If it wasn’t for Florentino Perez and his early transfer window ‘shock and awe’ superstar shopping spree, a shopping spree which has seen the triple trophy winning exploits of Joan Laporta’s men at the Camp Nou quickly forgotten by anyone not from Catalunya, then what must be regarded as the summer’s most ludicrous deal to date would surely never have come to fruition.
Yes, Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona is ludicrous. More ludicrous than Lyon paying 24 million euros for the unproven Lisandro Lopez; more ludicrous than Benfica paying 7 million euros for the nowhere near good enough Javi Garcia; and far more ludicrous than Manchester City paying upwards of 30 million euros for the staggeringly overrated Emmanuel Adebayor. It is simply astounding.
It can’t have been easy for Laporta and Co. to watch on as Perez signed, in the space of a couple of weeks, not one, but two, dual FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or winners. If this wasn’t pain enough, they then had to deal with being beaten to the signature of a player they (and most of Europe) desperately wanted, one of the world’s most promising forwards in Karim Benzema.
But, to their credit, through it all they took the moral high ground. “We will not stretch the arm more than the sleeve,” Laporta told AS. “We will make the changes we have to make, but the players that are interesting to us, we must get them under reasonable conditions.”
So far, the Catalans have brought in three new Brazilians – a quality left back in Maxwell, plus two exciting youngsters in defender Henrique (back from a loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen) and striker Keirrison from Palmeiras. Each of these deals represents careful consideration of both the present needs and future vision of the club.
But whilst astute, these deals have hardly been headline grabbing. And Laporta knows it. He knows that, to refocus world football attention away from the Spanish capital, away from Florentino and his Galacticos, and back on his club, he needs a major signing. A massive signing. He needs his own Galactico.
That Galactico was supposed to be David Villa. The Valencia striker would have been perfect. He’s a genuine superstar and would fit in wonderfully as a direct replacement for the departing Eto’o. Plus, signing the man who Perez really wanted but couldn’t get would have been a major victory. A symbol of Barca’s continued domination of Madrid.
He made a great offer, 42 million euros plus Keirrison on loan, but it wasn’t “scandalous” enough for Manuel Llorente, and in the end, Valencia wouldn’t budge. Neither would Bayern Munich when it came to Franck Ribery. And as for poor old Diego Forlan, the reigning Pichichi winner and six million euro cheaper option than Villa, simply wasn’t a big enough name in the end.
And so, in desperation, Laporta has turned to Ibrahimovic, the man Perez passed on, the man willing to play anywhere as long as it wasn’t the San Siro, the man widely regarded as a Champions League flop, because this man represented the Barca chief’s last hope of signing anyone close to being a Galactico.
The ‘Ibracadabra’ deal, or the “100 million euro deal” according to Mourinho, the deal which sees Inter get a 25-30 goal per season striker in Samuel Eto’o, a player Barca beat them too last summer in Alexander Hleb and cash in the region of 50 million euros, is hardly ‘reasonable’. Frankly, it reeks of Laporta’s need to match Real Madrid, and in particular Florentino Perez, when it comes to big, headline stealing deals. His ego has got the better of him.
Perez may have paid enormous fees for Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo – but both players were needed to remedy serious squad deficiencies. In reality, Barcelona don’t need Zlatan. How will he make them a better team? He may possess impressive technical skills, but he certainly doesn’t stand out when compared to Xavi, Iniesta and Messi. Ditto for his skills in dead ball situations. At Inter he was a match winner, at Barca he’s just another player. The one thing you can say the Swede will bring with him is height – he will finally provide Pep’s team with an aerial option in attack. An expensive option.
What Barca need is an out and out goal scorer. An in the box predator. Eto’o but not Eto’o. Keirrison fits this description, but he’s not ready. ‘Ibra’ is not in this mould. He is closer to what Thierry Henry was when he arrived from Arsenal two seasons ago, and his first season was a disaster. The Barca style of football almost ruined him. With the amount of money Laporta is prepared to spend on ‘Ibra’, one has to wonder, why not Kun Aguero?
When Zlatan Ibrahimovic is presented at the Camp Nou next week, presumably in the number 9 shirt, he will no doubt make a speech thanking Joan Laporta, Barcelona and Internazionale Milano for making his ‘dream’ move a reality. There’s one more man the Swede shouldn’t forget to thank, a man who has had as big a say in his transfer has anyone – Florentino Perez.
You sound like a Real Madrid fan! Still stinging from that 6-2 mauling and the Barca treble? The fact is that while Perez throws money around like a drunken sailor in a brothel, Barca already have a world class team.
Ibhra divides opinion like no other player. His goalscoring stats are not very different to Eto’o, marginally inferior but then Eto’o is arguably just past his peak with Ibhra being younger. Perosnally I’d take Ibhra over Eto’o all day long.
And personally I (and most of the reat of the world) will be hoping that Barca stuff Real again next season.
Now that would be sweet!
Pure biased article! Absolute nothing is fair in this. U’re surely has some issuse with both Barca and Inter.
I am sure Zlatan is as good or even better than Xavi, Iniesta and Messi. Zlatan is no more big game flop than Cristiano Ronaldo, how many goals have Ronaldo scored for Portugal in this qualification campaign? Zlatan scores goals for fun in serie a, a league known for few goals. If you say Zlatan is a CL flop, then consider he is playing in a team that is not as good as Barca. Its easier to score goals in the best team in the world, than in a top 10-15 team. Thats the fact.
Laporta doesn’t need to sign a Galactico because Barcelona is at its best when it plays as a coherent unit and that was evident last season. Of course they can’t be complacent and rest on their laurels, but to follow suit and sign a big name for the sake of a big name is more on the lines of Gaspart than Laporta. And Ibrahimovic is a great sign (although not as headline grabbing). Eto’o’s loss is great, but if he wasn’t going to be focused due to the past events, then its best both parties went their ways. And yes, Elmerson is a Real Madrid fan which he has never attempted to hide just as I am a Barcelona fan. Always good to have both perspectives here.
Zlatan was the first option för Pep Gardiola and Laporta, but the first talks ended because of the price tag on Zlatan from Inter. They then turned to Villa for a cheaper deal, but when they found that it would come near the Ibra money they went back to their first name: Zlatan Ibrahimovic! He will reign in La Liga and in CL with Barca!
etoo’s departure is a great loss, and ibra is not a big enough player to fill the void left. however, i do agree with daniel chung – “barcelona is at its best when it plays as a coherent unit”. with so many top class players around him, he’ll do better than in inter.
for this guy wrote this article, he must be a real madrid fan and must have the credit of barca getting ibra. still sad about barcelone ur pathetic real madrid, please dont be dumb, as for wllmhll, i dont know ibra will did good, it is too early to tell. like you can see ronaldo playing aginist rovers in the preseason friendly but didnt shine even with big stars aroung it. so think beofore you say, stupid wllmhll
I think it was mentioned somewhere that Hleb’s move was actually part of the Maxwell transfer. Ibra is a good player ( at times) but I think hes just been a bit too costly for Barca.
You guys are delusional if you think Ibra is going to step into Eto’o’s enormous shoes and score 30 goals this season or next one. This move was foolish. Why trade a known superstar ,that’s at the top of his game, for basically an unknown quantity. It makes no sense.
Don’t mind these Barca lovers here, your article perfectly analyzes this transfer, which, as you say, purely amounts to an inferiority complex on the part of Barca. Obviously, their performance last season proves to everyone else that they are not inferior, but Barca still has to prove it to themselves for some reason.
Ibra sux. Soren andersoon you have been smoking to many drugs. Ronaldo playing for Portugal means nothing when Portugal has a crapy team to back him up. And Ronaldo playing in epl is way harder then ibra playing in Italy. Also xabi is hands down better then ibra, even overrated messi kills ibra. Mourinhos team makes out big time from this deal. Barcelona just shot themselves In the foot
Wait, your accusing Laporta of succumbing to ego after Perez’s spending spree? His whole philosohpy is “Galacticos” – the word reeks of ego-feeding, feel-good, one upmanship transfer dealing.
“…[Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo] were NEEDED to remedy serious squad deficiencies.”
Thats the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard all summer. A team with the likes of Robben, Van der Vaart, Guti, Diarra & Diarra, Sneijder and Gago in midfield with Raul, Van Nistelrooy, Huntelaar & Higuain up front needs more goalscoring threat?
Very poor article
This article sounds like a Real Madrid fan cries out loud when he realises CR7 is just a piece of crap and they should’ve bought Zlatan instead. Now they will lose el classico again with Kaka on the bench and CR7 wining like a baby on the field.
Well, i feel compelled to agree on it being a very poor article. If anything is more ludicrous, its certainly Perezs’ transfers. Real Madrid were first humiliated in their own ground before they were out of the picture last season, and now by bringing as many big names as they could is a desperate try to turn the table around.. but what a miserable comeback! While on the otherhand Barcelona made the transfers they had to in order to refresh the team and cover up the gaps they needed too, one year from now they’ll be celebrating yet another triple.
How can you call Lisandro Lopez, a star of last years champions leauge, unproven?
IBRAHIMOVIC IS ONE OF THE BEST TARGET MEN IN THE GAME BUT A TARGET MAN IS NOT WHAT BARCALONA NEED!!
THERE IS NO WAY GUARDIOLA IS JUST GOING TO ABANDON HIS PHILOSOPHYS AND START PLAYING THE LONG BALL UP TO THE BIG MAN, IT’S JUST NOT HIS, OR BARCA’S STYLE … ETO’O WAS PERFECT FOR THEM; A OUT-AND-OUT GOALSCORER WHO HAS THE SPEED 2 GET IN BEHIND THE POOR DEFENCES OF LA LIGA. ZLATAN JUST DOSEN’T FIT THE BILL, REGARDLESS OF HIS “BIG” NAME.
Poor article. You start with a number of factual errors and apply some very biased reasoning to come to a conclusion that suits you best. This is about as objective as FOX or MSNBC.
Your biggest problem is that you’re trying to use the Zlatan deal to justify your own team’s obscene spending spree. It is a ludicrous deal, but using it as an excuse to defend Real Madrid’s behaviour in the transfer market is a step too far. You have to bend over backwards to reach the conclusion you want and destroy any valid point you might have had in the process. In the end, your article just comes across as a bitter tirade from a fan who can’t handle the arch rivals of his team hogging the spotlight. Good for a fan blog, not so much for a general soccer site.
There’s gonna be a lot of people who will eat humble pie once they actually get to follow Ibra in a team with real potential.
By that tiem though, this lousy biased and ignorant article, much like the pundits who said he wouldn’t even cut it in Ajax – will be long forgotten.
Ibra on the other hand, will go down in history as the best target man in history, with a highlight reel that’ll put just about anyones (including Ronaldo’s) to shame.
If you wanna check an overpriced flop, remenber this name: Cissoko (Porto sold him for 15M to Lyon)!
Poor journalism.
barca have done a guilt by leaving ett’o they shouldn’t have done this they should have signed ibrahimovic for money not forett;o and helb
not a good article.Dont agree that ibra wont add a lot to the team
did u forget barca have numerous youth academy players in the squad.. so what they replaced etoo with ibra i think its brilliant and the official amount was 51 mill euro and etoo and hleb for ibra and maxwell so it looks quite a fair transfer… ibra leading scorer and assist for inter now his time for CL glory is here.. etoo goodluck at inter… u wont be getting any service ibra has xavi messi iniesta to provide
ps madrid keep trying to justify going hundered millions in debt to try to compete with the tricampions Barça
I disagree with you Umar, simply because you can’t have Eto’o and Ibra together. That would have meant one of them having to sit in the substitution bench, and thats not a place for either of them. So Barcelona did a clever job, unlike Real Madrid who signed three players without selling others as the like of Van Nistle Roy, Rubben, Huntler, one of the Diara’s… Its going to be a very hard choice for Pellegrini, not only picking the players but also setting them to play as one unit. Its promises to be a wonderful season, but certainly at the end of the day all the appluad and trophies will go to the favorites Barcelona, not because im one of their fans but because they have proven to play the best football ever.
wow – barca fans certainly out number madrid fans on soccerlens, don’t they? I just don’t that Barca fans should criticise Perez’ spending when their club is just the same. Take Hleb out of the Ibra deal, and price Eto’o at a conservative 25 mill and it’s STILL a 75 million euro deal – more than Kaka! That’s a Galactico deal. So was them paying 35-40 mill (with bonuses)for Dani Alves. He’s more expensive than Benzema. People only get angry because the man doing the buying in Madrid is Florentino Perez. If it was Calderon, no one would care.
Still, great for La Liga at the end of the day.
I’m fairly sure they chose Ibra over Kun because Ibra is over 4 feet tall and isn’t demanding 200k per week.
Then, there’s the fact that he’s an out and out scorer with more weaponry than any other on the planet.
He’s dual footed, more technically skilled than eto’o, and plays in a style that will incorporate Messi and Henry to a far greater extent than Eto’o could with his tunnel vision towards goal.
You shouldn’t be writing about football if you don’t realise this.
Last year, when people had completely disregarded Barca I said that they would win everything. This year they’ll be even better. And the only way to improve a squad like that is to sign the best players in the world… Ibra is a better CF than Benzema or Villa or Adebayor or Eto’o or anyone else.
He might have been poor in the CL so far, but he’s played for a team with no other real attacking threats, so opposition defenses have just triple marked him at the cost of leaving others open.
Lets see them try that with Messi and Henry ripping up the flanks.
typical soccerlens shit. you got your website hit. good for you. i wonder if there will be a crow eating post when they kick the shit out of everyone they play this year.
I think that Perez’s failed “Galacticos” project in his first term as president is the reason that many of us view this second attempt with nothing but contempt. To first of all coin the term galacticos smacks of arrogance because it suggests that other players don’t measure up to his stars (in other words that other players aren’t in the same universe so to speak). But we’ve seen the abject failure of galacticos coming to Madrid and at most win one trophy each season… you had Figo in 2000-01 contribute only to the league… and then Zidane helped win the Champions’ League in 2001-02 but failed in the league to Valencia…. and then Ronaldo could only contribute to a league win in 2002-03 and that was the end of the galacticos era. Yet Barcelona has won all three titles with a blend of youth, experience, foreign and domestic (i.e. straight from Catalunya). Yes, Barcelona spends money that may numerically match Perez… but it’s not done in this way of announcing a new “star” or a collection of stars the way Real Madrid is again trying.
The point is – Barca don’t need Ibra. They have just won the treble, so why reinforce with a, just confirmed, 66 million euro purchase (43.25 mill in cash and Eto’o), that will hardly make your team better? It makes no sense, unless the reason is to generate cash from shirt sales or prove to everyone that you are a big club too and you’re wallet is just as fat as your bitterest rivals.
Long time since I laughed this much after reading an article…
Dude, what are you smoking, or (as others said, are you simply a sour Madrid fan)?
Yes, Zlatan was expensive, but what you don’t seam to realise is that he is like a combination of Eto’o and Ronaldinho. Unless you are completely Madrid blind you will realise this quicker than is good for your health.
Eto’o hat to go, hes Ego’o got far to big for a club like Barcelona. Barca is unique and if it is one thing I am sure of, it is that Zlatan knows this 110%. I am sure he has talked with his pal Henrik Larsson about this whole transfer and if there is one football player in the world he listen to it is Larsson.
Regarding RM, they have now, yet again, bought a bunch of superdivas (some call the superstars) and we all know what happened last time…
big mistake on Barca’s part, anyway we shall see.
elmerson – barca NEED ibra.
the only sore point about the last season for my beloved was the chelsea match – where the blues were able to park a bus successfully. This does not mean other teams did not park their trains, but chelsea did it in the most professional(?) and a world-class way. We did not have a pile-driver shooter, a header-supreme in the team to beat those barrage of blue bodies. Now we have them. In one person. PERIOD. If additionally, we are getting a galactico image and increased revenue from our shirt sales, are we going to say NO? We are not that stupid. We see our NEEDS, make our calculations and then open our mouth. Not the other way! End of the day, we got Ibra + Maxwell – dressing room problems = 50m cash. Makes sense to you? I doubt!
ibra and eto are phenomenal players, but between the two ibra is much more complete. the stats between the two say that eto is marginally a better goalscorer then ibra, so eto is better, NOT THE CASE!!!! ibra plays for a team that has little to no creative players, and in a league that prides itself on defense. eto on the other hand has one of the most creative and talented midfield supplying him. with henry, xavi, messi, iniesta, dani alves and eto spear heading the attack and the focal point of every move, he can only ‘marginally’ score a few more goals than ibra? ibra can create like no other, while eto being a great goalscorer, he is no ibra. ibra is a genius like no other on the planet.
@Elmerson: “wow – barca fans certainly out number madrid fans on soccerlens, don’t they?”
Well no! Most of the people commenting on here are not Barca fans at all. What you have is fans who respect what Barca have done and have nothing but contempt for Real and their pathetic system. Everyone will be gunning for them this season.
As for:
“It makes no sense, unless the reason is to generate cash from shirt sales or prove to everyone that you are a big club too and you’re wallet is just as fat as your bitterest rivals.”
They’re a hell of a bigger club than Real right now. “Bitterest” is the key woord here….how bitter are Real after last season?
The public have spoken!
and the public have bought into barcelona’s hype
@elmerson you have to realise that if you say that Ibra is a bad player, you’ll get a strong reaction (both for and against). And if you say that Barca are galactico-hungry, something that the public will never believe because they too have bought into barcelona’s hype – then you’re going to get a backlash and get branded as a madrid apologist.
Ibra is a massive investment by Barca, for sure. He’s no galactico though, and if Guardiola can get the best out of Ibra on the big stage then Barca have arguably strengthened well.
Samuel Eto’o’s contract was going to expire at the end of the coming season. Since the beginning of the last campaign there were many questions as to whether he would fit into Pep Guardiola’s plans and ultimately stayed in the squad, and in hindsight, was pivotal in the treble campaign (not just because he scored in the final although who can take that away from Eto’o?). But with a contract winding down and the financial point of view in losing Eto’o on a free transfer, why take that risk when the club can use to its advantage (1) Eto’o’s desire to leave the club, (2) Eto’o’s stock value and (3) the opportunity to acquire a new signing such as Ibrahimovich? That approach is hardly the “let’s sign someone big to make money off shirt sales, gate receipts, TV contracts” approach that Florentino Perez utilizes each time he becomes president. Of course Perez has sporting ambitions. And to be honest, it’s only because Barça won all three trophies in the stellar manner that they did that Perez comes back as president in the “knight in shining armor” mode so perhaps your article should be entitled “Perez should thank Guardiola for Real Madrid Presidency.”
Is Ibrahimovich the greatest player in the world? I don’t think so. He’s certainly up there talent wise. But if you have a void filled in by Eto’o, you’re not doing your job if you don’t attempt to fill it. In this case, having Ibrahimovich is more of a plus than a disadvantage.
yes, the public have spoken, and its been tremendous. A heap of fun.
For the record, this was never about Ibra not being a good player – he’s a very good player. It is just my opinion that if it hadn’t been for Perez, he wouldn’t be at the Camp Nou right now.
I can’t wait for the first El Classico – and I must admit, I’ve had fantasies of an EL Classico UCL final this season at the Bernabeu as well. That would be brilliant.
Elmerson
well written article although i do not agree… you said why does barca need ibra bc they just won the treble…well you answered your own question there,, they need him and other new signings bc after winning the treble you much restore some hunger and freshness in the team or 2006-2007 barca will happen again…. bringing in ibra and maxwell and a couple other players keeps everyone fighting for there spots on the field wish makes everyone improve… and etoo was not worth alot of money bc his contract was about to epire and he would leave for free… also laporta critized perez bc he was buying up players when he alrady had payers capable, Barca are replacing a player that was leaving in the buying of ibra.
Elmerson: Due to the success of Barca this year, anyone who does not follow La Liga will always support Barca as their second team. Ahmed Bilal’s realistic perspective impresses me, but unfortunately the rest of the Soccerlens community blindly buys into Barca’s hype and the notion of its moral superiority. For the time being, the media has persuaded the general public that Madrid are the bad guys and that Barca are the good guys. Most of the people here would be unwilling to accept any evidence of Barca’s fallibility without spewing hate and completely unfounded accusations. These people would not label themselves as Barca fans, but they buy into the media’s biases, and currently the media is pro-Barca. Once again, excellent article but I would warn you that your critics are not to be reasoned with. Instead of countering your argument in a logical manner, they self-indulge their prejudices by struggling to assure themselves of Barca’s adequacy and merely echoing the words of Mr. Laporta, who happens to be much more of an idiot than Perez, who is at least a bood businessman. If it is Madrid that is seeking credit for Barca’s uncunning capture of Ibra, then why is it so hard to find an interview of a Barca representative in which they do not compare their organization to Real Madrid? Until Catalonia gains their independence, you will continue to see evidence of this pathetic inferiority complex on the part of Barca’s fans and staff. The only people associated with Barca that are not afraid of Madrid are the players, for whom I have very much respect. The funny thing about Man U fans is that they are always complaining about ABU’s when most of them are ABM’s!
@ Ruud van Nistelrooy
Pure comedy and typical references to Catalan independence blah blah blah. Laporta is more an idiot than Perez? That’s why under Laporta’s presidency we’ve seen three league titles and two Champions’ League titles compared to the solitary Champions’ League title and two league titles under Perez’s first Galactico administration. You are in no position to be talking about biases….
I’m all for Real Madrid’s perspective to be aired on this website. I think we need it. But to play the victim and say that the media is pointing fingers at Real Madrid and portraying them as the bad guys is nothing but laughable considering that a fan of a club who have historically manipulated results and played the image game as Spain’s team is making these allegations.
barca play so beautiful and that is all
@Ruud: Utter rubbish…and patronising rubbish at that!
The footballing community on here actually WATCH football themselves and form their own opinions. So we all buy into the media hype do we? Bollocks!
Barca won the treble in style and while I (and most of the posters on here) am (are) no Barca fan(s) I (they) respect that achievement and the style in which it was achieved. I also respect the way they handle themselves as a club and the fact they have brought so many pplayers thru the ranks. I would want (and did want) the same respect for my own club achieving the same.
And nobody thinks that Barca are morally superior…only that Real are morally inferior. There’s a difference.
As I said, the public have spoken and we don’t appreciate your condescending crap. Live with it..hopefully with regrets!
The Barca fans/ Barca sympathizers on here are idiots.
Now that I have your attention, I think the main point of the article is that Laporta has heavily criticized Madrid for spending so much this off season, then hypocritically turns around and over spends on Ibra. All you Barca supporters can all stop living in your dream worlds where your always right and stop justifying this lob sided trade, because its crystal clear that its was. But honestly, I don’t care to argue about why the trade occurred, or Laportas irony. I want to prove that, despite Zlatan being great, Sammy’s better (but I hate them both).
For the guy that said Eto’o is a “marginally” better striker, your on drugs, because Eto’o has scored loads more goals than Ibra. And for the people that say Ibras better than Villa, your all uneducated, biased buffoons! Villa has a much higher scoring pedigree than Ibra, he’s lethal on dead ball opportunities, can cross as good as anyone, and doesn’t envy anyone when it comes to one on one opportunities, plus, despite his hight, he can head the ball too! Look at Ibras goals and assists over the last few seasons, he’s only “marginally” great. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that he’s one of the top footballers in the world, but he isn’t legendary. I’ve been following Diego Milito since his Zaragoza days, and he impresses me more than Ibra, this guy plays for smaller teams and still finds his way to the top of the scoring charts. No wonder Mourinho is so pleased, he got rid of his highest paid player, and replaced him with two better strikers (its true, before you Barca whiners post your ignorant reply to this, compare the three and see who’s scored the least amount of goals)!
Now I suppose you Ibra lovers are going to call me stupid and tell me about his magnificent ball skills as if I’ve never seen the guy before. Well, as good as they may be, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, and Henry are better. Don’t even argue that point cus if you do, your just wrong. It doesn’t matter how pretty you can score goals, if someone else can score more ugly ones! The fact is Eto’o is a natural striker, that has a proven record of scoring more than Ibra. So my point here is, why do Barca need another ball handler when they already have so many options? It seems natural that with so many play makers that they have at least one true target man with speed and a masterful sense of position. Barca’s success and Eto’o’s goals go hand in hand, so don’t tell me Eto’o is old and not as good as before. I think his 34 goals last season played a major role in his teams “triplete”. He is clearly a player that is still at the top of his game, and isn’t losing pace. The article makes a relevant point when it states that Barca rushed into this trade and acquired a player that isn’t an improvement on what they already have.
I also saw people talking about egos and personalities ( from what I understand, Eto’o and Ibra are both divas) but I don’t care about that, I care about results on the field. If there were no discrepancies in the length of their contracts, hands down, the only logical valuation is that Eto’o is better. Now, for some reason all you Barca clowns seem to have crystal balls that see into the future, and you have witnessed Ibra becoming the greatest player of all the ages… Your all clown shoes! The only way to objectively and fairly predict future success is by analyzing past results. I reiterate, Eto’o has consistently, and emphatically proven to be better.
It is also crystal clear that all you angry Barca fans are eternally trying to better Madrid. Don’t you ever get annoyed of constantly carrying your measuring stick, only to be reminded that Madrid’s cock is bigger than yours! Stop acting as though your 6-2 victory last season means anything anymore. In the past, Madrid crushed Barca 5-0, 8-1, and even 11-1! But that was in the past, and both teams are still here. Or is it because of the past that Barca fans have such a twisted Napoleon complex? You all know you will never amount to what Madrid has accomplished: the most league titles, the most european cups, larger revenue year after year, and FIFA’s team of the century!
Barcelona is truly a great team, I know this. They play beautiful, effective football. It brings me joy to see the Cules succeed because I know a truly great team deserves a truly great rival. I also know that no matter how successful Barca is, they will never match Madrids greatness.
@ The Soccer Snob
Without agreeing or disagreeing to whatever point you are trying to make I think you are an IDIOT. No one’s opinion here is absolute. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion so calling one club sympathizers idiots just makes an idiot out of you regardless of what you say.
Etoo is very good and scored many goals but he also missed many. Barca I think just wanted a change to continue winning. With Barca style of play, any good center forward will score many goals.