AN idealistic coaching philosophy inspired by Johan Cruyff should help Quique Setien settle into his new job as Barcelona coach, but it is less clear how the often prickly character will deal with the less fun sides of life at the Camp Nou.
Barca’s board have turned to former Las Palmas and Real Betis coach Setien to replace the floundering Ernesto Valverde in a bid to appease fans and pundits who feel their team has lost its ‘Barca DNA’ over the last few seasons [despite winning the last two LaLiga titles].
With more direct Cruyff disciples Xavi Hernandez and Ronaldo Koeman not currently available, a not very dignified scramble by the blaugrana board ended with Setien – who was currently out of work having been fired by Betis at the end of last season.
Quique Setien: "Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being here.
"Yesterday I was walking past the cows in my village, now I'm here training the best players in the world." ❤ pic.twitter.com/Q4PUyIS7rG
— Goal (@goal) January 14, 2020
Although he never played for Barca during a playing career of more 200 games for Racing Santander, Atletico Madrid and Logrones, Setien has been clear that the Dutch prophet was the main influence on his own coaching philosophy. “It was only when I saw Johan Cruyff's Barcelona play that I started to understand how things really worked,” he has told Marca.
That was not just idle talk either. His Betis team played some of the best football in La Liga during his two seasons at the Estadio Benito Villamarin. They dominated games through possession as they finished a highly impressive sixth in his first campaign, as talented but not always the most consistent players like Sergio Canales, William Carvalho, Joaquin Sanchez and Marc Bartra embraced his ideas.
“There is a line that connects Guardiola and Setien”, former Barca defender Bartra told El Pais in September 2018.
Meanwhile, Setien placed faith in and helped significantly develop young homegrown players like striker Loren Moron and midfielder Fabian Ruiz [now at Napoli, and a likely transfer target for both Barca and Madrid next summer].
There were also pretty incredible one-off results and stats. Setien is the only rival coach to oversee wins at both Bernabeu and Camp Nou over the last 10 seasons. Barca fans who follow possession figures closely will know that Betis’ 82.4% during a 1-0 win over Leganes in October 2018 is the highest in La Liga since Guardiola left the Camp Nou.
While Setien also famously echoes Cruyff’s maxim that “the best Plan B is to do Plan A better”, he does make some allowances for circumstances. Betis' now famous 4-3 win at the Camp Nou in November 2018 showcased their attacking potential, but they also frustrated Madrid while keeping clean sheets in back-to-back victories at the Bernabeu. Like Guardiola, Setien can tailor his approach to the opponents, and carefully works on plans to counter them.
“We studied how Madrid press the ball, how many players, worked hard on that,” he said in September 2017. “We were able to bring the ball out from back.”
There's a lot of love already between Barca and Setien ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2zgTF2Dyz8
— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 14, 2020
A lack of such gameplans was the biggest complaint of Valverde’s critics at Barca over the last few seasons. Teams had worked out how to press their defenders and midfielders – and were regularly able to rob the ball in dangerous positions and strike directly.
Barca’s senior players had apparently also grown disillusioned with Valverde’s ideas, and there were unconfirmed reports last week that Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets had all called Xavi to plead him to come back from Qatar and take over immediately.
Setien has regularly spoken of his total admiration for Messi, and it now looks significant that Busquets gave a signed jersey to the Betis coach in September 2018, with the dedication: “For Quique with respect and admiration for your way of seeing football.”
At this point the only wonder is how Setien happened to be on the market at the moment. But not all Betis fans were so happy with pretty patterns on the ball during long spells when their team could not seem to score. A sensitivity to criticism led to a difficult relationship with influential local journalists. There was also conflict with directors above him the club hierarchy. The story was similar at his only other Primera Division job Las Palmas, where a big falling-out with the club president saw him fired despite popular acclaim.
Which suggests the main reservation over Setien’s appointment is his ability to handle the unique and varied pressures which come with managing one of La Liga's big two. Recent seasons have seen respected coaches from Tata Martino to Julen Lopetegui never get to grips with jobs which require a not very common mix of self-confidence and political nous.
“For sure I should have had more empathy in some situations,” Setien said as he left Betis last year. “In the end it was me who had to change, and I must reflect on this and try to improve it.”
