Jul
18
2008

Will Barca Miss Ronaldinho and Eto’o?

Written by Oliver Fowler

When Ronaldinho finally left FC Barca it was a sad day. For a brief time he was the king of football and quite possibly the greatest player to have worn the famous ‘blaugrana’ stripes. He was a lovely person with it; his personality balanced perfectly with his status.

Samuel Eto’o too was an astonishing player for the club. His goal rate was superb, always scoring at crucial times. Compare when he scores his goals against other strikers with a high rate. They were nearly always the first goal of the game, the equaliser, or the winner. Samuel is aggressively competitive. Again, like Ronaldinho, he has a great personality despite what backbiters may have you believe.

That neither will be playing in the Camp Nou next season feels wrong. Surely their exit should have been meant more? The truth is the exact opposite. It seems that many people are glad that they are leaving. ‘Lazy, disinterested and finished’ are words I have heard over the past few days.

True, they have both performed below their best, but is that a reason to sell them off? I don’t believe it is. Players of this caliber thrive on challenges. If anything they were both guilty of their success. It is a surprise the now-departed team management weren’t on top of this after the European Cup win against Arsenal.

It is too easy to blame the players. Part of managing a team is motivating players; Barca’s old bench demonstrably failed in this task. If a player can’t motivate himself to play for Barcelona, especially a player in Ronaldinho’s class, when can he?

Hopefully the club will be able to replicate the success they enjoyed when these two great players were at their best. If they can’t, then this summer may well be their defining moment. Players like Ronaldinho and Eto’o are literally ones in a billion. There is talk that Berbatov will be brought in as a replacement, and whilst he is a superb player it is incredibly doubtful that he is of the same class as the two men who defined a new era in FC Barcelona’s history.

Oliver Fowler (on the left), Ronaldinho, and Samuel Eto'o

(the ugly git on the left is me!)

Oliver Fowler is the brains behind Next Soccer Star, set up to offer an opportunity for the next stars of football to showcase their skills and to offer the very best a road into the professional game and possible megastardom.


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Discussion - 7 Responses

  1. it is sad to see two great player leave after all the cups that they have given to the club just because there not doing well now, that is not honorable, that just like a man at work earns the company 2 million dollars (referring to the back to back titles they won barca) and then the company due to a bad deal, they fire them!!!, i can say this “BARCA WILL NEVER BE THE SAME” and that is coming from a 100 percent real madrid fan, thats like us just kickin raul out if we dont win the next league title. Ronaldinho, will be missed in the spanish liga will miss him.

  2. Maybe the best Barcelona player ever to pull on the shirt? Considering Cruyff and Maradona both played for Barcelona, I find that a little hard to take in.

  3. He did say ‘for a brief time’ …

    It’s sad to see press and politics ruin things for two very talented footballers. Hopefully Ronaldinho will revive his career and so will Eto’o.

  4. am sorry for barca,because a failed in just one season is not a enought reason that they should be sold.they will have been given a second chance knowing that there is no harm in trial.they should pray hard that they dont meet in any match against these because by then they mighty have come up and will make barca go throught hell.pray hard.garudiola be might full of what u are doing.do the right and not the wroung.barca fan ernesty

  5. Ronaldinho was on the way to being in the same league as Cruyff and Maradona - there is no doubt about that. Hopefully AC Milan will give him the spark back.

  6. When Eto’o is healthy and in the right frame of mind, there are few better strikers out there. Even though he missed a lot of time due to injury last season, he averaged nearly a goal a game and still hit the 20-goal mark. I’d love to have him in my team anyday, because I know he’s going to produce on a regular basis.

  7. July 30, 2008 Mr. Vibesta

    Give Eto half-a-chance, and you’ll regret b’cos he knows his job, i believe he’s one of the best God has given us,,,,,,
    Ronny is a special person to me, i’m very passionate about him, skillfull, unselfish, thoughtful, gentle and charismatic.
    Both have given Barca a sense of aggressive winning streak that made BARCA belief they must always win, i wonder what the big clubs in the premiership should do b’cos they don’t win titles, or what a father should do b’cos his son /daughter failed to be first position in exams always.

    I’ve always been a Barca fan but this management decision is making me very unhappy. The joy of foootball is you win some and you loose a few. I hope this season favours Barca but WE need to learn a lot about win/loose situation.

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