9 - Samuel Eto'o

[diegomessi]

According to Pep, he had a "feeling" that after the success of the treble year, it was time for a change. Because of the need for a change, Eto'o had to go, or so I've heard.

he wanted him to go before the treble year but etoo had an amazing pre season and changed pep's mind

 

[Birdy]

the last is a generalized statement, saying nothing actually.. There must be a reason why he choose Eto'o especially to leave...
@diegomessi
Has Eto'o shown 'ego' stuff on the locker room?
Cauze in the treble year twice (Real and United final) and during all the important games with Inter 09/10 he compromised for the teams sake and played as a high-workrate winger..

 

[diegomessi]

the last is a generalized statement, saying nothing actually.. There must be a reason why he choose Eto'o especially to leave...
@diegomessi
Has Eto'o shown 'ego' stuff on the locker room?
Cauze in the treble year twice (Real and United final) and during all the important games with Inter 09/10 he compromised for the teams sake and played as a high-workrate winger..

he wanted deco ronnie and etoo all out.. it was easy to get deco and ronnie out etoo however showed some fight.. it is just personality clashes really. The important thing is we continue to win titles and that is down to Pep's plans... even with the ibra disaster we managed to win the league

 

[Birdy]

he wanted deco ronnie and etoo all out.. it was easy to get deco and ronnie out etoo however showed some fight.. it is just personality clashes really. The important thing is we continue to win titles and that is down to Pep's plans... even with the ibra disaster we managed to win the league

i love Pep and i am not questioning his abilities for sure, but if he showed some fight or sparkle and he was a successful part of the most successful season in our history, what are the clues that we could not maintain the glory with him in the team??
i cannot find any..

 

[barcetia]

i love Pep and i am not questioning his abilities for sure, but if he showed some fight or sparkle and he was a successful part of the most successful season in our history, what are the clues that we could not maintain the glory with him in the team??
i cannot find any..

rewatch all matches from february -> may except for the CL final and you have your answer.

 

[Blaugrana dude]

i love Pep and i am not questioning his abilities for sure, but if he showed some fight or sparkle and he was a successful part of the most successful season in our history, what are the clues that we could not maintain the glory with him in the team??
i cannot find any..

As I stated above, it was a "feeling" of Pep that the team could do without Samu.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/07/n090720105985.html

Whether that was down to Eto's character, which Pep has officially denied, or the need for a change in the squad is speculative. Lets not forget that there was also supposed to be contractual issues in this saga. The reason for Pep's decision is probably the combination of all those factors.

 

[Deco 20]

Lets not forget that there was also supposed to be contractual issues in this saga.

I think that was the main reason, he was just 12 months away from becoming a free agent and wanted a deal which would've given him almost as much as Messi.

I personally think it's a shame he left, he's the best striker I've ever seen and definately the best Barca has had during this millenia.

He was also very close to Iniesta, I think

 

[Birdy]

As I stated above, it was a "feeling" of Pep that the team could do without Samu.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/07/n090720105985.html

this is crap! Pep just doing PR and avoiding to speak out the real reason.. No coach changes a major player because of a 'feeling'...

Maybe it is all that as you say, but somthing tells me as the time goes by, more and more that
there was something else in Eto'o case that never reached out to the public..
I hope Eto'o will tell after he retires..

@barcetia
forget about that.. This could not be the reason.. Even with Villa this year, we would not consider selling him for that reason.. This is for 'small' clubs..

 

[FCBarca]

i love Pep and i am not questioning his abilities for sure, but if he showed some fight or sparkle and he was a successful part of the most successful season in our history, what are the clues that we could not maintain the glory with him in the team??
i cannot find any..

Were you not around before Pep?...Were you absent during Samu & his agent's negotiating carousel in the summer of 2009?...The clear division between him & Pep for a good chunk of the season that was visible to anyone with a TV?...Samu played his role in his departure regardless of how it's been spun...Pep going with the 'feeling' angle was merely a way to not slam the player...He took one for the team just as he did with Ibra where he was being belittled with the 'philosopher' tag

Trust in Pep

 

[barcetia]

@barcetia
forget about that.. This could not be the reason.. Even with Villa this year, we would not consider selling him for that reason.. This is for 'small' clubs..

I'm questioning the fact whether you have watched Barca bar this season and the past? It was his golddiggerency and the fact that he didn't perform well for a long period of time. Also that he is known for a very dumb comment, saying that Barca is only his job and Mallorca has his heart.

The guy wanted to earn as much as Messi despite not being nearly as important as Messi to the team. Far better players were happy with half Messi's wage. So yeah, that's the reason.

Villa cannot be used as a counter-argument, how the hell can Pep see the future?

Pep kept Eto'o for one season. He won the treble.
Pep sold Eto'o, he almost won the double, only a wrongfully disallowed goal stopped him.
Pep sold Eto'os successor, he won the double.

Who are you to doubt him?

 

[Blaugrana dude]

The guy wanted to earn as much as Messi despite not being nearly as important as Messi to the team. Far better players were happy with half Messi's wage. So yeah, that's the reason.

My memory is fuzzy, but didn't they pay Ibra more than what Eto'o was asking? He might have been wrong to ask to be paid on a similar scale, but I find it equally wrong for the club to reject Eto'os demands yet grant his successor, who btw had not achieved anything with the club at that moment, more wages than what he was asking.

 

[barcetia]

My memory is fuzzy, but didn't they pay the striker that had carried Juventus, Ajax and Inter on his own shoulders for 8 years, winning the scudetto, with so much power and technique no big forward in the world could ever dream for. A player that was described as genius, magician and brilliant. A striker that would fit this team like a glove, and raise the level of performing with alotmore than what Eto'o was asking? He might have been wrong to ask to be paid on a similar scale, but I find it equally wrong for the club to reject Eto'os demands yet grant his successor, who btw had not achieved anything with the club at that moment, more wages than what he was asking.

Fixed it for you. But yes, you are correct.

My memory is fuzzy, but didn't they pay the striker that had carried Juventus, Ajax and Inter on his own shoulders for 8 years, winning the scudetto, with so much power and technique no big forward in the world could ever dream for. A player that was described as genius, magician and brilliant. A striker that would fit this team like a glove, and raise the level of performing with alotmore than what Eto'o was asking? He might have been wrong to ask to be paid on a similar scale, but I find it equally wrong for the club to reject Eto'os demands yet grant his successor, who btw had not achieved anything with the club at that moment, more wages than what he was asking.

Fixed it for you. But yes, you are correct.

 

[Blaugrana dude]

Fixed it for you. But yes, you are correct.


Fixed it for you. But yes, you are correct.

your right with Ibra's contributions for those clubs. But he did nothing for Barca at the time he was signed so i think its hard to justify the fact that the club paid the newcomer more than what a club legend was asking for. And all those things you described of Ibra, "a striker that would fit this team like a glove", well he only did that with Barca for like half a season. Anyways I don't want to bring up the old Eto'o vs Ibra thing again, so I'll just leave it at that.

 

[Catalonian Devil]

I'm questioning the fact whether you have watched Barca bar this season and the past? It was his golddiggerency and the fact that he didn't perform well for a long period of time. Also that he is known for a very dumb comment, saying that Barca is only his job and Mallorca has his heart.

The guy wanted to earn as much as Messi despite not being nearly as important as Messi to the team. Far better players were happy with half Messi's wage. So yeah, that's the reason.

Villa cannot be used as a counter-argument, how the hell can Pep see the future?

Pep kept Eto'o for one season. He won the treble.
Pep sold Eto'o, he almost won the double, only a wrongfully disallowed goal stopped him.
Pep sold Eto'os successor, he won the double.

Who are you to doubt him?

This bolded phrase pretty much hits it on the head.
The highlight for me was in the semifinal vs Chelsea at the Camp Nou. He had Henry WIDE open with an open goal but decided to go for glory and Cech made the save, a pass there would have made that tie a lot easier.

If you look back at his performances in the 2nd half of the treble season, it was quite obvious that his level was way below par. However, if you look closely into his performances, you will notice that it wasn't the fact that he was off form, or that he lost his pace, it was mainly his decision making. Its as if he refused to accept his role under Pep and insisted to do what he thought was his job. This unfortunately led to him uncharacteristically wasting several opportunities, in which he either arrived late, had a better man at a better position but chose to shoot, or simply was too anxious to grab his moment of glory. If you look at our team now you will notice that all our players do not have that mentality, Pep has made it a point to filter that kind of thinking out of our squad. Even Messi, can be rarely accused of costing us a game due to him taking too much control, Pep has somehow achieved a balance between bringing the best our of each player yet at the same time not having that best expand outside his responsibility on the pitch. Surprisingly even Ibra, who is mainly perceived as a golddigger himself, was rather very unselfish during his entire time at Barca and what caused his departure was something completely different. Often you see people comparing the departure of E'too and Ibra, and writing them off as the same case of egoistic personalities the Pep didn't want, but the reasons behind why each player left is completely different.

E'too caught Pep's attention with his hard work in the pre-season, and I believe Guardiola assumed that he could effectively get rid of the 'golddiggerish' mentality for good. However as the season went along, it became clear to E'too that Messi's Barca is not gonna be like Ronnie's, due to where each player plays and their respective roles Messi will have to eat into E'too's glory while Ronnie amplified it. Hence the noticable difference of approach to his game and the eventual realization of Pep that this wasn't gonna work.

 

[yusuf]

yea eto'o had an ego but god dam i still love his swag and he will remain a huge part of our history