Gerardo Martino
Gerardo
Martino and Luis Enrique are both suitable candidates to succeed Tito
Vilanova as Barcelona coach as their philosophies chime well with the
team’s playing style, captain Carles Puyol said on Monday.
Martino, 50, who recently led Newell’s
Old Boys to the “Final” title in his native Argentina, and the
43-year-old Luis Enrique, a former Spain and Barca player who joined
Celta Vigo last month, have emerged in local media as the front runners
for the coveted post.
Vilanova, 44, was forced to step down
at the La Liga champions last week as his treatment for throat cancer
means he will be unable to perform his duties.
Puyol told a post-training news
conference he was sure sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta and the
club’s board would hire a coach able to adapt to Barca’s
possession-based ethic.
“We know about his career, he is a very good coach,” the shaggy-haired centre back said of Martino.
“He likes Barcelona’s playing style,” he
said, adding that he remembered Spain’s quarter-final against Martino’s
Paraguay at the 2010 World Cup, which they edged 1-0, as “a very
difficult, very hard game”.
On Luis Enrique, who may be a more
controversial choice given that he also had a stint playing for Barca’s
arch rivals Real Madrid, Puyol said, “Everyone knows that I have a very
good relationship with Luis.
“I think he has what it takes but that’s the same for the other candidates who have been mentioned.
“I don’t know who will come…we are ready to help whoever comes in any way we can.”
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