Sunday 23 August 2009

Guardiola clarifies Eto'o statements

Asked about his statements last month about his wish that then Barcelona player Samuel Eto'o would leave the club (read more here), Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola has said at a press conference that he could be misinterpreted:

"Maybe I didn't explain myself well that day. I will repeat what I wanted to say. It wasn't a matter of 'feeling' between Samuel and I. Footballwise there was no problem and I felt very comfortable working with Samuel Eto'o, also on a personal level.

There has been said that it was a matter of 'feeling' but that's not the case. I said that the 'feeling', what I felt after winning those trophies last season, was that it would be better to change some pieces. That was the reason. I probably didn't explain myself very well, so I would like to clarify that because it might seem as if I didn't have a good relationship with him. While I liked to work with him. I wasn't something personal or something sporting. I hope to have make things more clear."

Read more:
Guardiola wants Eto'o to leave
Eto'o: "I've defended the shirt as my life"
Barcelona president Laporta thanks Eto'o

18 comments:

barca4life said...

He saw what happened in 06/07 and didnt want to take a chance of it happening again. It made the most sense out of our team for etoo to leave. He had 1 year left on his contract and was heading for 30 with pace as him main attribute, he was bound to decline soon. Add to the fact that he has a history of being difficult at times and he becomes the best candidate to leave out of our starting xi

valdes dani puyol pique abidal yaya xavi iniesta henry etoo messi

The only other change that would have made sense would have been abidal out and another LB in but abidal still has multiple years left on his contract

mario ch said...

abidal is underrated in our system. when dani attack, we only got 3 defenders with a dm, mostly yaya, befor them. so abidal with his positioning and his pace suit very good to that slot. thats why we went first for filipe, cause hes also not that attacking full back and plays more like abidal

Anonymous said...

So why not get rid of 32 year old Henry instead? We are selling Eto'o when he is at his peak at 28 years old, Henry on the other hand, although good, is not what he used to be.

Anonymous said...

If it wasn't a personal or sporting decision then what was it? Or was the translation just bad.

Yes and why is Henry still in our team?

M said...

Yeah so getting rid of the piece that was along with messi and henry known as the attacking trio who scored over 100 goals betwen them makes sense?

Plz it was personal, why didn't he move others, we need a good LB but yet I haven't seen him get rid of Abidal or at least gotten a decent left back and put Abidal to the bench.

Andréssibraviqué said...

Stop with all the nonsense guys. The explanation given by pep and the justification by barca4life is apt. The personal reasons might have fueled the cause as well, with the famous attitude of Eto'o, it would have been really difficult for Pep next season. Also he's no extra dimension like Ibra & I'm sure if Ibra does click with the system all you guys will soon forget the way Eto'o's transfer has been handled... Just remember the good times we had with him and be put with it, stop bashing pep time and again. It's all been done & dusted for good times ahead :)

FCBlaugrana said...

barca4life & Andréssibraviqué,
We need more bloggers like you guys. Many ppl call themselves (not referring to the previous posters) Barca fans when they are probably Madridistas in disguise or Eto'o supporters & not Barcelona supporters. Remember this is the man who has seen a lot, both on & off the pitch as a player & coach. I trust his judgement & if it backfires THEN we criticize him.

Je me'appelle Samuel said...

I don't believe this for a second. He definitely had a problem with Eto'o. Why so much fuss about the renewal. He wanted to get rid of Eto'o last season, and what happened??? Oh wait he was the leading goal scorer that's right. Don't get me wrong Zlatan was an addition that we had to make due to our lack of depth and strength upfront.

However, if you were going to look at this from a professional point of view and not a superficial one the ideal outcome would have been selling/swapping henry. Apparently because of his contract the deal would have been 20-25 million in our favor. Here is the point I am trying to make Eto-Zlatan-Messi would have been out of this world.

Anonymous said...

Eto is going downhill with barca. he needs a new environment to play better football.

FCBlaugrana said...

Another Eto'o supporter.....
I don't mean to sound pompous but which better environment will there be for Eto'o? Barca & Eto'o were perfect for each other & I doubt Eto'o will have a better season with Inter than he had last season with Barca.

hawk_barca_4_life said...

etoo is gone so stop arguing abt him he is playing for other team they have there fans who r supporting him ...so we shld now look towards barca and move on too!!!

Je me'appelle Samuel said...

I am over the fact that Eto'o has left. Trust me I am satisfied with zlatan. However it is lame that a person would have to lie to try to keep up his image. This goes for anyone that I come across in life

skanjos said...

so explain pep why the eto piece then...?why not the iniesta/xavi/messi/henry/puyol/marquez....? wouldnt it be enough to remove only caceres/guddy/hleb/sylvinho?

everybody in barca wanted eto out(except the fans and the players).stop making excuses and move on,we will do fine with zlatan too no need to make excuses.....at least for now,if we fail this season then say anything you like

Andréssibraviqué said...

Pep has no need to convince you guys... He could do his work his work without even considering any Eto'o fans exist in Barca. He just replied to a question in a press report and you guys are behaving like Pep gave an excuse just to win you all back. Remind you he won't give a damn about you hate him or like him... All he knows is he is a true & loyal servant of Barca and would try to do as much as it takes to be so :)

Anonymous said...

he is a person who likes n dislikes player.he wont even bother 2 respect a player who has done almost everything 4 barca.so what does he do? insults publicly.. in press conference.eto,ronaldinho,deco.

Andréssibraviqué said...

Yeah this last anony i sure a Blanco guys

Anonymous said...

etoo did for barrca was great but every player has to leave when the time comes.. pep knows wht he is doing and he too knows wht ever he does sme day he too has to go and sme one new will step up to follow him to achieve more then wht every one did its like messi steping in when R10 left... xavi following gauardiola amd then thiago forcing xavi to retire and inesta leading the team .. same as pique following pyuol both know munies will make them look simple

its not just etoo left or ne one going its just one phase ending and the rise of other so concentrate on the future

NC4Barca said...

I believe in Pep's judgement, coz he won us a treble for the first time in Barca's history. I would love to go with Pep here, even though I am a firm supporter of Eto'. I used to admire Eto for his workrate, but may be Pep is right. We should move on. We can judge whether this is one of those master strokes of Pep's only at the end of the coming season. As a true Barca fan, we should keep our faith in Pep rather than misunderstanding him. He will not do anything that will be bad for FCB. So lets chill out and support Barca to go for 6 trophies this season. I hope they win their first today!! :)

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