What Is the Minimum Achievement for Luis Enrique at Barcelona This Season?

Luis Enrique is in a lose-lose situation. Unless he completes the unlikely feat of repeating Barcelona’s treble success, there will always be detractors.

“Barcelona aren’t as good as last year.” “It was the players, not the coach.” “Anyone could manage this team.”

Just an example of what will be said about the Asturian technician come the end of the season.

But positioning ourselves in the collective mind of the Barcelona board, what is the minimum the coach must achieve this season in order not to be sacked?

Simply put, he must win a trophy—although there are a few caveats.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Winning La Liga or the Champions League would be enough, regardless of other results. If Lucho took Barcelona to European glory once again, even if he finished third in La Liga, behind Real Madrid and Atletico, he would be retained.

Likewise, if Barcelona were sent crashing out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals but went on to win the domestic division for a second year running, the coach wouldn’t be axed.

He could also win the Copa del Rey and, provided performances in La Liga and the Champions League were still strong—say, second place and a semi-final defeat—then it would be hard for Josep Maria Bartomeu and Co. to wave goodbye to the man who brought them the treble last season.

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

It’s even possible for the manager to end up with nothing and keep his job, provided at a bare minimum they reached the Champions League semi-final, Copa del Rey final and finished a hair’s breadth behind the La Liga winners.

Normally that would not be enough for a Barcelona coach to stay. Others have departed for less.

However, Luis Enrique has a few factors in his favour—or, rather, against him at the moment, but which are reasonable excuses for failure.

The primary one is FIFA’s ban on the club registering players, which has left them unable to add to the squad that won the treble, despite some significant departures at the end of the previous season.

By losing Xavi Hernandez to Al-Sadd in Qatar and Pedro Rodriguez to Chelsea, Barcelona lost their 12^th and 13^th men.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Neither of those two players would be in the club’s strongest XI last season, but they were the next in line to join the team.

If, somehow, Barcelona managed to stay injury-free, then it wouldn’t have had a negative impact.

However, that is not the case. Most of Lucho’s first choices have been, at one point or another this season, injured or suspended.

Assuming the first choice XI is: Claudio Bravo, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, just three of those players have been available throughout the season.

Suarez, Rakitic and Busquets have managed to avoid injury or disciplinary woes, thus far.

Sergei Grits/Associated Press

Barcelona have signed Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal but are unable to register them until January, thanks to the FIFA sanction.

Between that and the slew of injuries, Luis Enrique can certainly make a case that he has not been able to put out his best Barcelona side yet.

Even after Arda and Vidal can play, they will need to get up to speed, and by then it might be too late for some of the other players, who may have run themselves into the ground.

Furthermore, the coach has asked to sign Celta Vigo’s Nolito, per Sport, but the club’s financial situation dictates that they must look for a cheaper option if they want to add extra firepower in January.

So the minimum achievement of winning a trophy has several get-out clauses, which Lucho can use in his favour if he needs to.

Given the form Neymar and Suarez are in, and the way Barcelona have kept pace with Madrid at the top of the table thus far, this might all be a moot point.