FC BARCELONA
Rafa Márquez dubbed as ‘vulture’ by Spanish media
Many Spanish outlets that the Mexican’s comments were inappropriate after Xavi confirmed he was stepping down as Barça coach at the end of the season.
Xavi Hernández surprised many on Saturday night when the coach confirmed that he plans to step down as Barcelona boss at the end of the season, the Blaugrana now need to have a replacement ready to go on 1 July - assuming that the current head coach sees out the rest of the campaign as he intends to.
One of the immediate obvious candidates was former Barça player and now coach of the B team, Mexican Rafa Márquez. The 44-year-old spoke to the media after his team’s 1-2 win away at Fuenlabrada on Saturday night and was asked about the possibility of replacing Xavi. He replied with: “coaching the FC Barcelona first team an opportunity that you cannot say no to.”
These words did not go down well with the club’s board, describing it as an inappropriate and a clumsy gesture according to Catalan sports daily Sport. Online portal El Confidencial considered it a better option to offer Xavi the final months to see out the season rather than pass the task over to ‘vulture-like Rafa Márquez vulture” they claimed.
Ulises Sánchez-Flor also added that he feels that Márquez is not ready to make the step-up to the first team and that Mexican’s results with the B team are nothing spectacular.
Rafael Márquez’s numbers at Barca Atlétic
The Mexican ‘Kaiser’ took charge of the B’ team who play in the third tier 1A RFEF in the summer of 2022 and he has overseen a total of 70 games, which have ended with 32 wins, 20 draws and 18 losses. The team currently sit in sixth place, one spot outside a place in the end of season playoffs.