Txiki (3): "Rijkaard deserved to finish the season"

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain gave an interview to Catalan newspaper El Periódico.


(read the previous parts of the interview here)


You don't fear that the squad is too short?
The only thing I wish is to have some luck. Over the last those seasons the injuries caused us a lot of problems.

That's why it's more than ever important to take care of Messi?
I think it's more important to take care of everything that surrounds him than of him. We have to arrange everything for him, within certain limits. We should keep an eye on the little problems he has, to see if he can play or not, so that in the months of March and April he and the others are in the best conditions to compete for the trophies. We will need Messi, so we have to be attentive about all the details like the training sessions, the food, the rest.

Laporta has admitted that he considered dismissing Rijkaard after the defeat against Madrid in the camp Nou.
I always thought that Frank deserved to finish the season. You have to give this chance to a coach who wins two leagues and one Champions League. I kept on protecting him and we reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the Spanish cup. And against Atlético Madrid we were close to the first spot in the league. Because of all this, I think he deserved to finish the season. The image of Barcelona he has spread to the world was unique. And that's worth something. If we then aren't able to give him something back, we wouldn't have a heart. Then people would mean nothing, we would be a club who needs to win every game with 3-0 and that's it.

Gratitude is also a reason to justify the end of Ronaldinho?
There has been a last chance, in December, when we made a special training schedule for Ronaldinho. We heard from the staff that he was training well. But we also heard other things. The exit of Ronaldinho was the best exit possible given the circumstances. Excellent. And I'm not talking about the transfer fee. No wounds, no swearing. He wanted to go to Milan although there were better offers, both for him and for us. We made a deal with Milan and that's it. It's clear to everyone what happened with Ronaldinho and that he needed to go. There wasn't a debate. The summer before on the contrary, there was a debate. Then he had just scored 21 goals. And after having talked with all parties, we decided to go on. But when you have someone who has given you so much, who has changed the history of the club and when on the other hand there are no doubts about him having to leave, you know you're right. There just wasn't a better way or moment for such an exit.

Without Ronaldinho, the team keeps performing. This is a lesson for the squad?
I don't know. It would be different if you sell Ronaldinho after having won the Liga and the Champions League and after that you again win the Liga with other players. Then you can say that nobody is essential. But we also have to take into acoount that we had another player coming who would take the main role: Messi.


This was the third and last part of this interview.

You can read the previous parts here:
Txiki (1): "Guardiola is keeping his promise"
Txiki (2): "Youth players adapt easier"