Manolo Cadenas’ first year

Manolo Cadenas’ first year

This Manolo Cadenas’ first season in charge at Barça. After 12 years he left Ademar to work full time for Barcelona, and although he only won one minor title, the performances have been good.

Cadenas started the year on the right foot, winning the Pyrenees League and then beating Braga of Portugal to qualify for the Champions League. But the work got harder from then on, with four major titles to be chased: the Spanish Super Cup, the Asobal League, the Champions league and the Copa del Rey. Although he came close to winning all four, but won none, Cadenas felt it was an acceptable season and has promised to work harder this coming season to make sure the club wins trophies.

Pleased with team’s performances

Since day one, Manolo Cadenas made it clear to his players that 2007/08 was going to be a tough season, and this would be reflected in training. He made plans for two training sessions every day, and kept this up for the best part of the year. The team also had to compete in a number of different tournaments, which proved immensely tiring, but Cadenas made a point of working hard to get the best out of every player.

At the end of the season, the Barça manager thanked his players for responding to such tough demands and said he was happy with his side’s general performances.

A united squad

If there was anything Cadenas wanted, apart from titles, it was to generate a good dressing room atmosphere, and he got that. The whole team bonded through some of the most difficult moments of the season, such as the Champions League semi final against German side Kiel and the League final against Ciudad Real at the Quijote Arena. Such a work ethic and good atmosphere filled the manager with satisfaction, though at the end of the campaign he curiously said “perhaps we needed a few more arguments, a bit of spark might have given us that little push we needed in some games”.