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Barcelona legend critical of how the club’s handled the Ernesto Valverde situation

By Ernesto Hernandez

KAWASAKI, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Andres Iniesta of Vissel Kobe looks on prior to the J.League J1 match between Kawasaki Frontale and Vissel Kobe at Todoroki Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images)
KAWASAKI, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Andres Iniesta of Vissel Kobe looks on prior to the J.League J1 match between Kawasaki Frontale and Vissel Kobe at Todoroki Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images) /
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Andres Iniesta stuck up for Ernesto Valverde and believes Barcelona are going about things the wrong way.

Ernesto Valverde does not have many backers with the current Barcelona manager seemingly on the verge of being sacked.

He does appear to have a backer in the form of Andres Iniesta. The former Barcelona midfielder spoke on Onda Cero radio program, El Transistor.

According to Diario Sport, he said,

"“Barcelona’s behavior has been a little ugly. You have to have respect for your current coach. The way things are done is what can hurt the most.”"

Iniesta did admit that the latest run of poor results has hurt Valverde’s standing at the club. He hopes that things get resolved quickly because the situation is not good for anyone involved.

Iniesta is correct in that Barcelona have bungled this whole thing when the rumors of Valverde being fired first sprung up.

Openly meeting with and negotiating with Xavi in Doha sent the message that they were seriously considering sacking Valverde while at the same time telling anyone who would listen that they had complete confidence in him. Not to mention that no one has spoken with Valverde to update him on his status.

Had it not been Xavi who rejected the club’s offer, Valverde would have already been sacked. There is a clear lack of communication between the board and the manager as well as a lack of respect.

He’s delivered them back-to-back league titles running away from the rest of the pack in the process. The results in the Champions League have been disastrous but they backed him even after the two eliminations. They continued to do so after the Copa del Rey loss as well.

The time to make a change would have been last season but they decided to keep him on. The mess they find themselves in is of their own doing and now they have to live with the consequences.

The Barcelona hierarchy hedged their bets on Xavi joining them and with his decline, it’s left them scrambling with nowhere to go. It’s made them look poor as an institution and made Josep Maria Bartomeu look incompetent.

Ernesto Valverde is still slated to lead the team’s next practice. He isn’t too thrilled with how he’s been treated and it won’t come as a shock if he decides to resign.

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He may not be popular among supporters but everyone deserves to be treated with respect. As Iniesta said, firing or moving on from a manager is not the problem. It’s the way it’s been handled that will leave everyone with a poor taste in their mouths.

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