L’Affaire Eto’o (the latest), a.k.a. “Please baby, please, baby baby baby please!”

Way to tell the truth!

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Though not exactly ‘random’, the IBM and Westinghouse logos contain no intentional symbolism. The ‘bells and whistles’ were added to differentiate the logos and make them look distinctive in a wide market, though not to symbolize any of the two company’s dealings.

I really like your blog and i respect your work. I’ll be a frequent visitor.

Rules are meant to be broken, I agree, and with most logos available to view online, we’re needing to push boundaries further to differentiate the outcome.I think context plays a big part in dispelling some of those rules / guidelines you mention. For instance, not all logos need to be shown at just an inch in size, or using only one colour. Using those pointers, however, can dramatically improve the adaptability of the design, and for me, the vast majority of client requests include them in some shape or form.

Rather interesting. Has few times re-read for this purpose to remember. Thanks for interesting post. Waiting for the trackback.

I beg to differ, it seems so irony :P

I agree, this is a great post.A successful blog needs unique, useful content that interests the readers.

Thanks for that, Tajh. It will live on as its own post. That's just too good. I'm with Eduard on the damp eyes part. Extraordinary. The only better part would have been if it had been unfurling to the himno.

JC, thats funny about whore :)

that's a huge Catalan Flag, (weeping) soo beautiful

mku, I was referring to the broadcast from which Xavier Sala's quotes were gleaned. I just thought that you might have caught it, because the translation that was posted on Goal.com seemed kinda funky.

Thanks for that, UAI. Henry had more success as a striker than Eto'o had as a winger, when the two swapped.

But here's the thing: People who like Eto'o are going to defend him until the cattle come home, irrespective of reality on the pitch. People who dislike him are going to say sell him, irrrespective of the reality on the pitch.

I just want the side to improve, and it isn't going to do so with Eto'o as the main striker for the upcoming season. For me, it's as simple as that. I don't care if we sell him, or work out a platooning system, whatever. I just know that if we come at sides doing the same stuff that we did this past season, we aren't going to have the same success, because sides adapt to a system.

It's as simple as that for me. I don't care what players come in, I don't care what else happens. But we have to improve, with some attacking versatility. That is bigger than Eto'o vs anybody, Mascherano, Ribery, etc, etc.

Is Deportivo's Filipe going to be our first signing? Sounds like he's desperate to come over. and we really need someone for lb.

OT: Nakamura signed for Espanyol on a free transfer. Espanyol have been busy. Good move Nakamura.

what broadcast kxevin?

I have no idea of what you were talking about, but if it's about etoo you know I'm on it :(

any links?

may be his favorite whore is in Barcelona. :)

oh man Forlan's agent is in Barcelona

Ronaldo was so good. even in RM.. when he got slower and fatter, he still has that strikers instinct and clinical finishing. IMO he should be in the Brazil XI Legendary team, along w/ Ronaldinho when they were both in their prime. to bad they both decline so fast..

Ronaldo, Figo, De La Pena... WTF... where did they go wrong?

BTW, Ronaldo looked amazing for us, but from the limited videos i've seen he was even better at Inter. his runs, passes, shots (with both legs).

Wow... great statement for Laporta to clear things up. At least we know that WE DO want Ribery and Ibra. One is just not available, and the other too expensive for now. Eh... I'd LOVE Masch on the team, IF AND ONLY IF Yaya would leave. AND I DONT WANT YAYA TO LEAVE. so, i suppose i really dont want Masch.

in other, not really barca related news...

-Chelsea are bidding on Maicon. Which confuses me, because it seemed that they really liked Bosingwa. Both of these have been linked with Madrid
-Liverpool said that they agreed on a price with Porthsmouth for Johnson, a rightback, making Arbeloa available, who is also a Madrid target.
-Deco wants out of Chelsea, Mourinho wants Deco and Carvalho back.
-ManCity are looking to get Tevez, which would probably mean no Eto'o!

I know Adebayor was mentioned earlier. My thoughts: I WOULDN'T even trade HLEB for him. ok, maybe i'm exaggerating, but still Adebayor has never been good enough for Barcelona. his skill set belongs to UEFA cup level clubs. How he manages to start ahead of VanPersie, Eduardo, Arshavin, Vela, and Walcott is beyond me, but then again, Wenger is trainer not a coach. He can develop talent like no one else, but he cannot organize a campaign to be a contender in the league.

OK Bill, I'm too lazy to do the research to be sure but, my point is, I don't thing Henry hasn't actually played many games/minutes this season as a CF, but I remember relatively more goals to go with that.

Not to pretend that the Hleb/Arsenal swipe was fair, but one game that stands out with Henry in the centre had both him and Hleb in our forward line against Valencia, and Henry produced a hattrick.

Another one is a marvelous goal in the second half against Atletica Madrid, when Henry was subbed on for Eto'o. I also recall one champions league game where HEnry was allowed to play in the center, and he had a very good game. I don't think there are many others.

The record shows I've advocated for eto'o staying and stressed that his contributions will be missed if he leaves. I just don't think the only way you can do that is at Henry's expense.

Having said that, Henry himself said he thinks Eto'o is the best man for the center. But as much as I like Eto'o, Kevin is right, it's hard to claim he would be consistently effective on the wing (i.e. a near permanent assignment as the left forward/wing or right forward/wing). His performances clearly showed he was really out of his comfort zone there.

What is HEnry's goal per game (or per minute) this season when he was the centre forward? (i.e. with Eto'o off the pitch)

The flag is bigger than the pitch! Holy smokes, how would you feel if you were drowned by a giant Catalan flag? Yikes!

Btw Kxev

imma shoot like 938247239847 CR7 possible nicknames at you this Silly Season to pass the time.

how about the Pompous Portuguese?

or Ferrari Fu**er

more comin, sound good till now?

Iniesta always wins. Btw, any of you guys got some Hector pills to spare? i need some below-the-counter treatment to exercise restraint from daily bullcrap. It cannot be further tolerated.

lol. cant argue with that one

Bill, Iniesta is better than Kaka, Gerrard, and Lampard just because he's Iniesta. Enough said.

New to the site but I like all the comments. Especially the one that nobody got about Eto'o and the whole buying a car every week joke.

Good Ronaldo goal video. Kinda feel sorry for Athleti Bilbao though, seemed like he scored a shit load agaisnt them. And did I see a Zubizareta in one of the celebrations?

I'm with kevin and not worrying about the transfer gossip, one day they'll make a telenobela out of it and I will still ignore it.

anyways, fun reading all your post.

I agree with mario about Eto'o not being as good as Ronaldo(Brazil), but if you look at those videos, you will see a striker who can score with both feet, can head well, is comfortable striking from far as he is poaching, can score on the inside post, outside post, up top, between goallies legs, rounding the goallie, go on a solo breakaway, bamboozle two or 3 defenders at the same time, leave goallies rooted right where they were before he shot. And I looooove his devastatingly accurate power shots. So yeah, his first touch isn't silky smooth, but isn't his last shot be the one we judge him by? And his first shot didn't fail him in many of those goals by the way.

Ok! Enough about defending Eto'o, the man should get a better PR team around him so people like me don't have to plead his case! Haha. Let me go back to talking about my favorite player...INIESTA! Iniesta vs Kaka vs Gerrard vs Lampard, who is better? And why?

I like Villa as a replacement for Eto'o, if it doesnt work out, or even a second striker. By the way, has anyone noticed how Villa is constantly outperforming Torres in the spanish team, even though both get the same service at the same time, or is it just me?

Kxevin, I beg to differ. Henry isn't the barca No 9 because HE DISAPPEARS in the striker role. He just isn't as effective or sharp. There was a huge drop-off in goal production last year when Eto'o was injured and Henry took over, as was the year before, when he was injured and Guddy & Saviola attempted to take over.

And I somewhat disagree with you on the wing issue. I know you love Henry there, but truth be told, Henry holds on to the ball longer than he should on my occasions, dragging the ball slowly, waiting for the defender to react, before trying to beat him with his speed. It's the same thing Hleb does that evasperates us soo much (is it arsenal syndrome?). It works spectacularly sometimes, but most times it stops the offense, and his pocket is picked by defenders alot. You have the games on tape I believe you said, watch them carefully again. Eto'o on the other hand, doesn't create sparks on the wings, but he moves the ball around in the barcelona way. He hangs around the furthest points near the side lines, and as soon as he gets the ball, looks for iniesta on the inside or Abidal on the outside, then starts running around giving them options. And I'm not sure if I'm the only one who noticed, he gives some delicious passes into the box sometimes, great pass to Messi against manU that missed by inches...great pass to Pique against Madrid for his goal are a fe that come to mind. But yeah, he does disappear a little bit sometimes, he is just not as useless as some think.

As for Ibra and CR7, 1. They are the focal point in all their offense, 2. They take all the penalty and free kicks for their teams, 3. They take too many speculative shots from long distance when better options are availlable. When those go in, they are spectacular, but when they don't (Read ManU vs Barca) they exasperate things. I read an interesting stat recently, CR7 shot 280+ shots in 23 games to get his 14 league goals(minus penalties and free kicks), Messi shot under 215 shots in 32/33 games to get his 20(minus penalties). It reminds me of Kobe-Jordan arguments. Until a year ago, Kobe was scoring as much as Jordan did, but if you looked at the numbers, Kobe=42.5% FG, Jordan=50% FG(before wizards), who would you prefer to shoot?

Mario, thanks for the Video's.

Heres whats really going on at Barcelona, no rumors or hearsay, straight from the ultimate insiders mouth, what Ive been trying to put across:

http://goal.com/en/news/12/spa...

I've of course taken my Hector pills after Hector chemistry'd them but before everyone called them that, but to let everyone know, I'm still here reading everything, and that Ronaldo video was very enlightening, Ciaran. I heard he was good back in the day but damn.

We BETTER have a big signing this summer, dammit. And NO to De Rossi. That's the furthest I'm going to delve for now...

Wow everyone needs to see this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
idk when it was from but this Catalonia flag is huge....

Ok even though Eto'o isn't as prolific as the early Ronadlo(btw who in our times really is) he has still score tons of goals for us which i believe should be the reward for his new contract....

Although both parties should really consider which deal is both fair and realistic.

Here is clips of Eto's 100 goals for Barca
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Sighhhhh....good times, Ciaran. Thanks for that. I just don't know what to think of the Eto'o business. So I'm not going to. I won't take my Hector Pills, though.

I'm not sure what's going on. I like the stance we're taking against buying just to buy. As I've said before, the market is messed up right now. Every player is presently overvalued. I think that anyone we sign is not only going to have to want to come here, but his club is going to want to have to sell him.

That doesn't leave a lot of guys. But we also have the luxury of shopping for a car, when our present car works very well. So we're just modding, really.

At present, we are the only major club that hasn't been weakened.by a significant departure or unsettled major player. And the buying and selling hasn't really started yet.

A striker hasnt had a better year since. In an interview , he said he cried all night when he found out he had to leave. Ah, what could have been , O Fenomeno :(

I get so nostalgic when I think back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

It's such a pity. Eto'o has been one of our best strikers ever but he is a pain in the ass. If he had the heart of Puyol then everything would be better.
What would I give for another season of the real Ronaldo. He was the best striker ever for that one season. He would have stayed with us too if it wasn't for Van Gaal. How sickening is that?
It was a very Barca thing to do tho. Sell the best striker that we have ever had and keep and idiot manager who couldn't recognise talent unless they had were wearing orange.
For those of you who only know Ronaldo from his time with Milan or Real Madrid, when he was with us he was simply unplayable. He was more devastating that Maradona or Pele and could simply walk through defenses as if they weren't there. 47 goals in 49 official games. Eto'o is impressive but Ronaldo had everything. :(

Good question, everyone. I'm hoping that mku or someone who speaks the language heard the broadcast and can provide a better translation.

If the quote is accurate, does he mean by "higher level," more important than his teammates? Or "thinks he's worth more than he in fact is?" Or "thinks he's worth more than WE think he is?"

I rather imagine it was a shot across the bow aimed at Eto'o, as I don't know who else is really in negotiations right now. If we believe The Yaya's agent, the deal will be done this week, and everybody will be happy.

So I guess that leaves Eto'o. Crazy Suits isn't part of the real inner circle, so he's really just nattering out of his backside. I confess to not being concerned about folks such as him making incendiary statements. If Txiki or Laporta say it, that's another thing altogether.

Ha Ciaran, that was my 1st thought

"If there is any player who believes he is of a higher level within the team then his contract will not be renewed"... Eto'o?

Reports from the sports dailies are that Thursday is the day for The Yaya to get it all done. Whew!

Also, Xavier My Suits Are Crazy says that Barca won't be breaking the bank to sign anyone. As if this is news. But he's just the economic (thankfully, not sartorial) advisor. But he went on during a program on Catalan radio. Clearly, this translation was mangled:

"The policy of the club has never been to sell assets in order to fund the purchase of players. If there is any player who believes he is of a higher level within the team then his contract will not be renewed."

If anyone heard the program or has a better translation, let's hear it.

I really doubt Henrique will turn into our "Caceres of the season" if you know what i mean.

but hold your horses guys, i doubt Puyol is done with a starting role in our back four, the lion's got a few years left in him :)

Henrique should be a fantastic backup though, but im most excited to e GAIIII ASSSULINNNN!!!!!!! in the pre-season

i really hope he displays his talents well enough to convince Pep to give him a solid first team backup role.

though Pep already knows him well from him B team years correct? Man, the future looks bright.

Between Pique, Henrique, Caceres, Muniesa & Botia, our defensive future looks bright.
On that note, with Iniesta, Thiago, Busquets, Gai and Cesc our midfield isn't bad and Bojan and Messi aren't too shabby

I'm very excited to see Henrique play in preseason. He says he's fast and can play the ball out of the back, so I hope he can show what he's got. With Pique lacking some speed, if Henrique is as fast as he says he is, he could be a good partner to Pique, something I was hoping Caceres could claim by now, but doesn't seem likely.

Henrique seems to think that he will become an automatic starter in our team. At least two or three times he said "with humility" before saying how good he is and how good he will be for us. I like his attitude. He said that his favourite thing is to play the ball from the back because that is what makes a great team. Well said young man.

Pique and Henrique should be a fairly dominant defensive duo, should they both continue to improve like they are.

Valdes & Pinto seem to be set in stone for next season.
Alves will still be the only right back now that Valencia have snapped up Bruno, although Caceres, Puyol & Victor Sanchez can cover.
Pique, Henrique, Marquez & Puyol should be good enough to cover our central defense, with Muniesa progressing towards the end of the season. We still can't count on Milito.
Abidal is the automatic starter at left back, Caceres can cover but offensively, it would be fantastic to get a marauding fullback.

Defensively we seem all but set, especially when Filipe or whoever signs on the dotted line. His agent said that €10million should be enough to sell and apparently we have offered €8million. I still expect that to be our first signing, even more so now that Pedro said that he would accept a loan to a La Liga team.

One wonders why Hleb hasn't tried to engineer a move away. We have been trying everywhere to buy a new winger, making him like 6th choice - behing Messi, Henry, Iniesta, ______ & Bojan.
Either that or he is happy being 7th choice midfielder - behing Xavi, Iniesta, Yaya, Keita, Busquets, & ______.
Ambition please?

Our transfer summer is being held ransom by not knowing Eto'o's plans. Either sign and we sign a backup or move and we sign a new no.9.
Last summer I said that keeping Eto'o guaranteed the league but possibly hindered the CL charge, and I am glad to be proved wrong but I still feel that may be the case. Funnily enough, changing Eto'o for Villa would still guarantee us the league but still causes a question mark in Europe. It's such a pity that Larsson isn't 25years old.

Im hoping to see some henrique in pre season. hopefully he impresses and we wont have to loan him again.

And england had the likes of James milner who's older than cesc and the same age as sergio ramos lol.

Pique could have still played. Players born in 1986 or later are eligible for the 2009 UEFA European U-21 Championship.

If you look at Spains current squad, they're are plenty of 23 year and 22 year olds on the team: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

Also, Kxev if you have ESPN 360, "The matches carried by ESPN Deportes will be simulcast in English on ESPN360.com." so you don't have to necessarily buy the Espn deportes package.

That's cause Pique just turned 22 and Busi was needed for the big boys (Senior Team). He's too good for the U-21's :D . Almost a pre-req of the U-21's (in contrast to the U-18's) is that the called up players be in Primera División. Don't worry, Thiago, Muniesa, Botia, and others will get their shot when they start getting first team minutes.

Also ESPN 360 will be broadcasting 114 La Liga matches.

We only had bojan in the squad for this tournament.

Bruno Saltor definitely going to Valencia. He announced it on his Facebook page. Too bad. He would have been a very nice addition to the roster.

@Bill, I think that everyone is being very careful to say "If such things are true." None of us place any credence in press reports such as they are, particularly around this time of the year, when everybody is making shit up.

Note that Laporta says keep Eto'o and he's great, but not at any price. He's right in that regard. It's doubtful he would say that about Iniesta or Messi. Just saying. Or there might come a day when he would. Who would ever have thought R10 could fall so far, so fast, right?

If we keep Eto'o, then it becomes even more imperative to sign a Plan B striker. Someone like Llorente's price would be right (not that he's for sale, as near as anyone knows, but that kind of a striker).

Henry isn't the Barca striker because he doesn't disappear on the wing. Eto'o does. If we can see it, I'm sure that Guardiola can see it.

Service is critical to any striker's excellence, and our forward line (all of them) get spectacular service. That accounts for the gaudy goal tallies for the group, right? Thong Boy makes a lot of his own goals, which to me is his most impressive aspect as an attacker.

Ibrahimovic makes goals out of nothing, even with average service, which is one of his most impressive aspects as an attacker.

Nobody called Eto'o greedy. Every player has the right to seek whatever contract they view as fair. Given the limited lifespan of a top-class striker, why not go for the brass ring? But it's also a club's right to choose not to pay that price, if they deem it exorbitant.

Don't be so quick to defend Eto'o, sir, when he isn't being attacked. His work rate and elusiveness are world-class. Personally, I wouldn't classify him as stone-footed. But I think that even his most ardent fans will admit that his first touch is erratic. It was spot-on for that goal in the Final, then crap the rest of the match. Dunno why.

I do know this: I don't care what he did, will do or will think about doing. If he leaves on a free the club that made him a star, it's bullshit. I don't know that such things are his intention. I know that it's a viable possibility in the last year of a top player's contract. No, he owes the club nothing. It's the life of a professional, right? But could any of us imagine Xavi, Puyol, Messi or Iniesta putting the club in such a situation?

Yes, the negotiations of Xavi and Valdes were complex, but there was never any doubt that they would get done. Everything else was just agents yammering in the press, and reporters generating nonsense. Puyol will sign, The Yaya will sign. No question, even with the latter's jackass of an agent. I just don't have that same confidence about Eto'o. I wish that I did.

any barca players playing that i should know about?

http://atdhe.net/7610/watch-fi...

where are you guys watching?!?!?!?!

Bojanito said hes been having physical problems and hasnt been at 100 % fitness. Meanwhile Xisco somehow missed the target from all of literally 2 yards and an open goal.

I don't mind Robinho comming to Barca, he can't possibly be worse than Hleb ;-) .

But i also wouldn't pay over 25 mil for a player who i "wouldn't mind" at the club. I also wouldn't pay him more than The Yaya makes, so i guess i would take him only if it were unreasonably cheap.

correction
The spain under 21 blabla match is on

Always ask you doctor before taking Hector pills and read the notice written on the back of the package.

Side effect n°2 : Always ending your sentence with a laughing smiley which is actually showing your anxiety.

The Spain under 21 vs Finland is on aaaand Bojan is on the bench.

Those rights thingyies are only because Kaka and Mr.Hilton are in La Liga now...80% because of Thong Boy...the "virus" heh :D

Now Bill thats something I understand!Don't know why everyone is saying Eto'o has a bad ego.Ok he's not an angel but there's only a few people who are.Look YAYA's agent for example!! :D

Hahaha Hector but thats GREAT!!I've got to get that channel thing or whatever it is for me!
Apart from that Im not comprehending much but Hleb in HD? :D

ok, so after digging around some, it looks like GolTV owns all the rights, but are sub-liscensing to ESPN.

Even the two parties aren't completely sure as to the entire details or how it will develop...

http://www.multichannel.com/ar...

for now, i see this whole deal as a positive!

I'll add Laporta to the list of people who have said Eto'o is one of the best strikers in the world and should stay, Henry said it, Xavi said it, Messi said it, Iniesta said it, Puyol said it, the yaya said it. Even Roanldinho said in '06 that he is one of the best strikers he has ever played with or against.

As for his attitude, I still maintain everyone is going by rumors or are defining him because of two incidents. Im amazed that people put him in the Drogba and Cr7 category when it comes to attitude. I watch him carefully in games, I have never seen the petulance of CR7, or the wrong kind of aggression Drogba displays. On the contrary, this guy is always joking around with opposition goallies, pleads teammates case to the ref in a toned down way and never acts up when a teammate fails to find him. Even a classy guy like Iker Cassilas loves him big time! He is on record saying Madrid should never have let Eto'o go. Even Guardiola's so-called dislike for the guy is nothing but hearsay, people quote websites, but what has he ever said directly after the 'surplus to requirement' statement?

My point is, I think it comes down to a contract issue, and as such, we should let those that really know whats going on, decide the best options. We can't label him greedy or selfish or all that stuff, even Puyol's, Xavi's, Valdez' and Yaya's contracts turned out to be more complicated than we would have thought. He took an amazing risk by not re-signing during the season, so now he has an injury free 30 goal season and an expiring contract as a bargaining chip. Smart move if you ask me. Best summer signing last season? Not selling him. Same as this season.

Oh, and by the way, people who say he only scores because of great service 1: should define great service 2: Should explain why the goals from Messi, Henry, Cr7, Ibra, Forlan's and Villas goals were not because of good service. 3: Should revise Eto'o goals on youtube, and if Tap-ins are the definition, then explain to us why he thinks Eto'os goals were all tap-ins/simple. 4: For those that think silky smooth touches or passes are the standard, explain why Henry, Gudjohnsen and Saviola are not the main barca strikers right now.

Yes, ESPN was outbid by FSC for CL rights. They plan to use the Fox network of stations to air matches. So there might indeed be some HD content, since FX will be utilized, in addition to the Fox Sports affiliates, of which there seem to be about 9,235,325 on my cable dial.

Your concerns about PPV for the Final, etc, echo mine. Fox thinks about monetizing everything. As it is, we only get 1 of every 3 big Prem clashes from Fox. I can certainly see them offering some sort of PPV package, and foregoing free TV, the bastards.

ESPN sharing content with GolTV doesn't bother me as much, I must admit. But the other upside to ESPN having Liga rights next season, is that....

--We'll be able to watch Hleb in glorious HD, :D since Sport says that he isn't planning to leave, and will stay and fight for a place. Recall that Txiki B. also said that the club, after taking a right robust reaming from Wenger during the Hleb sale, have no intention of selling him after a season.

--Speaking of Sport, they are still insisting that Robinho will happen, that he will force a move after the Spain Invitational, provided the price is right. This means, don't hold your breath. We have shown little institutional willingness to pay the kinds of prices that both Citeh and Robinho would demand. And I can't imagine that his salary demands would be much less than we are refusing to pay Eto'o.

We can only hope that this means that ESPN will re-transmit the Phil/Ray commentary. If Tommy Smyth or Mr. Excitement himself, JP Dellacamera do the Clasico, I am going to a bar with Gol TV or watching Deportes. Has anybody noticed how boring and horrible JP he has been during the Confed Cup? For God's sake he spent the WHOLE Spain vs SA game thinking that Busquets was a CB and that he and Pique knew each others every move because they were a CB pair at Barcelona and then thought he was giving great insight into how Spain was playing with more like 3 in the back because that crazy CB, Busquets kept pushing up. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

ManCity completed the Roque Santa Cruz transfer, this really shouldn't affect their interest in Eto'o, as Santa Cruz is a support striker, and Eto'o a "9".

Just when i thought id seen the back of "Tommy Smyth with a y"

@ Alex, the article says that the Clasicos will most likely be simulcast, so if ESPN or ESPN2 show them, as opposed to ESPN deportes, we can watch them in HD...

so..............is there any possibility for HD la liga then. I wish there was more info on this.

I am right, right? FSC does like to put their marquee games on PPV? or am i confusing them with someone else?

NOOO!!! Jnice's link says that the U.S. Champion's Leauge were lost by ESPN, and have gone to FSC!!! that means:
-No HD for CL
-Possibly having to PPV the later stages
-Shittier commentators

As far as ESPN sharing La Liga with GolTV, i have mixed feelings...

ESPN offers us HD
GolTV offers us Ray Hudson.

both add so much more to the Barcelona experience, hudson or HD, hudson, or HD... hm....

Shit! This means I have to re-acquire the Spanish language package. Just when I thought I didn't need Deportes any longer.... :D

That's awesome news for us Dish Network people who had to suffer through a whole season without Gol TV. Now lets just hope they don't put Derek and Tommy Smyth on the Clasicos. Give me Phil and Ray over those two any day of the week.

ESPN to share La Liga's US TV rights with GOL

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn...

@ MKU, funny cos in a recent interview Txiki also said that the arrival of Davids was truly the beginning of the new era that we are in...even though he wasnt here long apparently he was seen as a cornerstone...

Txiki and Co. are I think waiting a bit for the market to chill down and sort out the YAYA contract.Although I'm expecting some transfer to happen ...

Er-meaning?

This probably doesn't mean anything for us because of Fox Soccer's North American contract, but ESPN has picked up Premiership rights from the imploded Setanta.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medi...

MoMONEY is right -- i want eto'o to stay, but i pledge to not incite riots if villa replaces him.

last year there was alot of talk about us wanting to buy david silva, this year so far there is nothing about him. looks like are main LF targets are ribery, robinho, and mata. wonder why no interest anymore.
same with benzema. for the last couple of years txiki has been wanting this guy, but there really hasn been anything for him either, just villa and zlatan talk.
seems like all the players we want, everyone else wants them too. though not much talk about silva and little about benzema too(except manu). if we pushed hard for those players i think they would be easier to get than the others.
in regards to plan b a.k.a. crashing the bus, fernando llorente would be my favorite!

For me the only replacement for Eto'o is Villa... Nobody else

Ronnie was the best player (and entertainer) I've ever seen live, it will take decades for us to see someone with that much talent... but our team wasn't that bad that is all I'm saying.

The 1st year ronnie was here we finished 2nd in la liga and we only started to win positions when Davids the pitbull came in january I think. After that year, we started to win championships with ronnie, etoo, larsson, giuly, marquez, gio, edmilson, deco etc... and remember xavi and iniesta were always there also, it was only Frank's fault to not put them together in the midfield. I still love Frank though, he was just ignorant about the quality of spanish midfielders ;)

Ronnie was key in our come back you're right, but the team was not bad at all, like Napoli in the 80's was.

Evaluating how dependent his output was on the quality of his teamates compared to any other player in the team dependability on the rest of the squad quality, he had the minor help, relatively.

The only player we bought whom without him we wouldn't have been where we are ;)

So he is for me the legend of this era in Barcelona history. And the historical legend this era added to Barcelona HAll of fame. But Others can have a different opinion though.

Iniesta,Messi and the other youth will follow. Xavi and Puyol were already team greats since before.

ramzi ronnie had more than "minor team help" in my humble opinion ;)

do you guys remember than Laporta's promise before becoming president was DAVID BECKHAM??!!!!! hahahaaa it's true, thank god he went ot EE and ronnie came to FCB

strengthened the teaM, not the tea :D

Thats the pills impact.

and the rumors is now that they are approaching Arbeloa, cuz pool just sign Glen johnson.
well, arbeloa is better for them than maicon.. ;)

And the legend of Laporta era is Ronaldinho. He started single handed the whole thing on his own. When the rest were still babies or more as team players rather than game changers. Without Ronaldinho contribution in the first recovery phase after a long declination before Laporta came to scene. The team wouldn't have achieved anything later. The results of the first successful cycle strengthened the tea, image and financial and brought us back as a great club.

Since Maradona, I have never knew a player who changed the team destiny and was capable to win games with minor team help as this guy. No player contributed individually on the results, game style, Image, Marketing, and youth improvement (Mainly Messi), and even scoring (Specially in the CL) the same ronaldinho did for barcelona.

Regardless of what happened later. Just giving the credit where due.

One of the big question marks RM fans have about Perez is how focused he will be to by defense compared to his generosity to by offense. There is no pressure you can put on him during negotiations that's meaner than saying openly (To RM fans) that "Florentino isn’t interested in defenders”

I've never felt Maicon closer to RM as he is now. But will it end up being Maicon+Ibra package deal?

There's all kinds of stuff going on. Moratti has said that Ibra and Maicon can leave, and "people know the price," if they're interested. Apparently they talked Maicon with the EE but as Moratti said, "Thankfully Florentino isn't interested in defenders," or some such.

@Jazzy. Nice one, but I think the real Perez Hilton (gossip site online) has that one taken. :D

@mku, I know that you're an Eto'o fan and I respect that. I just don't know if he's one of the greats yet. I want to see him with less than great service.

oh.. and muenchen just bought Danijel Pranjic, a LW and versatile midfielder. i dont know if he is good or not, but does this open the chances of ribery getting out ;)

hey guys..
I just got a new nickname for c.ron..
comes from the president, the girl, and a website..
c.ron = Perez Hilton :D

oh.. and btw. FYI.. Puyol has a sheep pet named Queca.. LOL ;)

Remeber Claudio "Piojo" lopez? Coming from RACING CLUB DE AVELLANEDA (la academia, my "third" team) to Valencia to score 12 goals in 15 matches against Barcelona. He beat the shit out of us almost every single game ;)

Adebayor is not of of the greatest 9's yet, in fact I think he will never be . Samu is one of them if not the best.

On the scouts theme, in france and holland they have very good scouts, I guess their proffesionals are very good at it but their supporters and media attention are not as big as in spain or England I think.

Vilareal, Sevilla and Valencia (at some times, they have bought some awful players also mainly because they take risks) aren't that bad at scouting and all the players you mentioned went to play to "minor leagues". Going to the EPL or La Liga, specially FCB of EE is a whole different thing. I think that only kinda established players go there, it's ussually the next step in a player's career like what happened to ronaldinho ronaldo romario yaya... Good luck FCB still has some masia wonders ;)

And as far as Adebayor, I don't think he'd be all that cheap as Arsenal still value him highly, as they should.

Eklavya also makes an excellent point about the durability (when not injured) and work ethic of Eto'o, as compared to Villa.

@JC, Thats a good remmark.

Talented players need a stage before making their big step. Its the stage where they customize their game to the demands of the highest level in Europe. And thats where they prove their performance at small leagues is not because the leagues are easy, but because they have quality, so they mainly go to Netherlands, Portugal, France, ...And start practicing the life of professional footballers.

Lot of them decline during this stage, the minority prove being quality and thats the minority we hear about, while the flops pass and fade without notice.

This intermediary stage is almost a must. Rarely players make big jumps from Africa or Asia or South America to big teams and succeed. Because it mean holding many water mellows at the same time.

Barcelona tried that from time to time, but again, rarely it was a successful attempt. We, as many other big clubs ruined some youth players future just because we bought them too soon.

Maxi Lopez is a demonstration. You know he is a flop now. But the guy had potentials, yet needed two more years at Argentina to turn to become a perfect package. Drenthe and Gago are two of the most recent examples as well. Too soon.

Less demanding leagues like Germany-France-Portugal is important for any youth player to start from. Or else, less demanding teams in big leagues. Like sevilla, Napoli...

Lately, with price inflation, Clubs started to use a different strategy: Buying a player then loaning him out for couple of seasons.

Theoretically, its the perfect compromise. Practically, not easy to excute, and sometimes more risky than expensive signings. Again, small teams buy plenty of cheap talents till some turn worth effort (the ones the big teams hunt later). The less talented players will still be usefull for smaller teams anyway. so when they sign a player, either he turn "OK" and remain to serve the club, or he turn great so the club sell him and get profit. For Big teams the "OK" type will turn to be addressed as loss of money, time, and effort. Even if they sell him for a humble price.

Besides, Agents interest is for their players to go the ladder step by step, so they get more profit after each phase and their players get better contracts by time. Thats better than sealing as contract with a big club for 5 years with humble conditions, then spend two years out on loan.

One more factor, players in loan may find it harder to settle and improve. because their mind will be split between the team they are playing for (loaning team) and the team that owns their contract.

Meanwhile, Barcelona is doing something better. Football academies all over the world (some other teams are doing so as well). Hunting talents training them in their home country (cheaper and more effective). Sell the ordinary ones or offload them on early stages where the cost is still negligible, and focus on improving the notable talents for the future of the team.

Hope I answered your question.

I think that often French and Dutch teams do have good scouts but the employment rules for non-EU players requiring work permits is also lower I believe so they are able to sign players that would be refused a permit in England etc.

JC, great stuff. Seems like our first buy should be Monaco's chief scout! :D

I think that the big leagues, so to speak, are more reluctant to risk a roster spot on a player who might not pan out. It still happens (insert Hleb reference here), but not all that often, when you think about it.

It's also worth noting that with such a developed youth system and B team, I think that we're just putting our energies in a different place.

But make no mistake, Ligue 1 is packed with talent. And I don't know if their scouts are all that brilliant as much as they can run the risk. And they pick a lot of African players these days, who are always interesting.

One would believe that the Top European teams from Spain, Italy, Germany and England have the best scouts around the world. But if you look closely, it's the clubs from France and Holland who have the better scouts. have a look at the examples before
1) The Original Ronaldo-Played for PSV Eindhoven
2) Ronaldinho - Played for PSG
3) Ibra - Played for Ajax
4) Tha Yaya - Played for Monaco
5) Essien - played for Lyon
6) Drogba - Played for Marseille
7) Adebayour - PLayed for Monaco
8) Petr Cezh -played for Stade Rennais
9) Keita - Played for Monaco
10) Luis Fabiano - played for Rennes
11) Gabriel Heinze - PLayed for PSG
12) Vedad Ibesevic (Hoffeniem striker, played for PSG)
13) Maicon - played for Monaco
14) Rafael Marquez - played for Monaco
15) George Weah - played for Monaco
(I'm sure I have missed many)
Ok so my question is, why can't Barca do the same as these clubs?

I agree with them too eklavya!!