Speaking on a podcast, 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’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 Setien, who had built his reputation around possession-based football, attacking intent, and collective play. “Signing for Barça was something spectacular for me,” he admitted.
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.
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 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 about half a season.
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.”
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.
