Tata Martino’s Barcelona exit was inevitable

Former Spanish international Luis Enrique looks set to become the next Barcelona boss

Barcelona’s 1-1 home draw with Atletico Madrid on Saturday meant that the men from the Spanish capital claimed the Spanish title.

The draw led to the exit of Barcelona boss Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino from his post.

Inevitable

The destination of the title had no bearing on Martino’s future, as the Argentinian was expected to leave the Catalan club, even if Barcelona had retained the title. Martino’s future at the Nou Camp has been in doubt for months.

The 51-year-old has never been that popular with the Barcelona fans or press and his attempts to evolve the team’s style of play went down like a lead balloon. He tried to change the style of the teams play to a much more direct style.

A slight change in the style of Barca’s Tiki-taka style was needed, but Martino may have strayed too far away from the club’s football philosophy.

Martino never really had been a popular figure at the Nou Camp. Barcelona’s bosses in recent years have been either high-profile foreign bosses or coaches with an association with the club. Martino was neither of those.

Martino had a decent reputation on his own continent, but to most fans of European football he would have been a relative unknown. His appointment would not inspired optimism amongst the fans, because I would hazard a guess that few Barca fans would have known much about Martino, apart from maybe the fact that he had played for Tenerife two decades ago.

Martino was the wrong man for the job, despite the team making a blistering start to their campaign. At times he struggled to get the best out of an outstanding group of players.

Replacement

For weeks, if not months Barcelona have been looking at alternatives to Martino and are believed to have agreed terms with former-midfielder Luis Enrique. The 44-year-old is now odds of 1/25 to fill the vacant position at Barcelona.

The former Spanish international lead Celta Vigo to ninth place in La Liga with little resources, but recently quit his role with Celta.

One of the main attractions of Enrique is his history with the Catalan club. Unlike Martino, having played for Barcelona he understands the culture and the club. He will not be fazed by the atmosphere and as a former Barcelona player will understand the clubs footballing philosophy.

Enrique has not been in management for that long, but that did not stop Pep Guardiola or the now sadly passed away Tito Vilanova from proving a success in the Barcelona dugout. Both were appointed with limited managerial experience, yet were successful managing the Catalan club.

The biggest factor for Barcelona in appointing a boss is to have somebody that can evolve the tiki-taka style of play and maybe improve it. Barcelona’s playing style was ruthlessly exposed in the Champions League by German giants Bayern Munich last season and Martino’s style did little better.

Changes

This summer will see many changes in Barcelona personnel and not just in the dugout. Barcelona stalwarts Carles Puyol and Victor Valdes have both played their last game for the Catalans. Puyol has yet to decide his future, but Valdes is moving to Monaco, despite currently suffering from a long-term injury.

The pair has played a major part in Barcelona’s success for more than a decade and will be very difficult to replace. Puyol has endured an injury-hit couple of seasons, but when he was fit he was a leader on the pitch and would give blood, sweat and tears for the Barcelona cause.

Victor Valdes is in my eyes a much underrated keeper and is probably unfortunate not to have won more caps for his country. The presence of Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas in the Los Rojas goal has hampered his international career.

Barcelona have long been in need of a centre-back and have looked vulnerable at the back since Puyol stopped playing on a regular basis. The Catalan giants will now have to bring in a new centre-back.

Barcelona seems to have the keeper position filled with Monchengladbach keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen set to complete a move to the Nou Camp. Ter Stegen is rated as one of best up-and-coming young keepers in world football.

Difficult

Barcelona’s team have been on a slow decline in recent years, with the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta are having less of an influence on games. Even Lionel Messi has struggled to keep up his incredibly high standards this season because of niggling injuries.

The next Barcelona boss faces a difficult challenge to restore the Barcelona team back to the level of the team that dominated European football under Guardiola. However, if the right man takes over he will inherit a squad of international players, who with the right tactics and motivation still have a lot left to give.

Is Luis Enrique the man to move Barcelona forward?