After a broken heart you look for the opposite
It is curious to see that what one most loved about Rijkaard what now annoys you. It is almost like a lover, where what ends up irritating you is exactly what you fell for in the first place. In the well known battle between him and Mourinho one could do little else than defend a man who assembled gentleman-ness itself. It was almost a crime not to. There was a responsibility towards the fans and humanity itself. How could one even think of taking Mourinho’s side? Unless you were Chelsea supporter. How could Mourinho’s authorative methods be something to long for. Mourinho seems like a man who thankfully is only a football coach, as otherwise he would have been a very dangerous man(as a friend said). His power is just. The two men are almost its opposites, although they aim for the same goal, as so often. Even if I guess that one of them is prepared to go further in order to achieve it.
It is not really that strange that Barcelona fans are longing for what doesn’t exist in their own house. I wonder how long it would take for the fans to want a different cuisine. The opposite of the next opposite, how long would the fling last, or marriage in an optimistic case. Remember that even if Van Gaal had a certain success, (although without the perverse charm of Mourinho) he was never really loved by the fans, much due to his complicated personality. He was completely unaware of the need of some diplomatic skills in order to dance around “el entorno” and his aggressive personality slowly had every one against him. This damned “etorno” who has so much power. The problem with Mourinho is exactly that he needs to proof that he is right, his ego actually need comforting and reassurement. He might be funny and his pressconferences ARE entertaining, but after some time they also become a little bit tedious. His crusade, exhausting. If you are not with him, you are against him, and therefore the enemy.
It wouldn’t really be that long, until the press would be awaiting the bad results in order to attack him, attack his arrogance and ego. He wouldn’t have that safety net that Rijkaard got himself, a safety net that saved him from criticism for a long time. It is also true that he is probably a better coach, that he has a more profound tactical knowledge, he does seem to be able to control dressing rooms, as players do stand by him at any cost, but then again, people do want to be associated with winners at all cost.
Personally I would love to see Rijkaard being the Ferguson of Barça, with the right coaching staff, who actually supplement him I believe that would be possible, it is very likely though that he would really want to. It seems that he has that personality who has no need to constantly prove themselves, who seems quite content with who they are, and being the coach of Barcelona must be extremely tiresome and one must wonder why one has entered into the petty battles of “el etorno”. Mourinho would really thrive on that battle, he would love to show Cruijff that he could be a more successful coach at Barcelona, but it is exactly that personality that is also quite poisonous, it is a personality that would sooner than later divide the public and make the situation unbearable for anyone not on a crusade.
Extra:
I think that Rosell, who is preparing his candidacy, would love to have Mourinho as a part in his campaign, in order to have something entirely different than what Laporta.com offer. In that sense, signing Mourinho now is quite a clever little move, as you are killing your main competitor of his trump card. Unless of course, he has made far too many enemies.
Images:
Barcelona in training.
The Whalestation in Iceland.
Labels: barça, Iceland, Mourinho, Rijkaard, watercolours
posted by Yrsa Roca Fannberg @ Monday, December 10, 2007
3 Comments:
interesting views, specially on both Rijkaard and Mourinho, but two thing as I see them:
Ferguson always kept the distance between himself and the players. He never actually defended a player or whatever else Rijkaard does. Could you imagine Rijkaard treating a player like Ferguson did with Van Nistelrooy, Ince, Beckham, Stam or anyone else throughout his career?
That's to me the reason of his success and that's why I don't see as an example Rijkaard being able to go that way, although I would really wish for, as there's no one better than him there.
And Mou, I think a lot of his antics were there to protect the team. You never saw anyone talking about the team, whether the players went clubbing or did whatever else, but Mou took all the attention himself, and this way his team could work in ease.
I also don't think that Sandro would ride in with the Mou card, but it might just be Scolari, however if Rijkaard decides to leave, which would be an utter pity, I would think that it's interesting to have Mou, or a totally different type of person and everything else, Ernesto Valverde, although it would be interesting to see how he does at a big club with bigger pressure.
But Mou at Barca, Messi, Milito, Iniesta growing up under him, that would be quite something.
I also don't think that you can really compare Mou with Van Gaal. Mou has wit and a good sense of humour, he has real charisma, as a politician, as you say, he would be dangerous. He also makes sure that his players go through the fire for him. Van Gaal never had that. He was obsessed too to be better than Cruyff, but he had nothing on Cruyff. Mou on the other hand is an interesting character at least, and him at Barca would be VERY interesting.
Jordi - I really like your reflection on it, it has made me think about my post a lot.
I think that Ferguson actually protected Beckham a lot, when he had the problems with the red card at WC, same for C Ronaldo and Rooney, but he is also able to turn much quicker than Rijkaard.
I agree that Ferguson has less of a problem to be a jerk.
I think Mourinho's antics were to protect the team, but I am not convinced how effective that is, as one day it will backfire. I belive in Karmas :)
Sandro 2010 won't go for Scolari.
I think Valverde would be a good choice, but I hope Rijkaard just gets better assistants. I blame it all on Neeskens. Joking, but I think his team is not really helping out, but what do I know.
I actually think that Sandro could well present that card - of course it depends what happens between now and 2010.
I think that el entorno, with the club that divided, it is hard to be someone who winds people up. He would have to be approved of the both camps.
Lets see what happens. I totally agree that the youngsers would improve immensely, as he just never takes anything for given, I think it would definetely work with iniesta and bojan who are intelligent and do have some self criticism. If messi is too much of a star, wound up in his ego, he might not be up for any advices.
two other things:
try to download the last episode of els millors anys de la nostra vida..rijkaard again shows what a great character he is and although his replies are not revealing much new stuff, because those who see more to him than the guy who won the titles thanks to Ten Caate, knew it anyway, but it's still great to hear him talk about everything, from club, group, how the players have to sort things out themselves etc.
and I get your point now on people from Iceland and their attitude about unfinished business. Guess no one else wants to play Liverpool now, but with Eidur, you really felt it that he is burning and dieing to play them.
Post a Comment
<< Home