Former Barcelona coach Quique Setien opens up on Messi admiration and dressing-room struggles: ‘I wasn’t myself’

Former Barcelona coach Quique Setien opens up on Messi admiration and dressing-room struggles: ‘I wasn’t myself’ Quique Setien arrived at Barcelona in January 2020 believing he had landed the opportunity of a lifetime.  The former Blaugrana coach had spent years admiring the team from afar, with Lionel Messi a major reason he regularly tuned in to watch them play.  Yet his short spell at Camp Nou proved far more complicated than he had imagined . Speaking on the podcast Quien Marca Gana (h/t SPORT ), Setien revisited his turbulent time in charge, explaining why he struggled to feel comfortable in the dressing room and revealing that he had nearly accepted a lucrative offer to work in Egypt before Barcelona came calling. Setien reveals what he told Messi at Barcelona Setien’s admiration for Messi long predated his appointment as Barcelona coach.  The Argentine had been central to the footballing identity that inspired Setien, making the chance to work with him a remarkable moment in the Spaniard’s career. “I once said to Messi: ‘I’ve spent 14 years of my life looking forward to Barcelona’s matches just to watch you play’.” Taking charge of Barcelona was equally special for the coach, who had built his reputation around possession-based football, attacking intent and collective play. “Signing for Barça was something spectacular for me,” he admitted. Quique Setien only managed 25 games at Barcelona. (Photo by RAFAEL MARCHANTE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) However, the reality of managing one of the world’s biggest clubs did not match his expectations.  Setien admitted that the experience changed his behaviour and left him feeling unlike the person he had been during previous coaching jobs. “At Barça, I wasn’t myself; I couldn’t, or I didn’t know how. That’s the answer. I wasn’t myself because that’s not who I am.  “I had a different persona; I look at photos from that time, and I don’t recognise myself,” he added. Why Setien struggled to enjoy his Barcelona spell The former coach contrasted his experience at Barcelona with his time at Real Betis, where he had enjoyed stronger day-to-day relationships with his players despite an unhappy ending. “I’d come from Betis – it’s true that I ended my time there with lots of people telling me to leave – but day-to-day life in the dressing room had been extraordinary, truly extraordinary.” Barcelona, he explained, offered a different environment, with difficulties behind the scenes that he has largely chosen not to discuss publicly. “That wasn’t how things were on a day-to-day basis in Barcelona; it couldn’t have been like that. And I’ve got loads of stories I’m not going to tell,” he said. The COVID-19 pandemic added more complication to a tenure that lasted only around half a season.  Quique Setien was on his way to Egypt before Barcelona called. (Photo by CESAR MANSO/AFP via Getty Images) Setien acknowledged that he never enjoyed the experience as much as he had hoped, although he has no regrets about accepting the job. “Do I regret it? No, of course not, because in the end you’re there. But it really was very difficult and I didn’t have a particularly good time. I didn’t enjoy being part of that team as much as I should have.” Setien nearly accepted an offer to coach in Egypt Perhaps the most unexpected detail concerned the circumstances of his appointment.  Shortly before Barcelona approached him, Setien was close to joining an Egyptian project backed by a businessman interested in buying a club. “He offered me a brutal amount of money,” he recalled. His advisers urged him to wait because Barcelona could become a possibility. Setien initially struggled to believe the suggestion. “‘Don’t go to Egypt because you can sign for Barcelona’. And I told them: ‘But what am I going to sign for Barcelona? But what have I done to sign for Barcelona?'” The opportunity ultimately arrived, but Setien’s reflections make clear that fulfilling his Barcelona dream did not bring the experience he had envisioned.