Victor Valdes’ return to Barcelona will soon be over as the club is reportedly set to sack the youth team manager this Monday.
The decision comes after the former goalkeeper got into a verbal altercation with Patrick Kluivert, the club’s director of youth football.
According to ESPN, Valdes was given a dressing down by Kluivert alongside Jordi Roura and Aurelio Altamira. Valdes, known to have a strong character, had words of his own and the decision seems to have been made following the altercation.
Some of the complaints from the club, according to Mundo Deportivo, ranged from the formation Valdes was implementing and the poor results in the Youth Champions League after suffering a 3-0 loss versus Inter Milan.
Another point of contention was the development of prospect Ilaix Moriba who the club renewed for a significant amount. He was on the bench for the Champions League defeat and has not featured as prominently under Valdes.
Valdes responded, “I make my own team.”
The dust-up between Valdes and Kluivert was the straw that broke the camel’s back as Valdes has been involved in a number of incidents since his return.
Earlier in the season he was handed a two-match ban for insulting the referee. Internally, he missed a few of the team meetings opting to send his assistants in his place.
Vlades also complained, understandably so, that his team has not had as much access to the new Johan Cruyff Stadium apart from the Champions League games.
The writing was on the wall when Barcelona announced that he would not be managing the game against Nástic. Mundo Deportivo report that he has already met with his team and said his goodbyes.
According to Diario Sport, the plan is for Franc Artiga, the Juvenil B coach, to be promoted and take over from Victor Valdes. Artiga’s assistant, Oscar Lopez, will take his spot at Juvenil B.
The firing of Victor Valdes puts a sad end to a return that was filled with promise. It was the return of a player that was instrumental during the team’s peak years and was having success as a manager.
But Barcelona wanted someone who would stay in line and Victor Valdes is not that kind of manager. He has a strong personality and is not afraid to speak his mind. Unfortunately, that appears to have cost him his job.
Source: https://everythingbarca.com/2019/10/06/barcelona-legend-set-leave-camp-nou/