Just like many other European juggernauts, even FC Barcelona has had a handful of different experimental phases. These periods typically involved the club putting their faith in coaches who have not exactly had such a demanding experience prior to coaching La Blaugrana. Ultimately, several of those experiments ended up going unsuccessfully for Barcelona.
However, some cases were far worse than others and that remains indisputable. One such tenure was that of former Barcelona coach Quique Setien, who managed the team during 2020 and even led them in their infamous 8-2 defeat to eventual UEFA Champions League winners in that campaign, Bayern Munich.
Now, the former Barcelona, Real Betis, and Villarreal coach has given an interview recently and has talked about several things related to his time at Barça. As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, this also includes his statement regarding some of his dismissal-based compensation.
According to Setien, he is still owed money by the Catalan club and that compensation is from almost four years ago that has still not been received by him, although he does state that there is an upcoming deadline for the payment:
“I still haven’t received all the money Barcelona owes me. However, there is a deadline at the end of this month, four years later.“
However, beyond this dispute of his, the former coach for La Blaugrana has also stated that his time at the club was worthwhile to him despite the negativity that surrounds his tenure there, even saying that it was ‘something special’:
“Of course it was worthwhile; for me, given my passion for football, coaching Barça was something special. It’s the pinnacle, being able to coach a team that plays the way you like, without having to start from scratch with something they haven’t done before. I learned many things at Barça that I still apply.”
He was then also asked to comment on his experience with coaching the great Lionel Messi, an experience that he agrees is something not everyone can boast about:
“Indeed, not everyone can. It was an extraordinary experience.“
At the moment, Setien remains without a club and his last official stint as a manager was with Villarreal before he was dismissed in late 2023. As for Barcelona, news concerning former managers just continues to keep rolling out at the same time. Could just be a coincidence, but nothing can ever be ruled out whenever Barça is involved.
