Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta hailed new manager Gerardo Martino as the ‘ideal coach’ for the reigning Spanish champions, reports Soccernet.
Argentine Martino joins the Catalan giants after Tito Vilanova announced he was stepping down from the position to continue his battle with throat cancer.Despite enjoying much success in South America and with the Paraguay international team, Martino has never coached in Europe before, only spending a short-spell with Spanish side Tenerife as a player in 1991.
But Iniesta believes that the club have made the right decision to bring the 50-year-old to the Nou Camp.
‘Whatever the club decide is the best for Barca,’ Iniesta told Marca. ‘I think he will fit in with our model.
‘If the club have decided on him, then he’s the ideal coach for us.’
In South America, Martino led Newell’s Old Boys to last season’s Argentinian Clausura title, while he also triumphed at Club Libertad and Cerro Porteno in Paraguay.
But Martino is perhaps best known on a global level as the man who guided Paraguay to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup, where they were knocked out by eventual champions Spain.
‘It’s a good decision,’ Iniesta continued. ‘I know him from the match in the World Cup in South Africa. He seems a good coach.
‘The club wouldn’t have gone for a coach who doesn’t fit in as they have clear ideas about that they want.
‘Every season we have to have high hopes of winning titles.’
-With New Age input