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Ernesto Valverde Is New Barcelona Coach

Barcelona on Monday confirmed former Athletic Bilbao manager, Ernesto Valverde as their new coach. The 53-year-old, a former Barca player, takes over from Luis Enrique … Continue reading Ernesto Valverde Is New Barcelona Coach


Barcelona Coach, Ernesto Valverde
New Barcelona Coach, Ernesto Valverde

Barcelona on Monday confirmed former Athletic Bilbao manager, Ernesto Valverde as their new coach.

The 53-year-old, a former Barca player, takes over from Luis Enrique for the 2017/18 season.

He will be presented on Thursday as Barcelona coach alongside his assistant, Jon Aspiazu and Jose Antonio Pozanco who will be the fitness coach.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday to announce the new coach, Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said: “Today, I have spoken personally with Valverde and he is happy and excited about the challenge of coaching Barça.

“Valverde has the ability, the judgement, the knowledge and the experience. He promotes players from the youth teams and he has a style and a way of working like ours.

“He has a philosophy of the game that is very Barca and he is a hard worker. Also, he is passionate about applying technology to both training and matches.”

While playing for Barcelona between 1988 and 1990, Valverde won the European Cup Winners’ title and the Copa del Rey in his two seasons as part of Johan Cruyff’s squad, playing 29 games and scoring 10 goals in official competition.

As a coach, he has a wealth of experience in Spain and abroad. He has had two spells as coach at both Athletic Bilbao and Greek team Olympiacos, as well as having coached at Espanyol, Villarreal and Valencia.