Justice, passion and l’affaire Eto’o (a musing)

By: Kevin | May 18th, 2009

So. On Sunday, we lost a meaningless game, playing with a B side, Bojan and Eto’o.

Our very own (as I call him) Cranky Cameroonian squandered chance after chance after chance as he sinks, knees-deep into a scoring malaise.

My review gave him a 1, a score that, surprisingly, nobody argued with. Cries went up to “Sell, sell, sell!” Others said “You people are being typical cules in looking a gift horse in the mouth and spitting in its face.

Lady Justice says “Hmmm.”

In looking at the history of this season, an historic one which has our beloved side going for the treble in less than two weeks’ time, it’s worth noting that people have not been kind to a raft of players. Let’s look at it all.

Abidal He’s a disaster waiting to happen, by many accounts. After his red cards, a few folks want him out of town on a rail, or at least never playing for the side again. He’s been in the crosshairs of many a cule for quite some time, for failings that warrant the death penalty. “Sell, sell, sell!”

And yet, his pace, positioning and of late, increasing willingness to become part of the offense have made him a very valuable part of the side. His pace and range at left back means that others can shift to cover Alves’ rambling runs, because Abidal has sideline to sideline pace and range.

Valdes Asenjo, Casillas, Buffon and Cech are but a few of the names that have been offered up as replacements for our insufferably crappy keeper, one so awful he’ll be getting the Zamora for the statistically best keeper.

“Doesn’t matter. He’s shit, and is one mistake away from killing the side,” right? True, but what keeper isn’t? Casillas spilled that easy shot on Saturday, gifting Villarreal the title and us the crown. Buffon’s had some howlers, Cech was caught flat-footed as Iniesta hammered the Golden Strike. It’s just part of being keeper.

Has Valdes cost the side matches? Yes. One. Espanyol, when he gaffed the clearance directly to the attacker, who put the shot away. Reasons are found not to trust him. It’s always “one mistake away.” Alves cost us the Athletico match by lazily letting Aguero take that pass. Or is it Puyol’s loss for being snookered by Aguero? If that’s the case, then Puyol has cost us two matches this season, that one and Villarreal, in which he botched up a play that he makes 9 out of 10 times.

Yet Valdes is still “one mistake away,” a man without whom we wouldn’t be in the Champions League final, and probably wouldn’t have won the first Clasico, as he parried away one long-range blast destined to go in, then stonewalled Drenthe. He stopped Chelsea time and again, but still, he’s “one mistake away.”

Henry There are still people who want to sell the Frenchman, who believed after last season that we had been sold a bill of goods by a sniggering Wenger, who pawned off an over-the-hill striker for crazy dosh.

Are there any Gunners fans who wouldn’t want Henry in the side right now? Yet some cules don’t, and are ready to lash into him the first patch of bad play, or run of poor finishes that he makes. “Sell, sell, sell!”

Has Henry cost the side matches with his poor finishing? Not that I can recall. If someone can, please refresh my memory. Has he won matches with his finishing? You bet. He single-handedly killed Valencia, was involved in every goal in another match, got us the precious away goal against Lyon….the list goes on.

And yet….

Now it’s Eto’o’s turn, and people are leaping to his defense in a way that hardly anyone does when it’s Abidal’s, Henry’s or Valdes’ turn in the barrel. Nobody is screaming “Sell, sell, sell” at Alves, who has been spraying crosses and passes all over the joint for the last month now, and gives up fouls.

So here’s my question, after this long-ass setup: What’s the reason? Why are some people one mistake away from being cast onto the scrap heap, and others, no matter what they do, are defended? Let’s look at Eto’o by way of example.

Last season he said, “No silver, no me.” He was part of the “surplus to requirements” group, but stalled his way into staying with the side by refusing to discuss arrangements, or setting crazy salary demands. He played his way back into the good graces of fans by popping in a rather gaudy 29 goals. He also has a history of scoring goals like crazy for Barcelona, has an astonishing work rate and ethic, and creates chaos, which leads to scoring chances for other front-line players.

So is he crap or is he great? Or does it really matter?

Part of why I started the HFC (Henry Fairness Committee, for newcomers) is because I felt as though he wasn’t getting a fair shake. Even when he wasn’t finishing, he was doing other things. So is the different standard because he isn’t deep-down Barca, like Eto’o? Or is it simple time in grade, and he hasn’t been here long enough?

If that last is the case, what about Valdes?

What I want, and all that I want, is for people to be fair to our players. They can have crappy matches, and we, as people who love the side, have every right to call them on it. But if Messi is crap, call him on it. Don’t make excuses for his play, that some of us might not make for Valdes, or Henry, or Abidal.

We aren’t going to sell a guy for having a bad match, right? Nor should we. The answer is to look at the player over the season, and to recognize that our starting XI, every last one of them, has been immensely valuable in creating this Dream Season.

Let’s hear it, folks.