{"id":317351,"date":"2025-11-25T05:48:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T05:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/why-barcelona-would-be-a-terrible-fit-for-marcelo-bielsa\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T05:48:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T05:48:33","slug":"why-barcelona-would-be-a-terrible-fit-for-marcelo-bielsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=317351","title":{"rendered":"\u00bb Why Barcelona would be a terrible fit for Marcelo Bielsa"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\u2018M\u00e9s que un club\u2019\u00a0<\/em>is as true today as it was when Barcelona arranged yellow seats amongst a sea of blue to proudly display their club motto in the middle tiered seating of one of world football\u2019s most iconic stadiums.<\/p>\n

Translated into English, \u2018more than a club\u2019 might sound a little arrogant but in Barcelona\u2019s case, it\u2019s well justified. Unquestionably one of the greatest clubs in world football, Barcelona are a team every player dreams of playing for and every manager would jump at the chance to manage, so when the press start to suggest your club\u2019s manager is on their shortlist<\/a>, it doesn\u2019t matter what club you support, he\u2019s already dreaming of leading a team out of Camp Nou\u2019s tunnel, into the Spanish sunlight as a sea of 100,000 fans create a vibrant, carnival-like atmosphere.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the greatest stage on earth to play football and it\u2019s surrounded by one of the most vibrant and exciting cities you could ever wish to call home. And I should know, I lived there for a couple of years and still think about how lucky I was to have had that experience all the time. I still go back at every opportunity, it\u2019s a city I just can\u2019t get enough of.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s one man who will definitely have seen enough.\u00a0Quique Seti\u00e9n, Barcelona\u2019s current manager and presumably public enemy number one following their Champions League humbling against Bayern Munich. Any defeat for a Barcelona manager comes with criticism from all angles, but 8-2 is a previously unthinkable humiliation there\u2019s simply no coming back from. It shouldn\u2019t happen, not to Barcelona.<\/p>\n

There\u2019ll be a new manager in place at Camp Nou before the 2020\/21 season kicks off, there\u2019s no doubt about that. Seti\u00e9n will be sacrificed to appease the masses and a fresh face will get to live out the dream of managing the Spanish giant.<\/p>\n

But it won\u2019t be Marcelo Biesla.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of reasons it makes sense for Barcelona to approach El Loco, starting with the most obvious \u2013 he\u2019s a world class manager who as I write this, hasn\u2019t signed a new contract with Leeds United. He speaks Spanish, improves players, plays exciting football that\u2019ll be easy to sell to the hordes of Barcelona fans and in theory, gives them a great chance of returning to the top of the elite club rankings.<\/p>\n

Anyone who thinks it\u2019ll actually happen however, simply doesn\u2019t understand his success at Leeds.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason that despite being heralded as the world\u2019s greatest coach and a genius by some of football\u2019s biggest names, including Pep Guardiola, Bielsa hasn\u2019t been able to emulate his success and it\u2019s nothing to do with opportunity and chance. For Bielsa\u2019s methods to work, a club has to be able to cede control of the football operation at all levels, disregard any style of play they thought was representative of their \u201cbrand\u201d and fully embrace Bielsa\u2019s methods. All of which was possible at Leeds United, it\u2019s not at Barcelona.<\/p>\n

You see, Barcelona is an absolute juggernaut. It\u2019s as much a football factory as it is a club, an enormous operation with thousands of people involved, all of whom simply can\u2019t be directed by one man. In that respect, Leeds was something of a Goldilocks club for Marcelo \u2013 big enough that he could achieve success and keep pushing upwards, but not so big that he has to convince dozens of people every time he wants to make the slightest course correction.<\/p>\n

Barcelona would be an exercise in frustration for someone like Bielsa who\u2019s so obsessed with the finer details and having everything just so. The Leeds United Bielsa took on was a nimble speedboat, capable of hurtling in any direction he\u00a0<\/em>pointed it at pace. Barcelona is more of an aircraft carrier positioned pretty much where it\u2019s always been. You can add a few fighter jets and a fresh coat of paint, but try to set it on an entirely new course without convincing dozens of other people first and you might as well be trying to move Camp Nou to Madrid. It\u2019d drive the crazy one, erm\u2026 crazy\u2026<\/p>\n

From the immense training facility where Messi was raised from the age of 13 to become the greatest player in the world, right through to the boardroom in which\u00a0Josep Maria Bartomeu<\/a>\u00a0sits, Barcelona already knows exactly what it is, what it expects to be and what it always will be. To go in and expect to take absolute control of the club, change their entire football philosophy and have everyone else fall into line simply isn\u2019t achievable at Barcelona. There\u2019s dozens of highly influential voices who have to be appeased, starting with the players.<\/p>\n

Such is the nature of Barcelona\u2019s ownership, it\u2019s as much a battle of politics as it is football. Every football manager\u2019s position is precarious, but If Lionel Messi isn\u2019t happy with regular\u00a0murderball sessions\u00a0and voices it publicly, expect fireworks. In theory, the most powerful man at Barcelona is their president\u00a0Josep Maria Bartomeu, but in reality, he\u2019s an elected leader who has to keep fans, the press and big-name players on-side and the easiest way to do that, tends to be by deflecting blame towards the manager. Some managers play the politics of Barcelona better than their president does, but does that really sound like something Bielsa would enjoy?<\/p>\n

Barcelona will be hurting right now and the public inquiry will be brutal. They will appoint a new manager in the coming days and will have their pick of the world\u2019s elite when it comes time to make that decision, because they really are \u2018more than a club\u2019 but they\u2019ll never be a club able to satisfy and adapt to Marcelo Bielsa\u2019s ways. It\u2019d be an extraordinarily bad fit.<\/p>\n

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