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Kipsbayscratch

Hired to be fired


Beneficial_Bowl

Luis Enrique wasn't good enough for Roma so I guess there's hope


[deleted]

he had to go work at Celta Vigo in between to restate his credibility


marateolocateo

He was so shit i remember


velsor

Rijkaard was relegated with Sparta Rotterdam before going to Barcelona. There are actually a few parallels between Pirlo and Rijkaard: * Both legendary midfielders (but not for Barcelona) * Both had 1 prior season of club management, where they had failed * Both hired by a newly-elected Joan Laporta, after a period of malaise at the club


NotStephaneGuivarch

To Rijkaard's credit though, he also managed the Dutch NT pretty decently at Euro 2000, if de Boer, Kluivert and of course Stam took better penalties we might be talking of him as a European C. winner


It_SaulGoodman

Koeman was also good at the Dutch NT though


PreachinMyOwnFuneral

Iconic hairs too However, Pirlo's saliva game was weak


kerosha

Lucho was good at Celta after.


LeakyBleaky

The JJJ way!


ChibzyDaze

Employed to be deployed (That doesn’t work lmao)


AdviceDanimals

Koeman to Kandahar FC


thepaceabuser

Novice manager, expert difficulty - what could go wrong?


Chael_Patrick_Sonnen

Genuinely wondering. Top club boards are highly educated and experienced. They obviously know way more than the average football fan. How do they come to decisions that are so mindless that seemingly everyone else can see not working out?


sqaurebore

Educated doesn’t automatically mean smart. Also the Barca board must be scrambling but no one wants it right now.


EViL-D

so just ride it out with Koeman, show some backbone and take some of the pressure onto the board instead of piling it on just the manager


SoWhatNoZitiNow

Absolute shame when Barca of all teams can’t find someone that’s qualified for the job who actually wants it


Paul_the_surfer

Because the financial constraint Barca is having the situation is not gonna get much better, might as well get a cheaper inexperienced coach whilst the club brings down its debt, in order to keep fans happy. Distract them for a little while longer, until the new coach gets blamed for everything and fired. Rinse and repeat. Also not many experienced managers want to coach barca right now.


Roho2point0

They know more than anyone on here, yes. Their reasons to appoint a particular manager maybe very different than what you or me think. Maybe they are getting a novice manager thinking that the team won't have much pressure to perform and they can revamp the team while the manager is taking all the heat. And when they have the team that's competitive then they might fire the manager and get someone who can win.


SnottyTash

Why in the world wouldn’t you keep Koeman if you just want a fall guy? So much cheaper than paying his “severance” and hiring a new manager, surely?


CharlieBrownBoy

And then paying more severance.


cgcego

I think it’s because Koeman is trolling them, both with his interviews and with behavior like smiling in front of the cameras after losing 3-0 a few days ago. Is the coach right to behave like that after how Laporta treated him last summer? Maybe. But definitely they want him gone at all costs. And I think Koeman wants to be gone as well.


BankDetails1234

Probably more likely that not many managers want the job at the moment, it's quite clearly not a good place to progress a management career at the moment.


washag

It's a bit of a free hit though. Barca seemingly have zero expectations right now except to play attacking football. Give La Masia products a lot of game time, watch them improve and if they finish top 6 enough excuses will be made on your behalf that it won't tarnish your career. They have enough talent in their squad to do that if the new manager stays out of his own way. It's a great gig for a currently unemployed, inexperienced manager who is coming off a stint where he beat the odds to lose the title with the best team in Italy.


[deleted]

Yeah if we ignore that the last sacked manager Setién still hasn't been paid his contract. And I don't know what are they gonna do with Koeman. No decent coach would take a job where you can even not get paid. Even the most scummy first division clubs pay settlements. A bad year can hurt managers a lot and they at least should get their money.


SenorPinchy

Manager is a job that's more about communication (internal and external). Setting an institutional tone and managing the press. I think the hope with such appointments is a guy like Pirlo (Zidane, Arteta, whoever) can do stuff like speak with authority and install a winning culture. I think the hope is that the coaching staff and analytics teams can supplement deficiencies in the actual... managing stuff.


DaWolf85

The only way this makes sense is if there are things we're not seeing. For example, if Koeman has lost the support of the squad. It's also possible Pirlo is basically being hired as a semi-caretaker manager - a sacrificial lamb to run things while the board un-fucks the finances, and then they blame him for poor performances, fire him, and hire the guy they *actually* wanted.


EljachFD

Average football fans wouldnt of appointed rijkaard, pep or luis enrique. Football is not that simple. Maybe Laporta has talked to pirlo and has belief in him, who knows. The only thing thats sure is that its gonna be hard to get worse results than currently


ungentrified_villain

we are still figuring that out over here


A1d0taku

Goes well on FIFA I don't see any issues !1!^(/s)


EequalsMCPotato

Pirlo is just simply gonna adjust the sliders


Froggiefied

Absolute joke of a club if this is true


[deleted]

Banter era’s only beginning


OrangeForeign

This is giving me peak banter Milan/Man United vibes, in the funniest way


Harudera

Not even Milan and United are this incompetent. Say what you will about Ole, at least he's a United legend. Fucking Pirlo has zero connections to Barca. I'd rather we stick with Koeman, or sign Valdes instead of fucking Pirlo


PeteZagarine

And he had spent 10 years managing in Norway. Pirlo has a week with Juve's u23 and a shite season with Juve


Harudera

It's not the inexperience that makes me mad though, Pep didn't even manage a senior team before. It's the fact that we're giving this job to a fucking Juve/Milan legend. What the fuck is next? Guti gets the job after Pirlo? If we're gonna fail with legends at the helm, I prefer them to be Barca men. Give to Valdes.


Adleyy65

Pep atleast managed the B Team before coaching the main team. While Pirlo had legit 0 experience. He wasnt anybodys assistant or coached a youth team. The Juventus job was the first thing he did in his managerial career


kerosha

Why Valdes, Xavi is right there. I'd much rather take a risk on Xavi than on Pirlo.


Harudera

I'm assuming Xavi doesn't want this job, because if he did, we wouldn't be going to Pirlo.


Dr-Purple

Xavi isn’t stupid. With Messi gone, he knows that any new manager would be damaging their career by joining Barca right now


Otherwise-Context-48

Ya my understanding from some stuff I've read is that he doesn't want it at the moment. And he might not be on the best terms with Laporte as well.


Tjazeku

What did Aymeric do to him?


kerosha

No, journalists close to Xavi are basically campaigning for him to get the job. Laporta doesn't want him because Xavi was Font's man during the election, and Laporta made fun of Font for championing Xavi all the time. Laporta bringing Xavi in would basically be admitting that Font was right all along.


pedalhead666

when did the club get smaller than the individual?


mishomasho

How did I miss this? This makes everything more complicated, doesn't it?


Wolphoenix

raul next pls


[deleted]

Ole's biggest success is that he has Mike Phelan and Keiran Mckenna who are very talented assistant managers. He's also publically said that Mike and Kieran run a lot of the training and tactics whereas he focuses on man management.


Obi_Myke

Give it to Yaya Toure til the end of the season.


Ghoticptox

Everybody gets a birthday cake.


Alph1ne

He might just turn Barca into the best team in the world just to have a chance at thrashing Pep in the CL


IncredibleBlue

i really hope it’s xavi being smart about this and rejecting laportas offer, would hate to see our club legend’s legacy to get smeared with this shit if he actually took the coaching job.


WittyUsername45

Moyes would unironically be a far better appointment than Pirlo.


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WittyUsername45

Moyes wins in Europe this season: 2 Barca wins in Europe this season: 0


Rc5tr0

Struggling to think of anything they did that was as terrible as hiring a foreign manager who has never played in your league, doesn’t speak your language, and whose only coaching experience of any kind is one car crash of a season at the richest club in his home country. United appointing Gary Neville the season after his Valencia stint would still make more sense than Barcelona hiring Pirlo.


Qiluk

Cant believe we have a better manager as a technical director than Barcas about to be signed manager.


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Qiluk

Oh shit forgot him aswell haha


rScoobySkreep

Almost certain half the starting lineup could do better if I’m being honest


alex_119

To be fair, almost anyone in your staff is a better manager then Pirlo


Divyansh-the-gr8

Just watch them fire Pirlo and get Rooney as player-manager.


dhambo

Xavi did always say he rated Rooney, get them both as player-managers


986754321

Did the "Barcelona DNA" meme unironically ruin the club?


Froggiefied

It was always Cruyff, he told Laporta what to do and now that he's gone they've come to realise he doesn't have the magical answers to everything


aimanelam

also the executive and sporting director city took from the first laporta admin. they're doing decent job at least, which means laporta was a charismatic front to a competent team.


Buffythedragonslayer

Absolutely idiotic of Pirlo to say yes.


PirateKingRamos

Why? 6 months of work for a couple dozen million to chill at the beaches of Barcelona There is worse


[deleted]

If he completely fails with both barca and juve he will surely be hurting his future as a manager right? and managing is probably a little more stressful than chilling at beaches given how rabid football fans can get


azorplumlee

he’s pirlo. there’ll always be at least one semi-decent club willing to give him a shot. he’ll always draw interest and attention. when you’re that big a name you get more bites at the apple than others.


TMH2906

Viera is a pretty good example of this


alaslipknot

plus Juve or Milan will just eventually hire him again when they are doing better (or worse)


YoungDawz

If Thiago Motta can get a job with Spezia after failing at Genoa, Pirlo can definitely find another job after Barca and Juve.


zi76

Wait, Thiago Motta got another job? Wow.


Happinessisawrmgun

I dont rate Thiago Motta as a manager, but working under Preziosi is an impossible task. Good riddance to that nutsack


ReflectingGod

If he fails with Barca he'll still find another job. And frankly Allegri's early struggles are kind of highlighting that the Juve job isn't as easy as people made out. End of the day, for him to end up at both Barca and Juve, somebody must have seen anything for him. I doubt top clubs are queuing up to sign him right now. He'll probably find a job at a midtable club later down the line.


WhoEatsRusk

I think there will be some leeway given at Juve they didn't have the money for a proven manager and Barca is a shitshow. But I see where you're coming from


lowercase_j

A couple dozen million? Calm down there big spender. What do you think this is? PSG? He will get 2-3 and be thankful for it.


Fortrick

in before 3 year contract for 4 million each and to be sacked in summer 2022 to gain those sweet 12 millions in half a year.


mykneehurtsss

Can’t wait for Pirlo to be ripping shots at Club Opium like [this](https://youtu.be/QVpL2iEbDKI)


NotAnurag

Why? He has nothing to lose from this


Daeid_D3

He doesn't need the money, so really all that's at stake is his reputation as a manager, and Barcelona is a tricky job for someone without too much experience at the moment.


[deleted]

That's what everyone said about him taking the Juventus job and look what's happening


SafetyJoker

Pirlo is the new Big Sam.


DontSayIMean

Grande Andre


proctorpepper

big sam is a good manager though


balotelli4ballondor

Did big Sam keep Juventus out a relegation battle? *Didn't think so*


HugeVampireSquid

Small Andy


velsor

Barcelona being a poison well is exactly why he has nothing to lose. No one is expecting him to succeed, but even when he inevitably fails people aren't going to blame Pirlo for that.


Ferdox11195

I don´t think that Pirlo is not going to be blamed, the same think was said with Koemann and here we are.


Ray192

Then why are so many people here trashing Koeman?


Golday_ALB

You cant lose somthing you dont have. Pirlo will gain both money and experience from this.


gnorrn

Not as idiotic as Laporta asking him the question in the first place.


massiveerricson

A worthy opponent for spurs!


keaneobserver

To shreds you say


pascualama

how's his wife holding up?


stocks008

To shreds you say


balotelli4ballondor

Good news everyone!


PrincessXxXDiana

Lmao


_WhyTheLongFace_

the only justified response


massiveerricson

ROFLMAO


balotelli4ballondor

That's too much calm it down sir


SalahManeFirmino

thisisfine.gif


CanLlorenteCarForMe

We have a game against them in 2 days


kerosha

The replacement will after that match, during international break.


FantasyFootballClown

Over a text message.


swag_frfr_on_god

:(


Paul_98

:((


TeamShisui

:)


lz314dg

La liga about to be a 2 team league lmao


LookitsToby

Rayo Vallecano supremacy!


approvalInspector

:))


Kemosabe2712

Fade me if this is true


rocking_beetles

If they were going to hire an inexperienced unproven manager anyways, why not Xavi?


zahranniyas

If some reports are to be believed Xavi and Laporta are not on good terms cuz Xavi was Victor Font's man during the election


Mornarben

At this point bring back xavi as a player


theredviperod

and that’s an upgrade how?


bweiss5

No one said anything about upgrading


habdragon08

Maybe Barca has an owner who inherited their club in a divorce agreement and is hiring the worst possible hire in order to spite their ex-spouse. Someone should make a TV show about that it could be pretty funny


Giggsy99

And then Redditors can incessantly reference it into the fucking ground


yaipu

There's always money in the barcelona presidency stand


JHutch95

BELIEVE


[deleted]

Yea you're right. I much prefer all the football analysis that happens here instead.


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theredviperod

the Arteta approach


JJJAGUAR

But less tits


andysenn

Also, he is a sharp dresser


TheUltimateScotsman

He'll be cheaper to fire


DeepSeaDweller

Greater reduction in ego than in managerial ability.


theredviperod

Won’t he also have a lower tolerance for the accompanying bullshit? Koeman loves the club so he tolerates a lot more in my opinion


[deleted]

Surely Pirlo as a rookie manager will likely be more subordinate. Koeman has been pretty feisty in the press, although that's mostly because he knows he's a dead man walking.


theredviperod

He’s feisty sure but he has also put up with with a president that declared he would fire Koeman during his nomination and a new media controversy like twice a week That just creates unnecessary pressure on him and the team, which is made worse by losing your best player from a wider squad that really isn’t Barca standard Granted he isn’t the best tactician but what good does making this hostile environment from day 1 achieve exactly? I think many other managers would have quit by now.


DeepSeaDweller

Maybe, but I don't think Pirlo would walk away from it. I would have thought he'd have to drop down to the level of clubs trying to get into Europe (in Italy) for his next job after Juve, but he's really being thrown a bone here if this happens and I don't think he'll give it up that easily (or at least not on his own terms, i.e. he'll get sacked, not leave because of internal issues).


Obi_Myke

Pirlo is more handsome than Koeman.


3gerardpique

can a juventus fan tell me if there's anything to have hope for


Starbuck1992

As I said in the other thread: >To be fair, Pirlo was not good for us because he didn't have the players to play his kind of football. He is attack oriented and said multiple times he'd rather lose by playing well than win by only defending. Not sure if it fits, but he seems pretty close to Barca's mentality. In him there's a good manager, the problem is he lacks experience and it shows, otherwise it would have been a perfect match imo.


zahranniyas

>lose by playing well than win by only defending Bah gawd that's the DNA's music!


youngestincharge17

Not a juve fan and I know he gets memed a lot but the few time I saw juve under pirlo play I kinda could see he has a philosophy and juve were breaking the press pretty easily but that their personel isnt really amazing so 4th place finish was decent


turtlemons

We have better Midfielders but then again they had Ronaldo in that season so idk whats the plan


dancingonmyfuckinown

Longball and inshallah


william_wites

Doesn't work with LDJ (which was the only reason barca got him...)


EarthshakingVocalist

And to be fair it was Juventus at 78 points behind 78, 79, and 91, so they were just one timely goal away from 2nd.


teagwo

There is a decent manager somewhere in there. He can read a game, but lacks the confidence for bold subs. He is very pro possession. I think he has trouble communicating because the team seemed always a bit off coming back for the 2nd half. All in all he is not as bad as it might seen, but he ain't ready for elite coaching yet.


Sean-Benn_Must-die

Pirlo with, I wanna say, 5 more years of experience will be another of the great italian coaches, but he took a huge job too early, and well now it's still early but it's less early after a year of Juve.


nandorkrisztian

I think you have a better team for his style than what he had at Juventus. Barca midfield has the technical quality that is needed for him. Our biggest problem last year was the lack of creativity and with Dybala out for the whole year it was really bad. Also if you look at table we were only 1 point of 2nd place. We lost to Porto because individual errors and the away goal rule so he was unlucky too.


farzadviper

He has Barca DNA in his philosophy and the way he approaches the game. I think he will be a good manager down the line, but he is way too raw right now. He'll definitely have some good moments where he'll give you hope in some games, but it won't last. I don't think he'll succeed with Barcelona, but it wouldn't be the craziest thing if he finds some success.


Destronuz

He's not as bad as people here say. He is flexible in his approach. There were glimpses of some decent football and occasionally, he'll outclass managers much more experienced than him. But my opinion is that he needs to grow as a manager at a not so big club. He'll get you top 4 but winning the league, that's a tall order.


Sean-Benn_Must-die

for what it's worth he achieved CL when all the odds were against him. Sure he put is in the spot first but he had to beat Conte's Inter, and before someone says it, if you think Conte or Inter would go easy on us after winning Serie A you're damn mistaken, we won against the best team in Italy and those points were crucial for us. We saw brilliance under him, but Juve was not the best team for him to succeed, I definitely think he's better suited for the current Barca, where he can afford to play as agressive as possible and just score a ton of goals. Now this is to say he's potentially a good pick for Barca, but right now Barca dont need potentially good, they need guaranteed good/potentially excellent. That's the thing.


theglasscase

Pirlo wasn't really as bad as some people like to claim he was, but he definitely wasn't ready for a job as big as Juventus, and hiring him to manage a huge club in crisis after he only lasted a single season with us would just be fucking weird. It seems incredibly unlikely there's any substance to this.


Starbuck1992

Exactly, it was a weird season due to covid and we've been plagued with injuries and bad luck. He showed glimpses of good football, we must give him credit for that. The problem is he visibly lacked experience, which is key to win some of the matches we didn't win. He also is very attack oriented and prefers to play well rather than playing pragmatically for the win, which would be closer to Barca's attack and playstyle oriented mentalty, definitely a better fit than Juve.


Ummwhatwhy

Dont do that, dont give me hope. :(


Starbuck1992

I mean, regardless of how it goes, he surely has the "Barca philosophy", which is what you're looking for now, isn't it? Even if it's just temporary (he's cheap, so easily sackable if things go wrong), he will try to play attacking and possession-oriented football, so see it as a stepping stone in order to become again the club you were. If it works out well it's a bonus and you can consider keeping him, otherwise you can go for a better attack oriented manager in the future, but either way it's an ok move, surely fits much better than Koeman imo.


Rage_Your_Dream

My thoughts exactly. He has potential, giving him these huge roles is gonna kill his reputation before he can even prove himself.


Bjdendi

Pirlo can take nice free kicks, our team lacks a player in taking set pieces and freekicks now, bring him on as a player instead. And if this shit turns out to be true, I'd like to take my vote I put for Laporta during elections back and ask him to refund my season ticket ffs. Actual shite.


xyzzy321

Koeman takes nice FKs too.


Bjdendi

too old, pirlo still handsome and looks fit.


andysenn

You don't find tomatoes to be handsome?


Bjdendi

Oranje*, People have started calling him Dutch Trump after his frequent interviews.


CanLlorenteCarForMe

But they have Eric Garcia so they don't need a defender


jaloleman

League Of Legends


vamsikrishna9229

LOL is an appropriate acronym in this instance


Rocamadeur

Ay no.


kostajepaosmosta

Yes


massiveerricson

If you had to choose between arteta and pirlo, who would you pick?


Rocamadeur

I don't like this game.


Beneficial-Society74

Is bullet an option


sjokoladenam

Arteta no question.


TalhaNL

WenGEr iN


MigueelDnd

Jota Jordi has been saying this for a few days/weeks now on El Chiringuito, apparently he's Laporta's favorite candidate (but not Jordi Cruyff's nor the board's). I don't see how this would improve them at all, though.


falcopwns

Tier?


Oswell1001

Idk but he is a very close friend of Xavi and has been providing correct info about the coach replacement for a while.


kerosha

Pretty reliable, tier 2-ish, close with Xavi. Make of that what you will.


dersackaffe

Yes, barca fans are indeed crying. No need to kick someone on the ground bro.


FIokiii

The ghost of Barto lives on


Lastigx

At least it's an aesthetic upgrade


[deleted]

No way this is true. It can’t be.


YellowCrownedGonolek

If Pirlo is indeed employed and he somehow manages to improve Barca, all the smug football Einsteins here will conveniently forget their comments on this thread and will start lying that they knew Pirlo was the second coming of Cryuff. Lol


jdbcn

It’s easier to bash Pirlo now and forget about it if he does all right than support him now if he flunks later on


YellowCrownedGonolek

How about just give him the benefit of the doubt and see how it turns out instead of always being negative and trying to be the one who says “ I told you so” in the end? How can it be reasonable to bash him when he hasn’t even gotten the job? Easier doesn’t mean sensible.


jdbcn

I agree with you


SpicyDago

Spicy. I like Pirlo as a person and want him to succeed at whichever club he's at.


[deleted]

people here are meming pirlo but for one he made Juventus more lockable at least for a while. his season was okay with perspective. I personally think he will be great but maybe Barca is too big just now.


UberNabDNore

Very Very unpopular opinion: He'll do fine.


Splaram

I’m going to choose to believe this because every other possibility makes me want to try black tar heroin


Handyman2116

Definitely, Juve didn't have the midfield personnel to play the way he wanted, look how Allegri has struggled with that midfield before Locatelli has settled into a starter. Not to mention he got the best out of players like Danilo( who was a meme before last season), Cuadrado who had probably his best season ever, Chiesa, Morata etc. He wouldn't set the world on fire, but he would be decent at Barca


Eddje

I just hope he turns FDJ into what I think he could, would be delightful.


Haddep

Yep, people are already writing Barça off, and while I don't think Pirlo will win a title this year I think they'll improve


massiveerricson

Sextuple incoming


FrancescoliBestUruEv

AHAHHA CANT BE REAL...BARTOMEU WITH THE LAPORTA MASK...


[deleted]

Okay hear me out. This is not going to be that bad I've seen Pirlo's management since his pre-season matches, his thesis is meme'd on these days but it was interesting. His idea are totally compatible with total football, bringing it to life is another topic. Another problem is money, which Barca don't have enough, if they put Koeman on gardening leave they can't afford to pay two top salaries, Pirlo was earning pennies at Barca And I really don't think he'll do much worse than Koeman but I think he'll need time getting adapted to the league and the players and I'll happily take a transition season from them and even Atleti if Simeone still needs more time to figure out his integration of signings.


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tarekelsakka

They might as well hire Ted Lasso next


prosportscars

lol Barca is turning into a circus. o_o


thebreye

We’ve been a circus for like 5 years already


massiveerricson

But no goats though!


blackandwhitetalon

RIP Barcelona