that there is tension between him and the Barcelona players.
In a press conference on Monday, Setien addressed the said issue, explaining that these are just controversies. He then goes on to say that this type of encounter is “normal.”
🗣 @QSetien: ❝@Atleti are a very solid team defensively.❞ #BarçaAtleti pic.twitter.com/KsBuMtqrHX
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) June 29, 2020
“I was not an easy player to deal with either. You have your own vision and the important thing is to convince everyone to defend a common cause,” says Setien. “But I see it as something natural. I think the communication is good and I don’t attach importance to specific incidents.”
He further confirmed that his “relationship with the players is good.” He does admit that there instances where their opinions differ. However, he doesn’t see it as a problem worth addressing.
Featured image courtesy of FC Barcelona/Twitter