Former Barcelona Boss Deflects Questions About Lionel Messi After Camp Nou Reign
- Ernesto Valverde has refused to answer questions about Lionel Messi or his time in charge at Camp Nou
- The 57-year-old is yet to return to football management after being axed by Barcelona in January 2020
- The Spaniard was in charge of the club for three seasons, in the process, winning four trophies, including two La Liga titles
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Ernesto Valverde has insisted that he will not talk about what transpired during his time at Barcelona.
The 57-year-old has not managed any club since he was booted out by the Catalans in the winter of 2020 over an alleged poor run of results.
Source: Getty Images
Although he was unable to do exploits for them in the Champions League, he, however, won two Spanish Leagues, one Copa Del Rey, and one Spanish Super Cup for the Blaugranas.
But that appears not enough for the team and they terminated his deal on 13 January 2020, after recording a 3–2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.
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His departure ushered in the reign of former Real Betis handler Quique Setien, who also didn't last more than six months before being shown the exit doors.
What Ernesto Valverde said
Meanwhile, Valverde who is still not sure what his future would look like having refused to take up another managerial job since January 2020 said according to Marca quoting Extremadura native:
"I can't say what happened. It's part of the mystique. It's better that people don't know what we're like and think we know it all. It's better that people don't know the truth."
The former forward also reflected on plans to return to football management during the interview, saying:
"I suppose it's possible I could coach again. But it would have to be a different project, something stimulating and motivating.
"After leaving Barcelona I needed some downtime. I had wanted to travel, but with the pandemic, it wasn't possible. At the moment I'm not clear about what I'm going to do next."
Ronald Koeman feeling poorer devoid of Messi
In related news, Briefly News previously reported that Barcelona started their campaign against Real Sociedad at Camp Nou and produced a five-star performance without their former player Lionel Messi, Goal, Marca.
Ronald Koeman admitted he was satisfied with his team's display but would still prefer if Messi who departed for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the past week was in the starting XI.
La Blaugrana defeated visiting Sociedad by 4-2 with Martin Braithwaite posting a man-of-the-match performance scoring two goals and assisting one.
Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
Tshepiso Mametela (Head of Current Affairs Desk) Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience writing for online and print publications. He is the Head of Current Affairs at Briefly News. He was a mid-level reporter for The Herald, a senior sports contributor at Opera News SA, and a general reporter for Caxton Local Media’s Bedfordview and Edenvale News and Joburg East Express community titles. He has attended media workshops organised by the Wits Justice Project and Wits Centre for Journalism, including crime and court reporting. Email: tshepiso.mametela@briefly.co.za
