LONDON – Embattled Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde is being treated unfairly by the Spanish media during the club’s winless run of three La Liga games, says Inaki Williams, who played under him at Athletic Bilbao.
Barca, who were in Champions League action against Tottenham Hotspur last night, lead the La Liga standings alongside Real Madrid with 14 points but Valverde has been criticised following a 2-2 draw with Girona, a 2-1 defeat to Leganes and a 1-1 draw with former club Athletic on Saturday.
Spanish newspaper Marca ran an article after the draw with Athletic declaring: “Valverde, just go now.”
Ernesto Valverde reacts sidelines during last night's match. Photo: Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
Athletic forward Williams, however, said Valverde, who won a double of La Liga and the Copa del Rey in his debut season with Barca and lost only one league game, deserved more respect.
“We know how it is here - when everything goes well there’s nothing to say but when you lose or draw a couple of games it is a drama and everything is bad. That’s not right,” said Williams.