[han2503]

Media Stunned As Eto'o Blasts Ronaldinho, Rijkaard

In a rather surprising - yet not completely unexpected - turn of events, Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o has hit out against Frank Rijkaard for telling the press that he did not want to play, and also at teammater Ronaldinho for suggesting he should think more about the team.


It was a monologue of sorts in front of a tongue-tied - but hastily scribbling - media, as the Cameroon international went about speaking of the substitution that never happened on Sunday.

While a response had been expected, the sheer ferocity of the attack has caught people by surprise.

"It was a bad thing to come out and say in a press conference that I did not want to play," said Eto'o, starting with Rijkaard.

"It is those who said I did not want to play that must answer you," continued the belligerent forward. "Those who spoke should be worried."

He then went on to train his guns on Ronaldinho: "If a teammate tells me that I should think about the team, then he must first. Everything I do is while thinking about the team. That is why it has upset me so much.

"If they can, they should say it to my face."

He then suggested that there might still be groupism at Barcelona, and that as a result, certain people [Ronaldinho?] could be unhappy with his return.

"At Barcelona, there are two groups, one of the president, and another of someone else [Rossel? Rijkaard?] and they are the ones uphappy now that I have returned.

"I have no problems at all. This is not my war. It is between two other people but I am being used.

"I have listened to everything, and all I will say is that I will return to score goals."

Samuel Eto'o is known to be a player signed more at the behest of club president Joan Laporta. It is widely known that both Sandro Rossell and Rijkaard had other preferences despite themselves differing on a lot, and the Cameroon international has suggested that it might still be playing a role at the Camp Nou. Ronaldinho's relationship with Rossel has also been tossed back onto the debating table in one stinging attack.

[dst]

We have 4 super-class forwards, we don't need more, not for next season at least. What we really need to work for is defense and midfield a bit.

4??

OK now I may not like Inzaghi but I guess I'm not the only one who thinks he's not super class (at least not now). Gilardino and Oliveira are good but if you call that supper-class then what was Sheva!??

Ronaldo only can be called a "supper-class" forward and but he's had his best days a long time ago.

Maybe if we work on the defence and midfield our forwards will be enough of an attacking force (I don't believe that's the case myself...) but in any case they are not supper-class, not all of them for sure!!

[misha]

4??

OK now I may not like Inzaghi but I guess I'm not the only one who thinks he's not super class (at least not now). Gilardino and Oliveira are good but if you call that supper-class then what was Sheva!??

Ronaldo only can be called a "supper-class" forward and but he's had his best days a long time ago.

Maybe if we work on the defence and midfield our forwards will be enough of an attacking force (I don't believe that's the case myself...) but in any case they are not supper-class, not all of them for sure!!

I agree with that. The problems of our striker are:
Gila - He is in and out of form all the time. Unpredictable and need to prove himself in important games (like CL).
Oli - Has a mental problem following his sister situation. I believe if the problem will be solved he can play much better next year.
Pippo - He is past his prime , but can still sometime give good games. If he decides to stay most probably will be a bench player.
R9 - If he will be in shape and injury free (to much injury prone) can give 2-3 good years.

I would try to bring a top-class striker for next year (Eto'o, Torres ...) instead of Pippo but maybe it's just me.

This post has been edited by mishale: Feb 16 2007, 01:58 AM

[bigmacmtl]

I agree with that. The problems of our striker are:
Gila - He is in and out of form all the time. Unpredictable and need to prove himself in important games (like CL).
Oli - Has a mental problem following his sister situation. I believe if the problem will be solved he can play much better next year.
Pippo - He is past his prime , but can still sometime give good games. If he decides to stay most probably will be a bench player.
R9 - If he will be in shape and injury free (to much injury prone) can give 2-3 good years.

I would try to bring a top-class striker for next year instead of Pippo but maybe it's just me.

we need a world class striker. we've seen all the problems that we got with the current strike force and i dont wanna hear excuses. ronaldo will help but we cant have him as plan A and not have a backup. it's not like we're getting ride of gila or oli. we must bring in support striker because we still dont have a legit one even tho we've tried oli in that role.