Setien's philosophy explained by 20 of his former players Barcelona Style hasn't changed over the years

Quique Setien has spoken several times about the football style he intends to impose to his teams.

Domination on the ball, offensive approach, physical preparation and youth development are some of the aspects of his work.

MARCA have spoken with 20 of his former players to get a more complete profile of the Barcelona coach.

"We were always watching Barcelona videos," Hector Font, who worked with Setien at Lugo, told MARCA.

"If it they [Barcelona] were playing and we were at the training ground, we would watch [the game].

"And if not, he would put sequences for us to look at how they played."

Font went on to share a personal moment he had with Setien upon his arrival at the Galician side.

"As soon as I got out of the car in the car park during my first day, he took me aside and told me that he loved what I had done at other teams," Font added.

"[He said] that he was calm because he was going to use a system that would benefit me."

Setien spent five years in Lugo, between 2010 and 2015 and it was there that he had most fun as a coach.

"Ninety percent of what we worked on was about attack," recalled ex-Lugo player, Juanjo Serrano.

"He had a lot of respect for the players. He never raised his voice.

"He changed the mentality and achieved promotion."

Miguel Escalona, the goalkeeper in that squad, recalled an anecdote that shows the coach's philosophy.

"To the goalkeepers he always told us that it didn't matter if we lost the ball; that then the fault would be his," Escalona noted.

"He was obsessed with us playing out with the ball."

Gerardo Berodia, who was also part of that Lugo team, explained that Setien starts the players he believes are ready to play.

"I had been scoring goals and I was benched and many people were surprised," Berodia said.

"And that is something characteristic of him.

"He uses those who you do not expect and drops those who you think would be a starter.

"It will also happen now at Barcelona, as he uses whoever he considers best, without looking at the names."

Setien moved to Racing Santander in 2001 which coincided with Julio Alvarez's time at the club, and he explained how beneficial was his coach's decision to exclude him from the squad list.

"[Setien] was the first coach who dropped me," Alvarez remembered.

"Now, 20 years later, he still reminds me of that every time we meet: 'How you were crying then down the hall.'

"At that moment I thought myself a bit like a star coming from Real Madrid because I always played but he didn't think about it and he dropped me to the bench."

Jose Sietes also recalled that Setien wouldn't hesitate to leave a star player on the bench.

"He was very young and came without previous experience as a coach and had no problem removing the sacred cows from the team," Sietes stressed.

"He removed them even though he had some confrontation.

"He had a lot of personality and that was very good for the team because we saw that he was a coach we could follow."

Setien insisted on the team dominating the ball despite being at the relegation zone at the time.

"We were used to deal with the matches as we could," recalls Valled.

"We were in relegation places to Segunda B and he forced us to modify the strategy.

"He just wanted us to have the ball. He used full-backs and forced us to play a lot from the wings.

"That benefited me a lot."

Setien's ability to develop young talents has been hailed over the years and Cesar Caneda couldn't agree more with that statement.

"I was very young and he gave me opportunities," Caneda said.

"He was always very understanding with the young people, he looked at us differently.

"And that worked for him."

Elite training sessions in the Spanish third tier

Setien moved to Poli Ejido in 2003 but only lasted 13 games on the bench.

There he coached Angel Rodriguez who has revealed his former coach's obsession with training.

"He felt almost more like a player than a coach," Rodriguez noted. "He was very methodical.

"One of the first days, he gave a talk showing a video in the dressing room.

"It started at 16:00 and ended at 21:00.

"He gave us only five minutes to warn our partners not to be scared if we didn't arrive home on time, as our dinner was getting cold."

A national team coach on the plane

One of his biggest adventures came when he was appointed as Equatorial Guinea coach back in 2006.

"Our coach at that time was Brazilian but, before a game against Cameroon, almost when reaching the airport before traveling, he forced the directors to nationalise some Brazilian players," revealed Benjamin Zarandona.

"They refused and he resigned before getting on the plane.

"Before embarking, they offered Setien the job and he accepted it.

"I had to explain to him, in the middle of the flight, everything about our style and which the usual line-up was.

"It was only one game, against Cameroon, but we played very well because we hold on a draw until the 66th minute against one of the strongest team on the continent.

"It was very hot and I am sure that Setien will never forget it."

A year later he would return to Spain to coach Logrones, who were at the Spanish second tier at the time.

"His training was very innovative for the division," Omar Garcia said.

"We were working with the ball almost all of the time.

"He invented rondos with the whole team where there were three in the middle, beach soccer style, where the ball could not touch the ground."

At Logrones he tried hard to put together a strong group.

"He told us that we had a fairly mediocre way to build play from the back," recalled Cesar Negredo.

"[He said] that he didn't care who played and that we would end up doing it well."

Raul Heras, goalkeeper of the Logrones side, revealed that training was focused on attack.

"We almost didn't work in defence and that could affect us in the end in regard to the table," Heras said.

"He only thought about attacking."

Setien would get very angry if one of his players received a red card.

"Once he asked me what he could do with me and whether he should pay me the ticket to go back home," remembered Zeki.

Meanwhile, when someone played a long pass, Setien would get very annoyed.

"I saw it as a fast path towards the goal if I saw the winger being free on the other side, but he didn't agree," warns Santamaria.

Manuel Candelas also recalls his various arguments with the current Barcelona tactician.

"When my daughter was born, I called [Setien] at five in the morning to tell him that I wouldn't go to train the next day and he almost killed me," Candelas noted.

"He also argued because I was a supporter of the direct game: 'That is because I haven't explained football to you yet,' he would say."

Bittersweet experience in LaLiga Santander

The first LaLiga Santander team he coached was Las Palmas and David Garcia remembers Setien's first day at the office.

"On the first day he asked Tana who he was and then [Tana] was the one who played the most with him," Garcia stated.

"His arrival was a breath of fresh air.

"He hated the long balls and would leave nothing to chance.

"It didn't matter if we won by many goals, there was always something to improve."

Raul Lizoain recalls his former coach's last weeks at the helm of the team.

"In the end it was known that he was not going to continue and they were tough weeks," Lizoain said.

"There was some tension that now it would be better not to be made public, but we do remember funny moments with Viera, with whom he had the same character."

After Las Palmas, he moved to Real Betis where he showed off his philosophy both in Spain and across Europe.

"He gave an opportunity to young people and many went on to become starters," Pedro Lopez explained.

"He changed the style and involved us goalkeepers more, as if he were outfielders."