What does Barcelona's treble say about Luis Enrique as a manager?

Normally, when a team wins a treble or have a general successful season with a double/league etc, the manager is applauded and recognised for his various successful decisions he took in games etc. For example everyone recognises what Guardiola did was exception with Barcelona during their 1st treble. However this might be the first time I am not hearing much about Enrique. And this isn't a complain or Enrique appreciation thread. But genuine curiosity because of how divded the opinion is on Enrique as a manager and how social media has been praising MSN over anything else.

So the question is, Would the treble still happen if Barcelona's manager was someone like Roberto Martinez and he utilised the team in the same way as Enrique did?

Of course Enrique just didn't sat there and let Messi dictate the team. I mean Barcelona's defensive record is phenomenal this season despite having problems in that area at times with injuries etc. While it's true that MSN dominate the match so effectively from the front that often defence is not tested vigorously as it would be in any other time but it still doesn't change the fact that the defensive stability was apparent in many big games this season. Added to that, he did change the midfield dynamic throughout the season and players like Rakitic improved from when they joined and he used Iniesta much differently than other managers did in the past.

At the moment? Nothing.

I feel Enrique's job hasn't really been to come up with managerial masterstrokes, rather just avoid making mistakes. It's hard to fail with the MSN and it also leads to this Barcelona team pretty much picking itself and its tactics, imo.

Still, we see it time and again that managers even at the highest level do make mistakes and at least questionable decisions, so, when you get a manager who simply gets it right without having to come up with anything remarkable, it's still a job very well done.

Nothing whatsoever, he was about as important as Zidane winning la decima on the bench with carlo

The defence stability was there last season too. We pulled a double over Madrid (who were CL and CdR winners), drew 5 times against Atelti (who are better last season compared this season) and we eventually lost to both Madrid and that too without Pique/Valdes and were narrow defeats, so defence was some what no different from last season to this. The thing this season is add Bravo/Ter Stegen and then Mathieu and Rakitic, that only benefits the team defensively as it gives options and when MSN didn't track back Rakitic did for them. Also obviously Pique/Alves this season were in prime form defensively or us, rather that is due to Enrique or not I don't know.

Never met a group of fans willing to give their coach so little credit for a bloody TREBLE WIN.

What does it say about him? That he's an excellent coach.

Hapless_Hans wrote:Never met a group of fans willing to give their coach so little credit for a bloody TREBLE WIN.

What does it say about him? That he's an excellent coach.

It's because people want to keep the illusion alive that only Guardiola had the magic stick. Enrique will also never get the credit because he didn't turn Roma into winners in his FIRST EVER managerial job in the 1st division while trying to introduce a new style, a bunch of new players and phase out oldies like Totti, despite the the fact that they showed some great attacking football at times and scored the 2nd most goals from open play in the entire league.





Comparing him to Zidane. Zidane just failed to promote Castilla from the 3th division. Enrique promoted Barca B and finished top 3 in the Segunda in the following season with the most goals scored in the league, took an almost relegated Celta side and finished way above expectations after a slow start until his changes took effect while also ending Madrid's title hopes like a true Barca legend. Nick, you're unusually quiet in the Suarez thread. I could have sworn you were very outspoken with your expertise about Suarez being a small game player. What happened?

No it's because it's 1 season and Guardiola won 14 trophies in 4 years lol.

Because that team was more down to fantastic coaching than it was the brilliance of its individuals like this one is.

Well the reason he doesnt get the credit on the same level as Pep is quite simple really.

Before Pep, Barcelona were a awful mess. They already had the talent of Iniesta, Messi and Xavi...but the worrying part was how bad they looked simply because Ronaldinho went off the deep end. The team was truly finished. But Pep did what he did and turned a very bad team into the best in the history of Barcelona and one of the best in the history of anywhere else.

Enrique did much less of a job because the team while damaged badly after the Bayern defeat, was not broken or finished. It required some updates which it never got due to some horrific transfer market decisions.

Also the Pep team was as Mole said, about the team. Whereas this one is about 3 guys while the rest fill in roles to make it workable.

So, Enrique obviously had less of a task on his hands.

That is not to say he hasnt done great, clearly he has. He survived some awful moments and at times very questionable team selection and the quality of performance on the pitch was very low.

Its hard to remember a team looking so bad at one point but in the very same season winning everything.

What does this all say about Enrique's coaching ability? He has shown common sense and added some tactical variation to the team. Those were two things I personally was looking for at the start of the season and he eventually found it.

He got out of the way of MSN and let them do what they do while providing a defensive platform which can work behind that.

The challenge now and the real test of his abilities comes with what happens next and what he can change when its needed, what he can add to the team and so on.

Mispelt Messi there RG

El Shaarawy wrote:Mispelt Messi there RG

Let's not get into technicalities

The Franchise wrote:Well the reason he doesnt get the credit on the same level as Pep is quite simple really.

Before Pep, Barcelona were a awful mess. They already had the talent of Iniesta, Messi and Xavi...but the worrying part was how bad they looked simply because Ronaldinho went off the deep end. The team was truly finished. But Pep did what he did and turned a very bad team into the best in the history of Barcelona and one of the best in the history of anywhere else.

Enrique did much less of a job because the team while damaged badly after the Bayern defeat, was not broken or finished. It required some updates which it never got due to some horrific transfer market decisions.

Also the Pep team was as Mole said, about the team. Whereas this one is about 3 guys while the rest fill in roles to make it workable.

So, Enrique obviously had less of a task on his hands.

That is not to say he hasnt done great, clearly he has. He survived some awful moments and at times very questionable team selection and the quality of performance on the pitch was very low.

Its hard to remember a team looking so bad at one point but in the very same season winning everything.

What does this all say about Enrique's coaching ability? He has shown common sense and added some tactical variation to the team. Those were two things I personally was looking for at the start of the season and he eventually found it.

He got out of the way of MSN and let them do what they do while providing a defensive platform which can work behind that.

The challenge now and the real test of his abilities comes with what happens next and what he can change when its needed, what he can add to the team and so on.

Yea pretty much what I'd conclude as well.

I think his biggest challenge will be to take the same squad and play the same football from August-Jan without any additional players.

MSN can obviously keep this up and barca overall can sustain this level of performance, but Madrid will have the advantage that all three of MSN will be present in Coppa America so chances of a slow start to the season are present while Madrid can buy players and potentially take advantage

That's little to do with Enrique's own abilities obviously but will he actually keep the same formula for next season or tweak anything? Alves can leave so he will have to use Montoya at RB which will surely hinder barca at some point. Or that Xavi is no longer there so someone else will have to take his place as the sub CM and if that is Sergi Roberto then there will be problems. Rafinha will most likely get more time but has he really impressed barca fans this season?

You are right that Enrique will now be tested more so than ever.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:No it's because it's 1 season and Guardiola won 14 trophies in 4 years lol.

But if it's all about MSN all Enrique has to do is wait for another 2-3 years till he won more than Guardiola and all of a sudden these trophies are his accomplishment?

if you're a fan of the teams that took 2nd to fourth in spain, england, germany, italy or france, do you hope that your current coach gets fired so luis enrique can replace him? that i think is what it says about him as a manager CURRENTLY....that may change as time and his career goes on.

Of course but I bet they won't win the treble next year, 4 years of dominance is why Pep was so reverred.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Of course but I bet they won't win the treble next year, 4 years of dominance is why Pep was so reverred.

Pep only won one treble though so it's not like Enrique needs that either. Another CL and a couple of league titles is all it takes and I'm confident coachessi and S+N will give him that

Everyone said the same during Pep's time, I'm really not so confident.

The Franchise wrote:Well the reason he doesnt get the credit on the same level as Pep is quite simple really.

Before Pep, Barcelona were a awful mess. They already had the talent of Iniesta, Messi and Xavi...but the worrying part was how bad they looked simply because Ronaldinho went off the deep end. The team was truly finished. But Pep did what he did and turned a very bad team into the best in the history of Barcelona and one of the best in the history of anywhere else.

Enrique did much less of a job because the team while damaged badly after the Bayern defeat, was not broken or finished. It required some updates which it never got due to some horrific transfer market decisions.

Absolutely disagree. The team Pep took over was a Paul Scholes wonder volley away from reaching the CL final while Xavi and Iniesta were already the core of Spain's Euro 2008 success. Most of the problems stemed from disciplinary and dressing room issues (Ronaldinho, Deco, partly Eto'o). Pep's biggest achievement as a manager actually had nothing to do with on the pitch coaching or tactics. He brought back discipline and workrate while Messi got over his injury problems.

Pretty similar to Enrique actually. He demoted the finished key contributor of the past (Ronaldinho/Xavi - unlike Ronaldinho Xavi is obviously a top professional so he was a great sub and didn't need to get sold), got rid of the cancer (Fabregas), reintroduced hard work (Messi topping the ball recovery charts) and Messi got over his niggling injuries from 12/13 and 13/14.

Everything else is a matter of taste, whether you prefer holding on to the ball and more midfield dominance or more devastating attacks in transitions from the front 3. But Guardiola hardly did "more" objectively. He actually inherited a much more talented squad in a weaker era of European rivals.

The fact they was in the CL semi final says more about teams they faced tbh.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:The fact they was in the CL semi final says more about teams they faced tbh.

We faced eventual winners United and Paul Scholes in retroperspect says a Barca win would have been deserved. United were doing nothing but parking the bus at Old Trafford. There is a great Messi compilation video on Vimeo of that game by the way.

I'm talking about the teams before that.

Schalke ffs

I'd add that we weren't going to win the league anyway so I'm sure we were quite focused on the CL in his final season.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:I'm talking about the teams before that.

Schalke ffs

Yeah, sure. But if you are already outplaying a CL winning United side under Fergie that's proof enough that Barca's problems weren't that severe in principle. Bringing back discipline and workrate was the most important aspect.

i agree with Fußball on that one, guardiola brought discipline, and henry had hernia issues for a large part of that season. people try to make it look like he picked some scrubs and turned them into pure gem...and as pointed out xavi and iniesta were making waves for spain in euros (david villa, was a large part of spain's renaissance , imo probably as big as xavi but people for whatever reason tend to leave leave him out)....