Barcelona strike me as a singularly insular club. For a side that has achieved such great things and continue to find success to this day, it’s a little strange that they continue to have a real ‘us v them’ attitude. Strange and sometimes stupid.
Take, for instance, these recent comments from Barcelona president Sandro Rosell. It seems he has grown increasingly frustrated with Premier League clubs approaching young Barcelona stars.
“Manchester City want to take our players and destabilise us. It also happens with Arsenal, who come after our young players and offer them lots of money. Now City have joined in. We are the enemy to beat. There are a lot of people who don’t want Barca to do well and don’t want us to win.” (Source: London24)
Whilst I get the point he’s trying to make, I think the way he makes it betrays the attitude I have already spoken of. Whilst Barcelona are a fantastic side, clubs like Arsenal and Manchester City do not spend their every waking hour attempting to figure out how to de-rail them.
As for the point about snapping up younger players, Arsenal may have to take some responsibility here. It’s up to Barcelona, however, to persuade them to stay when other clubs come knocking and in many cases, they have been lax.
What’s more, these comments seem a little rich from Barcelona, who have snapped up Thierry Henry, Alexander Hleb (ha!), Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song from Arsenal. In many cases, they have also used under-handed tactics, like playing the media, in order to push a transfer through.
These are genuinely some of Arsenal’s best players and Barcelona have shown no sensitivity in the manner in which they’ve pursued them. They were able to pay under the odds for Fabregas and Song because they used the media to draw them out and make their position at the club untenable.
Whilst there are guilty parties on both sides, it does seem a little rich for Barcelona to raise this issue as though they are an innocent party.
Until proper regulations regarding young players, media manipulation and more are put in place regarding the transfer market, these complaints will continue. Sandro Rosell may well be angry, but that doesn’t make him any less unreasonable.
What’s your take? Who’s in the right here?
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