Madrid sports tabloid Marca claims that Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola has decided that Barcelona forward and Cameroonian international Samuel Eto'o (27) will stay at the club this summer.
Guardiola has already informed the Barcelona board about his decision and, if nothing unexpected happens in the coming days, the decision will be publicly announced soon after the team has returned to Barcelona after their tour in the United Stated.
Guardiola would have been impressed by the behaviour of Eto'o during the start of the pre-season, which has been exemplary both on and off the pitch. This plus the lack of top cente forwards available on the market has lead to Guardiola changing his initial stand of not counting on the Cameroonian striker.
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Board seems to back Eto'o continuation
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Board seems to back Eto'o continuation
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20 comments:
fantasic news
He can do what ever he likes who cares. That will not change the fact that Eto'o is a fantastic player.He can join any club even at the last minute.
best news ever...
This is alright. So now Barca don't need to buy another Centre forward. And now Barca should aim for Silva. Get him and we're done.
Lack of managerial experience started to show its ugly face earlier than expected...
Good news! Now ship off Henry.
this is the news i've been waiting for since he announced that ron, deco and eto'o were not in his plans... hopefully this is reliable... well now get silva(or even better arshavin but that seems very unlikely) and let the season begin! visca el barca
Finally Guardiola has come to his senses.
Eto'O fits perfectly into the Barcelona game and is a better finisher than Drogba, Adebayor, Berbatov, Gomes and not to mention that clown Pavlucenko.
Pep, it would be interesting to c ur take on Guardiola's decision...
First, some of the Guardiola haters need to look at what he's done forthis team in his short time in charge. Granted, the opposition has not been outstanding, but he has this team playing as a single unit, not as a group of individuals (unlike last year). Further, the players are hustling and constantly putting pressure on the other teams. Remember how many times the team seemed to be lazily going through the motions last year? Bottom line, I'm already impressed, and that comes from someone who was skeptical when they first named Guardiola as coach (I was afraid it was just an attempt to please angry fans by naming a former popular player).
Now, to Eto'o. I, too, hope this story is true, but let's not be so quick to jump on Guardiola's case...I think he is more shrewd than some of you are giving him credit for. Bottom line, Eto'o was trouble in the locker room and he was not happy with life at Camp Nou at the end of last season. Guardiola may have been issuing him a challenge in a way when he declared him surplus. At that point, Eto'o had two choices...sulk, get angry, and give up on making it at Barca. Or, he could suck it up, work his ass off, keep his mouth shut, and show Guardiola that he was a valuable player who still has something to offer. Fortunately, he chose to do the latter, and I think Guardiola's declaration may have played a big part in motivating Eto'o to work as hard as he has to prove Guardiola wrong. Bottom line, the team looks great and is working very hard, and one of the best strikers in the world is back in form and appears to be staying with the team. I don't know about you guys, but I'm a happy Barca fan.
FCB-Fitz Read ,Understand, Then possibly u can have more common sense regarding what we really mean...and as u say "bottom of line" hehe
oh by the way...it was a nice fantacy tale the one u narrated:)
Don't kid yourselves. If Arsenal were willing to talk realistically about Adebayor, or even Chelsea about Drogba, Eto'o would be riding the pines, waiting for the highest bidder. All this talk about new attitude and productivity (as if he couldn't score against Red Bulls and Chivas) is just to help the club save face.
As I said yesterday, his intransigence and insane salary demands worked. So he's staying. Just get ready to lose him on a free in two years.
Eto'o is a great striker. He isn't what Barca needs in light of its new lineup. We'll see when matches begin against sides that mark better than Chivas/Red Bulls. Guardiola knows that, which is why he wanted Eto'o gone. It wasn't a reflection on the player's skills, but rather a demand for a certain kind of skill set in light of the demands of the technical staffl.
But this isn't going to happen now, so Guardiola will make the best of it.
I can't believe that anyone would say anything negative about Guardiola, who hasn't made a wrong move all season. On the Scotland tour last season, we needed a late penalty kick to beat Dundee, right? What was the score this year? 5-1? Just checking.
The energy, off the ball movement and attitude of the players this season is down to one thing: Guardiola. Let's see how the players come together this year with so many new faces, but as FCB-Fitz said, I am one happy soci.
Completely agree with Kxevin and FCB-Fitz. For me Eto'o and Henry are a strict no as the two lead strikers (one of them is more than enough). Since we could not get Adebeyor we may have to do with them this year. As Kxevin said we may lose Eto'o for peanuts next season but if that's the way it is let it be. But I wonder who is going to make use of Alves' crosses this year.
if eto'o plays a good season, and i'm convinced he will, there's no reason why he should leave for 10million next summer or even a free transfer in two years. barca wouldn't be interested in selling him anymore and could offer him a new contract as he's just 27. and his market value would rise again to its proper height. this summer was special as we said out loud that we don't want him anymore
Where the heck is Henry the lastcouple years, especially this pre-season? I'm sorry for you guys who treat him like a God, but he isn't ready yet. It's like he needs one or two more preseasons. Come on man, the gys isn't there. I expect to hear alot from Kxevin. As for Eto'o, well his football speaks a lot for itself. I don't know how many games that Kxevin has watched but Eto'o not good against competitive opposition...really now.Where have you been. When did you start watching football my friend. The is a reason Real madrid initially bought him, and a reason they were talking about him recently. There are also reasons why Jose Mourinho and other sides who are constantly competing against competitive opposition wanted him (Don't even try to mention this transfer season....) As for Henry, this is his last chance. No more excuses; Eto'o gets none. I mean Eto'o gets injured, plays non-stop after that for Cameroon and plays 16 games and scores 14 goals and isnt good enough. Henry plays crap and gets idolized and worshipped by you guys. mind blowing.
Oh, this season is definitely Henry's last chance. He gets the position he's been clamoring for and the coach who has committed to him. Now he has to produce. If he doesn't, I'll be one of the first ones helping him on the bus out of town. It's all about the club and titles for me. That's all vastly more important than any one player.
I don't think anyone's treating Henry like a god. Some of us are saying let's give him a shot in his position to evaluate what he can do, then judge. What would happen if Messi played defensive midfielder? Could we evaluate him based on that performance? No. Play him in position, and he's one of the world's best. Let's see if Henry still is.
Eto'o has been on the market for months. There have been no offers presented for him. There has been some sniffing around, but no offers. As in zero. Which tells you what? Don't believe rumors. The thing from that other Spanish team this season was nonsense, drummed up by someone's agent. Notice how easily the deal went through for his move from there to Mallorca. Inter? No way. Mourinho said as much.
Some of that is asking price, but if the player had been willing to be reasonable with his contract demands, the asking price from the club would have been as flexibile as it was with Ronaldinho. He wasn't, for one of two reasons: He thinks's he's actually worth 10 million per season, or wanted to stay put and chose a salary number that would stifle any approaches.
But some of it is still the uncertainty that he might not be the goods against sides in other leagues. He's only been in La Liga, and has done very well there. Look at Torres, who turned out to be more suited for the English game. Good deal. Buy Eto'o and he could blossom, or disappear. 30 million (our real asking price) is a lot for such a risk, particularly atop 8-10 million a year for the player.
Nothing against Eto'o. I want Guardiola to have the team that he wants, so that he can run the tactics that he wants. He can't do that with players who won't leave (Eto'o, Gudjohnsen).
As I've said before, Eto'o's been my favorite Barcelona player for quite sometime, even when Ronnie was around. So I'm glad to see he's staying although it's been sad to see him sulking and playing expressionless football lately. Hopefully now that his immediate future is no longer in doubt we will see that wide grin return to his face.
With him staying it has helped to change my perspective. Instead of dreading if and when he's sold next season at a clearance price, or if he jettison's the club for free in two years,I choose to live in the moment, and to look forward and enjoy this season knowing he's with us, regardless of what may happen down the road.
Why develop angst over what may or may not happen? especially when it's entirely out of our control. At least I can take comfort in the fact that even if this is to be his final season, his legacy at the club is secure and should be felt for generations to come.
Good and education response to my comments earlier. I knew you would respond and you didn't disappoint. I'm thinking of getting an account so i dont have to appear as Anonymous. I like blokes like Kxevin and Cojonudo. I'm not blasting Henry , just gfiven his own declarations and attitude in which he acts like he's all that i expect him to be at the top of his game always. As for Eto'o , yea i didnt like his attitude last season either in terms of public declarations , on the field he was great. All I'm saying though is if you can give other players another chance, you can do the same for Eto'o.
well actualy football education tell that pepe did a mistake in the way he dealed with "deco-Roni- eto" case.
education say u dont need to be a supporter to a person till u become a follower or u critisize him till u become a blind enemy
I was one of the first who deffended Guardiola signings and still do, but when there is something wrong then u need to point on it. there was something wrong in this case and even those who commented oppositly proved it in their own words.
oh sorry anony...i thought u were FCB-Fitz hehe...i am teasing him since morning hehe
well about eto he is not an inbox striker my friend, he is great striker penetrating from out /in, but he is not a target man
we have seen last year how all teams created croud in their own field, and with all barca players r the penetrating, they were actualy helping to cause more traffic and less spaces to themselves.
the solution was a target man in the box and encouraging players to shoot from outside like pepe is doing with xavi now...and u have the master of crosses in alvis.
Anonymous, you don't need an account to post under your name. On the comments dialogue box, you can tick the Name/URL box, then enter your very own name.
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