The Three Invisible Men at Barcelona

By: Daryl | December 5th, 2007

The 3 invisibles

This little cartoon was spotted in the Spanish media by Striker from the always-worth-reading Spanish Football and Sports blog. For those at the back, it’s a commentary on what the Spanish media initially dubbed Barcelona’s “The 4 Fantasticos” of Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o, Ronaldinho and Leo Messi. The second frame reads the “The 3 Invisible Men,” which is a dig at all the Fantasticos except young Leo Messi.

Thierry Henry hasn’t been doing the expected va-va-vooming in Barcelona (and didn’t last year at Arsenal either, so with the recent return of his old-man stylee back problems it might be time to wonder whether Henry’s best days are officially behind him.) Samuel Eto’o has been injured all season, but recently got the all clear from Barca’s doctors, so his invisibility may begin to fade (or should that be unfade?) in the coming weeks. Which leaves us with Ronaldinho.

What a fall from grace. In 2006 he was the darling of the football world (staunch Real Madrid fans and a still troubled by nightmares David Seaman excepted.) He was the happy go lucky genius with the famous toothy grin and a seemingly endless flow of brain-boggling skill. Pre-World Cup 2006 it seemed like at least half of all YouTube content was Ronaldinho roasting a defender.

But a disappointing World Cup was followed by a stop start La Liga campaign (slightly masked by an impressive scoring record, though mostly from dead balls) then skipping Copa America 2007 and now an even worse La Liga campaign where he’s been accused of partying too much, continually substituted and benched by Frank Rijkaard and even had Edmilson imply that Ronaldinho’s attitude made him a “black sheep” in the Barcelona dressing room.

I’d love for Ronaldinho and Henry to recapture former glories, mostly because they’re both a joy to watch when doing their thang. But Messi’s usurpation of the two superstars (unintentional of course, but it’s definitely happened) highlights just how cyclical football is and how quickly heroes can disappoint. When Henry and Ronaldinho were in their prime a couple of years back it seemed inconceivable that we’d ever be talking about them in such disappointed tones. But it happens to everyone eventually. It hasn’t happened to Leo Messi yet and I hope it doesn’t happen for a long time, but one day we’ll all be talking about how Messi isn’t the player he used to be, while some kid no one’s even heard of yet will be the new hot talent.

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Category: Spain La Liga, World Football

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Isaiah

I posted a much longer thought on the Barca blog, here.
Isaiah

Mac: absolutely.

Nolan: I sort of disagree and sort of agree. I think that we'll see a revival of the "old" Ronnie when Eto'o and Deco are back in the squad and up to speed. Naturally, everyone plays well with those two, but Ronnie works so well with those guys that it's like some sort of magical potion has been poured on the field. The sum is greater than the parts...
Nolan

Isaiah, I think Ronnie was a huge part in our failures last season...yes it was the dense that ultimately let us down, but Ronnie's horrible work weight clearly rubbed off on the rest of the team. One of the things Cruyff among others has criticized us for recently is we are too slow - we have no sense of urgency or directness. Our attacks are too slow giving defenses time to shut us out. Ronaldinho is largely responsable for this, and I think we have looked much better with Iniesta on the left...not that this is the only problem, as the Villarreal game showed.

It's hard to put all the blame on Ronnie but I do think now is the time to sell him.
Mac

And that's why the man runs the Barca Offside Blog :D
Isaiah

I think it's interesting to note that the fears over Henry's ailing back were brought up by most Barca fans (and repressed vehemently by Arsenal fans) back in June. As for Eto'o, he's only played one competitive game this year, so expecting him to be "visible" is like asking what the hell's up with that Maradona fellow, how come he's not scoring any goals?

As for Ronaldinho, that's a toughie. He had a mediocre year last year relative to expectations and this year has, indeed, been worse. I blame this "depression in form" on Eto'o's prolonged absence and on stubbornness. The two of them had such an amazing connection which created an unbelievable number of goals per game played. I doubt that that connection is gone, it's just that Eto'o was injured for the better part of 6 months (3 months on the sideline with a torn meniscus and then he was rushed backed) and then he promptly got injured again. When you lose that connection, that outlet for your passes, that almost telepathic connection with a striker of immense ability, you'll naturally have a dip in form. Defenders were forced to spread out against Eto'o's speed and Ronaldinho's flair, which played perfectly into Barca's hands.

That Ronaldinho is surrounded by almost immeasurable talent is what brings me to the second part. His seeming unwillingness to adapt his style of play to the way others in the squad play is why I believe his current "bad" form has extended so long. It should be noted that while he's not scoring goals, Barca is not exactly floundering in the depths of the league. Still, I do blame Ronnie for not being willing to open up a bit. It's just that you, like the rest of the media, are falling for the idea that he should be scoring 50 goals a year.

Ronnie has never been a goal-scoring machine. Last year's tally of 21 league goals was 4 more than his previous best of 17. In fact, during the 04/05 season, he scored 9 goals, but was considered the best player in the world. That he has already scored 5 goals in 9 league appearances this year seems to suggest that he's doing fantastically well. He's been injured, after all...

The statistical analysis could continue forever, of course, but my main point is that Ronnie isn't doing all that badly at all. In fact, he's covered quite well...Messi, of course was injured a couple of times during this run, but the sporting press, the tabloid jerkoffs that they are, don't seem to remember how Ronaldinho is a solitary man, not 11 players. The defense was to blame for last year's title loss (Betis game anyone? Espanyol?), not Ronaldinho (who wasn't on the field for the Espanyol game).

Anyway, just thought I'd point that stuff out.
lefutur

That young kid will be Samir Nasri.