Opinion Safe yet unspectacular

When will Valverde finish at Barcelona?

Valverde: I want to make Barcelona even greater than it already is

If Barcelona had planned to retain an element of surprise to the appointment of their new coach, they were robbed of it by the preceding announcement that Ernesto Valverde was to leave Athletic Club. Indeed, Spanish football's worst kept secret could hardly even be called a secret at that point, with Valverde's arrival at Camp Nou finally confirmed on Monday.

The frontrunner for the job since Luis Enrique's announcement that he would be leaving in March, Valverde returns to the club he spent two years at between 1988 and 1990. Valverde compared his return to Athletic Club as coach in 2013 to the Godfather 2, one of the best film sequels ever made, and so it proved, with the former striker enjoying four successful years in the Basque country.

Valverde doesn't quite boast the same standing at Barcelona, but his return to the Camp Nou matters all the more to a club that values its bloodline so highly. This could be his Godfather 3.

But is Valverde the right man for the job? He certainly fulfils plenty of the necessary credentials, but is a coach who has only ever won three Greek league titles, a Greek cup and a Supercopa de Espana really qualified to take the self-proclaimed greatest club in world football back to the very top?

He might find one of the best squads in European football at his disposal upon taking over at Camp Nou, but make no mistake, the job on his hands is a big one. Barcelona are a team without an identity, which is somewhat jarring given how they set the zeitgeist for a generation based on the strength of their identity.

Under Enrique, the essence of what it means to be Barcelona was eroded. Initially, the decision to turn the Catalans into a more direct outfit paid off, winning the Champions League in his first season at the club, but over time that started to have a detrimental effect, culminating in the generally dismal 2016/17 campaign. Barcelona are no longer recognisable as Barcelona.

That's why so many tipped Jorge Sampaoli as Enrique's successor. The Chilean would have brought a certain intensity to the Camp Nou that has gone missing in recent years, invigorating Barca in the same way he did at Sevilla this season. Of course, the Andalusians' title challenge fell apart rather spectacularly after Christmas, but what might he have achieved with a better, deeper squad?

Instead, Barcelona decided to stay the course. The Blaugrana might not have opted for the purest option of continuity, passing over assistant coach Juan Carlos Unzue for the job, but stylistically, Valverde's appointment represents a continued progression rather than a clean break and a fresh start. That's not what the Catalans need right now.

This generation of Barcelona players - the greatest generation in the club's history - is starting to reach its natural end. Xavi Hernandez and Dani Alves are gone, with Andres Iniesta well into the twilight of his career.

Even Sergio Busquets is fast approaching his 30th birthday, and so a new plan is needed for the future. There's only so much more that can be eked from his generation. There's only so much farther Lionel Messi can carry them.

This isn't to say Valverde can't and won't be a success as Barcelona boss. He earned his stripes as one of the Spanish game's best young coaches at Athletic Club, playing a style of football that fits with the principles and values of Barcelona as a club. He is unlikely to be fazed upon walking into the dressing room for the first time either.

"His greatest strength is his management of the dressing room," Manchester United midfielder Andre Herrera explains, underlining why he rates his former coach so highly. "He's a top coach in that sense: honest, direct, transparent. It's not easy to find a situation where starters and subs are both with the manager to the death."

This is perhaps Valverde's best quality - players fight for him. That won't be enough to make him a success at the Camp Nou, though. Barcelona coaches face questions of identity as part of the job. In that sense, Valverde must prove he can offer something different, even if he has been hired to provide more of the same.