JAKARTA - Quique Setien's promise when he was appointed as Barcelona coach was to restore the team's style of play to its nature. He also emphasized that Los Blaugarana will have fun under his guidance. But, that statement now haunts him.
A promise that invites risk has been made by Setien. The reason is, so far there has been no motivation shown by the squad. Of the 10 matches that Setien led, no one was really happy.
Little or nothing has changed since he replaced Ernesto Valverde. And that was seen again at Napoli, which marked the return of Ivan Rakitic to the starting line-up. Even though the Croatian player already wanted to leave Camp Nou.
The approach that Setien took at the San Paolo on Tuesday night might also be Valverde's. It's a conservative choice that really depends on Lionel Messi.
Another bizarre decision is that Setien prefers to play Samuel Umtiti over Clement Lenglet, even though Lenglet is in much better shape.
"Usually when I go to a (new) team, I can guarantee one thing: they played well," Setien said at his presentation, but nothing was further from the reality in Catalunya.
The pressure continues to grow and nothing has changed, players like Arthur Melo and Riqui Puig are expected to play more under Setien but so far this has not been proven.
"Barcelona can't win the Champions League like this," said Messi, and he proved right. Their 808 passes at Napoli have resulted in just one goal.
Barcelona have changed coaches, but they have the same problem.
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