3 Potential managerial candidates for FC Barcelona

'Mes que un club' or 'More than a club' is more than just a slogan for one of the world's largest and most prestigious sporting institutions, it is part of the identity which has gained the love of football fans the world over.

Identity is everything to FC Barcelona as the largest club in the Catalan region, a notoriously independent and nationalistic part of the world and one of the key pillars of this identity is the style of football the team play.

Johan Cruyff introduced the philosophy which changed the landscape of modern football and created some of the most successful teams in history from Pep Guardiola's all conquering side to the dominant Spain national side, made up of a number of graduates from the famous La Masia academy.

The same style of play is used by the youngest child in the academy all the way up to Lionel Messi, the 4-3-3 with emphasis placed on controlling possession through short, quick passes and winning the ball back within 5 seconds of losing it, making a manager containing that 'Barca DNA' critical. Ernesto Valverde is somewhat more pragmatic however, using a 4-4-2 diamond during the weekend's 4-1 victory at Real Betis with a narrow midfield four of Rakitic, Vidal, Busquets and Arthur.

Some may argue that sacrificing the traditional 'tiki-taka' tactics in favour of a more solid defensive base has proved to be successful after a cup double last season and a domestic and European treble on this year. However, moving away from the footballing beliefs that Cruyff instilled deep within the clubs fabric does not sit well with many, leading to speculation about Valverde's future. But who next?

Erik Ten Hag

Could the Dutch dominate Barca once again?

Largely unknown by many outside of Holland until recently, Ten Hag is a student of Pep Guardiola, having been in charge of Bayern Munich's B side whilst Guardiola took charge of the first team. His Ajax side currently sit second in the Eredivisie and have the final of the KNVB Beker on the horizon, but it is their Champions League exploits which have caught the eye.

Strong displays against Bayern in the group stage were followed the 4-1 destruction of Champions League kings Real Madrid in the Bernabeu. There is complete synergy in the philosophies as both are of course the children of Johan Cruyff's famous footballing ideology, Ajax's De Toekomst and Barcelona's La Masia are two of football's most famous nurseries, with Frenkie de Jong confirmed to be swapping Amsterdam for Catalonia and Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt expected to follow suit. The symmetry between both clubs and Ten Hag's own understanding of 'playing the Barca way' could make him the perfect fit to take over at Camp Nou.

Xavi Hernandez

Maybe a slightly left field choice at the moment with Xavi continuing his glittering playing career over in Qatar, but there would be few more popular choices in Barcelona than the clubs all time record appearance holder.

Despite having no managerial credentials as of yet, Xavi has been backed by Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi amongst others to become future manager of Barcelona, as well as placing his own interest on record himself.

Experience may become irrelevant in this instance as he will inevitably unite the entire club and there are few people around who understand the Barcelona style of play better than Xavi so his career path may take him home.

Quique Setien

Perhaps the most unlikely of the three due to never playing or coaching at a club with the Cruyff DNA ingrained into it's core. Quique Setien has gone under the radar during his managerial career thus far.

After stints in the Spanish lower leagues and a spell as manager of the Equatorial Guinea national side. His first job in Spain's top flight came at Las Palmas in 2015, guiding the Canary Islands club to 11th place having taken over in January with them languishing in the relegation zone.

He would eventually leave after a dispute with the club's board but it was inevitable that a bigger job would soon beckon. After taking charge of Real Betis in May of 2017, he guided the Seville club to 6th position and European football in his first season, claiming away wins at Barcelona, Real Madrid and at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan against Sevilla.

It is his style of play which has drawn the most plaudits, however. A fast paced, high pressing and fluid attacking side looking to advance the ball through the thirds is exactly what is demanded by the football purists at Barcelona and Setien can certainly deliver that, so it may be interesting to see what he could do with the plethora of resources available at Barca.

He has already drawn his fair share of admiring glances from Catalonia, too. Busquets presented Setien with a shirt after Betis' 4-3 win at the Camp Nou which simply read: ' For Quique, with appreciation and admiration for the way you see football, a hug'.

Edited by Kingshuk Kusari