Support of Barça squad key reason behind Valverde's new contract
Players like Messi are happy with the coach's dressing room management
Ernesto Valverde will remain as FC Barcelona coach next season. The Catalan club announced that he had extended his contract on Friday. A large reason behind Valverde's extension is the huge support he has in the Barça dressing room.
As in all big teams, it's not easy to enter a dressing room like Barça's. The management of the squad is one of the toughest aspects of the job and sources close to the dressing room assure that Valverde's managed that side of the role well.
The clearest example is Lionel Messi. The Argentine star has a good relationship with the coach and has accepted being rested on various occasions. In addition to Messi, the large part of the squad, including the heavyweights, have always publicly said they would like Valverde to continue.
With the backing of the squad in his favour, Valverde's provided reasons to doubt his long-term future recently. While president Josep Maria Bartomeu's maintained he would stay, the coach has neither confirmed nor denied what his next move will be. With Friday's news, Barça, though, put an end to those rumours for now.
LA MASIA
One of the issues which has been used against Valverde is his management of the academy. The coach has preferred to use a small squad but has rarely turned to La Masia. That said, this season he has handed debuts to defenders Chumi, Cuenca and Miranda, as well as midfielder Riqui Puig. All those players have played in the Copa del Rey. Miranda has also played in the Champions League. But, when without Jordi Alba recently, he's preferred Semedo or Sergi Roberto at left-back to Miranda.
The only player to consolidate his place in the squad is Carles Aleña. The midfielder has earned his chance under Valverde and is currently enjoying minutes as part of a squad rotation system. Given the success of Aleña, fans don't understand why more youngsters aren't given chances.
Instead, Valverde's looked to signing, with the likes of Jeison Murillo and Kevin Prince Boaten arriving in January. Two players that are hardly playing for the first team. Their roles could easily be filled by La Masia graduates. That will be, without doubt, one of the tasks facing Valverde next season.
