Another day, another sacking at Barcelona.
Sporting director Eric Abidal is the latest casualty, leaving the Catalan club just a day after coach Quique Setien was given his marching orders.
President Josep Maria Bartomeu had said ‘decisions would be made’ in light of Barca’s humiliating Champions League loss to Bayern Munich last Friday, but a statement on Monday claimed restructuring would take place with the aid of the current technical department.
In that respect, Abidal’s exit is therefore something of a surprise.
The former France left-back pays the price for a string of sub-standard signings in recent years, which has been a significant factor in the team’s decline, laid bare for all to see in the 8-2 defeat to Bayern.
Abidal’s departure may also be a decision aimed at placating captain Lionel Messi, who hit out at his former team-mate in January over claims some senior players had not been training properly during Valverde’s final months at Camp Nou.
Either way, the Frenchman has been made a fall guy after the departures of Valverde and then Setien, who was in charge for only half a season at the Catalan club.
Notably, though, one man is still standing. Bartomeu brought forward the presidential elections to March after Monday’s meeting with his board, but is determined to stay in charge for as long as he can.
Part of the reason for that is the need to balance the books before a new mandate and also to prepare a ‘continuity’ candidate from the current board as he reaches the end of his second term.
In Pictures | Barcelona v Bayern Munich, Champions League | 14/08/2020
Meanwhile, Barca are desperate to cut their wage bill – which is the highest in world football – this summer and all but a few players will be available for the right price.
However, the financial effects of Covid-19 mean most of them will be difficult to shift and with a rebuilding project now needed, there are currently no funds available.
All of that creates an unenviable task for the next coach. The new man will inherit an ageing and mentally fragile squad, with limited money available and the real threat of losing his job when another president is elected in 2021.
Who would want it? Ronald Koeman does. The Netherlands coach has never hidden his desire to coach Barca and is prepared to lose his prestigious post as national team boss in order to fulfil that particular dream.
It is, as the board’s top target Xavi said last week, ‘not the time’ to coach Barca.
But Koeman, like Setien in January, is well aware that this may well be his only opportunity and is ready to accept the challenge.
The 57-year-old is a Barca legend from his playing days, but his coaching career is mediocre to say the least – despite some success in his homeland.
Koeman won the Copa del Rey at Valencia, but almost took the team down in a dismal run of results in LaLiga. At Everton, he was dismissed after a terrible second season.
Stories of clashes with young and senior stars abound, which does not bode well as he prepares to work with some of the biggest egos in world football and will be charged with restoring faith in the club’s La Masia academy.
The Dutchman is not joining for the right reasons and is not at the required level to coach the Catalan club. Bartomeu’s Barcelona are a club in chaos and he does not look like a man who can revive their fortunes.
Because despite all the changes, things may well get worse before they can get better again at Camp Nou.