Asked about the succession of former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard, former Barcelona sports vice president Marc Ingla, who left the club in july (read more here), has said in an interview with Catalan radio station Catalunya Ràdio that José Mourinho and Johan Cruijff were both seen as candidates to become the new manager:"In November 2007, Txiki and I came to the conclusion that the team needed a change. The coach and several key players had to leave. Losing against Madrid in December made us accelerate things.
We met in Lisbon with Mourinho. We looked at the option, among other things beause he really wanted to coach Barcelona. Mourinho is a phenomenon and would have been a great coach for Barça. But the option of Guardiola was always the one we worked on with the most firmness. In the first meeting I had with him, he convinced me that he was the best candidate.
Laporta also proposed to appoint Cruijff. As an idea it was good, but I just didn't see it happen. It was an option but if the players aren't doing their job, you won't change that, even when you put the best coach. The Maestro, like we used to call Cruijff, is comfortable giving advice from the outside and offering him the bench would have a been a poisoned candy for him."
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Meeting with Mourinho
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