FC Barcelona must be on top of the World, literally, that is from its
President down to the dressing room cleaner onto to the healthy
everyday street fan. What they have achieved in season 2008-2009
is simply amazing & in Spanish Football it is historical. Never before
has a Spanish team won the “Big 3” in one single season; the
Champions League Cup (European Cup), the Spanish League & the
Spanish Cup. They are currently placed by nearly everyone – media
& fan – as the “Best Team in the World” & all under the supervision
& guiding hand of first year Coach Josep Guardiola, which is in
itself an amazing achievement.
An important part of this success has been the coming together of
some exceptional Football players that have blended with each
other contributing with their youth, experience, their dedication &
professionalism towards the concept of the TEAM. Many players like
Pique, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Busquest – just to mention a few – have
exploded to bring forth all their natural talent onto the field & the
World stage. Others like Henry have reborn to find their magic at the
right time, along with Marquez, Toure, Pujol, etc. It has been like
the alignment of the planets that focused all the teams “solar force”
into one single aim: to conquer the Football World with the most
brilliant & effective Football play of the season.
One of these stars, or better said aligned planets, is called SAMUEL
ETO´O. SFS has been super critical with this player before & has
heavily criticised him here for his “out of tone words” & apparent
“egotistical” behaviour that at times strayed from the team
philosophy in the past. Last year SAMUEL ETO´O was told by the
then new Coach Guardiola that he was not wanted by the Club &
should find a way to leave along with Deco & Ronaldinho. Emotionally
upset - & hurt – Eto´o took the decision to continue onward & prove
everyone wrong. Sure, he did not find a suitable Club to go to, &
yes his economic pretensions were high, something he would later
prove to all of us why this is the case. With the decision taken to
continue on in a Club that didn’t wish that you were there, Eto´o
has matured finally at his 27 years of age into a excellent professional
Football team player.
The 2008 – 2009 season has seen the metamorphosis of Samuel Eto´o;
winning a permanent place in the team, becoming a vital piece of
the Barça machine, scoring an amazing 30 goals & putting in – again,
as in the 2006 final – the first & steering Champions League goal
against Manchester United in Rome to cement the Barça victory. The
often past outspoken & controversial Eto´o had finished the season
as a concentrated, quiet spoken & an influential team member that
was a pillar of the Barça “Big 3” success. His behaviour is admirable
& worth of praise from anyone who witnessed the personal
transformation of the player this last season.
With the euphoria settled & FC Barcelona back to work planning for
the new season, Coach Guardiola again announces to Club Directives
that he does not count on Samuel Eto´o for the new season, there
is no personal “feeling” & this in itself is not the way to prize the
player that helped put you & Barça back on the map & into the
Football “Olympus”. The Club Directives who now see their new
rookie coach as their “Sir Alex Fergusen” of the 21 st Century have
no personality of their own & only see this as the opportunity to
“cash in” on Eto´o before January 2010 & sell him at a “juicy” price,
thus not risking that the player finishes his contract on June 2010 with
the right to leave for free, that is, zero € for FC Barcelona. While the
player wishes to stay while at Cameroon with his national team, Eto´o
is without the chance to react & “defend” himself & the Club meets
with INTER MILAN to discuss the coming of a new Forward
– IBRAHIMOVIC - to put Eto´o on the negotiations table without
consulting the players views. The “Clubs moves” are so obvious &
unethical that President Laporta continues to say publicly that he would
love Eto´o to stay but the Club must study options & diverts the blame
to Eto´o by saying that his economic pretensions for a contract
extension & renewal are too high. Meanwhile under the same
breathe; Laporta & his team are talking with Ibrahimovic, Luca
Toni, Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero, etc. Is this the projected FC
Barcelona way? Is this the “rubbish marketing brainwashing message”
of “We Are One”, or even the cultural fabric & spiritual call of Barça
“More Than a Club”? Is this how Barça prize their players who
contribute to give them their glory?
No one here is naïve, neither SFS nor Eto´o who is a professional.
This is Football & this sport is about business, money & staying at the
top by which ever means necessary, this is all clear. But what it all
does signal is that the foundations on which the now “Great FC
Barcelona” & its “Grand Coach Guardiola” stand on are not so steady
as we were lead to believe & may soon have us see the beginnings
of the “wobbles” with the selling of Samuel Eto´o if it goes ahead.
Samuel Eto´o is a vital piece for the playing system of FC Barcelona,
a fighting & defending forward that when the dirty work is done
actually manages to bag lots of goals, & any decent Coach knows it.
He is a natural born leader with a strong character that on the field
drags others when they need to be lifted. Will Ibrahimovic do all
this? It is no secret that Ibrahimovic is not much of a team building
person & is on a mission; his mission. Will Diego Forlan be
comfortable defending as much as attacking? In a nutshell, who will
do all that Eto´o does for the team & score more than 15-20 goals
on average per season?
Coach Guardiola is showing us that he is definitely a man born &
raised in the Club. A man that eats, sleeps & shits FC Barcelona & its
culture, their “true” culture. Here will be their downfall, & the
beginning of a “humanizing” lesson that Football will teach the
“Rookie Coach”. You must do what you preach, act as you talk &
lead by example to keep the unit together from exploding into its
component pieces. The Clubs public insinuations that Samuel Eto´o
is not wanted & negotiations with INTER are humiliating & are no
way to threat a team member who put you into your glorious throne.
The Club if it is really true to all its slogans has to abide by them
& prove them via actions,with human actions that surpasses the
“win at all costs ethos”. This is the "stuff" that the great Clubs are
made off!
I now truly understand why Coach Guardiola enjoys so much the
song by Coldplay “Viva La Vida”. He should listen closely to the lyrics
& the message that the song transmits:
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sweep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!
"One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of sand, pillars of sand
Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos goes on record on the front cover of "Marca" to afirm: "We will win 3-0", while other team-mates say things similiar but not so direct. Lyon players arrive at Madrid that same morning & read this. They are naturally upset at the statements & feel Real Madrid should have some respect.
Match night - PJANIC scores in the 75th min. This goal eliminates Real Madrid from Champions. Earlier in the first half Higuaín ( "World star" the week before) hit the post (bad-luck) & missed a "sitter" that would have "killed off" Lyon in the 1º half possibly with a 3-0 scoreline. In the break Lyon Coach remembers players of the "Marca 3-0 cover", bravely makes a double substitution change to look for the needed goal seeing that Real Madrid are infact "ineffective" & wins the battle.
"CATASTROPHE" - the main message of all media & International press. More adjectives: Disaster, Galaxy turns into a Black Hole, Failure...
Speculation rises of the end of the road at Real Madrid for Coach Manuel Pellegrini. Tagged as docil, lacking in ideas, a Coach not up to the level, lacking in character, a coward...The rumour is that Real Madrid will keep Pellegrini until the end of this season ( League title still up for grabs) & then cease with his services
