Everything’s Cool at Barca. Really.

By: Martha | November 23rd, 2007

A couple of days ago, Barcelona’s normally quiet Edmílson caused a rather massive storm by telling the press there are people on the team for whom football isn’t the main priority. According to the defender (who may or may not be on his way to Newcastle) the unnamed bad seeds “think differently because of the money, the success, the fame, the girls, easy things. … At times players make their job a secondary consideration, you know. People think ‘I am going to train quickly and then I have to go and do a publicity stunt.’”

Not surprisingly, Barca fans instantly figured out suspected that the “black sheep” in the team is actually one man, by the name of Ronaldinho — a newspaper poll showed him to be the choice of 55 percent of respondents, with Lionel Messi and Rafa Márquez joint second with a whopping seven percent of the vote each.

Apart from the fan frenzy/laughter/condemnation, Edmílson’s outburst led to a lot of activity within the club, including a players-only meeting and a meeting by the Barca board to discuss the issue. God damn. The board decided they didn’t need to take any action, while during the team meeting, Edmílson is said to have apologized for taking his concerns public (notice not even coach Frank Rijkaard has said there wasn’t good reason for the player’s concerns, just that he chose the wrong place to express them). And now? Everything is hunky-dory at the Nou Camp again.

(Or it is, at least, until they lose to Recreativo Huelva this weekend.)

Edit: Reader BC helpfully dug up the poll in question and posted the current standings in the comments — sweet Messi is down to 3%.

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Category: Spain La Liga, World Football

Tags: Barcelona, Edmílson, Ronaldinho, Spain La Liga, World Football

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Comments  

• Andrew |  November 23rd, 2007 at 4:27 pm

  
  
  

  Wow, 7% thought Messi? But he seems like such a pleasant little fellow.

  Posted from

  

• Mat |  November 24th, 2007 at 4:40 am

  
  
  

  ya, can’t believe these “fans” of barcelona…Messi??? for God’s sake all he has done is come and play amazing football..do they want him to go away too?? he is having a gem of the year and this is what the fans think…really strange!

  Posted from United States

  

• Mat |  November 24th, 2007 at 4:42 am

  
  
  

  and unlike some other players…Messi has never ever been speculated of wanting to go anywhere else ..because he is committed to the club..remember the kiss on the badge after the third goal against Madrid?? ..just priceless

  Posted from United States

  

• Martha |  November 24th, 2007 at 6:45 am

  
  
  

  Mat, I don’t anyone wants him to leave, they just thought, with all the hype in his life, he might be one of the guys getting distracted from the game — that’s a long way from wanting him out!

  Posted from United States

  

• BC |  November 24th, 2007 at 7:29 am

  
  
  

  Well, I think he is overhyped at the moment and that his effectiveness could be improve if he was less “chupón”, even Cruyff has pointed it out lately but the english-language is probably miss-understanding. Pretty easy to check, the poll seems to be this one

  http://www.sport.es/encuestas.asp?idpublicacio_PK=44&idioma=CAS&result=1&cod_encuesta=4185

  and the results are a bit different, maybe new votes or something

  ¿Quién cree que es la oveja negra del Barça?

  56% Ronaldinho
  3% Messi
  7% Eto’o
  3% Gudjohnsen
  3% Deco
  6% Márquez
  2% Henry
  8% Edmílson
  4% Rijkaard
  9% Otro

  also, I don´t think the poll is about who they think edmilson meant, I would interpret the question to be about who the person responding personally thinks is the black sheep. I would vote Rijkaard, just because he has some pretty big responsabilities when it comes to tactics.

  Posted from Portugal

  

• Martha |  November 24th, 2007 at 7:52 am

  
  
  

  Thanks, BC — the articles I was using must have been written before the poll was closed; I’ll update the post to point down here to the more recent results.

  Posted from United States

  

• Sprinter |  November 24th, 2007 at 3:19 pm

  
  
  

  “(Or it is, at least, until they lose to Recreativo Huelva this weekend.)”

  3-0 Barca

  Posted from United States

  

• Linda |  November 25th, 2007 at 2:11 am

  
  
  

  Those who voted Messi are living on a different planet. Those who voted Edmilson (8%, heh) deserve a cookie for having a sense of humour.

  Posted from Australia

  

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