"It's an absolute no-brainer" - Steve Nicol names Barcelona legend as ideal candidate to replace Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid
Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has backed former Barcelona manager Luis Enrique to take charge of Real Madrid if Carlo Ancelotti leaves in the summer.
According to multiple reports, Ancelotti is a frontrunner to become Brazil’s next manager, succeeding Tite, who resigned after the Selecao's 2022 FIFA World Cup exit in the quarterfinals.
Furthermore, Real Madrid have underperformed under Ancelotti this season, losing the Supercopa de Espana to Barcelona and sitting 12 points behind them in La Liga. They also need to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg against Barca before trying to overcome Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
Unless Madrid win the cup competitions, Ancelotti could be relieved of his responsibilities. Irrespective of whether he's poached away or sacked, Nicol said that former Spain manager Enrique should come in as his successor, ahead of Mauricio Pochettino and Julian Nagelsmann. Nicol said on ESPN:
“There are no question marks over Luis Enrique. For me, you're talking about a guy who's been there seen it, done it, That, to me, is a Real Madrid manager. I don't think Real Madrid are a team that wants to gamble. They want to be assured; they're a team that have to win trophies every year. Now, it's not enough to be in and around titles; they have to be winners.”
Enrique played for both Barcelona and Madrid during his playing career, leaving the Madrid giants to join the Blaugrana. He then took the reins at the Camp Nou in 2014 and led them to a continental treble in his debut season. Enrique left the Camp Nou job at the end of the 2016-17 season.
Nicol added:
“Of course Luis Enrique played for Real Madrid and Barcelona. He left Real Madrid to go to Barcelona; is there still a bitter taste in the fans mouth and the board's mouth? So, to me, that would be the only drawback, because when it comes to CVs, between the three of them, it's an absolute no-brainer.”
Barcelona manager Xavi to give Eric Garcia interesting new role
According to Spanish outlet SPORT, Barca boss Xavi will be happy to deploy centre-back Eric Garcia in a midfield role in the coming weeks.
Despite enjoying a positive start to the 2022-23 season, the former Manchester City defender has barely played for Barcelona since the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Jules Kounde’s excellent run of form has forced him to warm the bench.
While Xavi could not fit Garcia in the rearguard at the time, he could give him more minutes in a midfield role.
As per the aforementioned source, Garcia has been training as a midfielder for weeks and has impressed Xavi with his performances. The idea now is to use him in a defensive midfield position to give Sergio Busquets some much-needed rest.
It will be interesting to see if the make-shift midfielder rises to the occasion in a competitive game.