Luis Enrique's leaving for the same reasons Pep Guardiola did
What Lucho said before the game against Sporting Gijon about being full of joy was full of lies
Why did Luis Enrique decide to leave? For the same reason Pep Guardiola did. Being physically and mentally worn out by being on Barcelona's bench. Pep announced he was leaving the club because he felt empty. Luis Enrique used a similar euphemism. "I need to rest." Both coaches, each in their own way, have shown their obsession, almost sickness, for perfectionism. And each, without doubt, has paid a price.
Luis Enrique was not facing off against the players. That did happen, two years ago. After the defeat at Anoeta that provoked an authentic revolution that finished with the sacking of the weakest link, sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta. In that moment Lucho was fighting with leo messi and he did not have a strong relationship with the rest of the cracks. He did not understand that they needed special treatment. Until he had no other choice but to accept it.
Since then everything changed. It's not that he's become the friend of the players (the truth is Luis Enrique has very few friends or people who like him in the media, like Guardiola), but he leaned how to operate more delicately in a dressing room as delicate as Barcelona's, so as not to upset the balance. And now the players, Messi among them, feel closer to the Asturian. That is why his decision took them by surprise.
What Lucho said before the game against Sporting Gijon about being full of joy was full of lies. Or irony against the attack of the press. Because the Astirian coach has always considered journalists his enemies. Not even the advice of a former Barcelona director of communication could change his mind. To the media, not even water. Luis Enrique was fed up of facing them four times a week and facing the scrutiny of journalists in press conferences.
Luis Enrique is not full of joy. Or anything else. He's worn out. And not strong enough to continue on Barcelona's bench. And much less, take the difficult decisions that should be taken in the summer. The remodelling of the squad will be left to Robert Fernandez. And the coach that comes. He will leave with enviable statistics, currently eight titles from 10 possible ones, but also with the feeling that he is misunderstood.
