Eto'o now out of LFC game?

[tomasjj]

Fair enough. Although I'm still not sure why being a side foot finisher is necissarily a factor that makes him not what we need. We need someone who scores a lot of goals and consistantly puts away most of the chances they get, how they do it I couldn't care much less to be honest.

I see what you are getting at.
My comment was just a minor point. I don't see him as a natural finisher, more like Owen or Henry, who like to pass the ball into the net with their instep.

[Shaggy]

According to Wikipedia he’s scored 60 goals in 90 appearances for Barca, and 24 in 60 for Cameroon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Eto'o

[The incredible igor]

just got back from barcelona and it seems to be a much bigger deal in engerland than in catalunya.

[ronan]

its huge in spain
this afternoons outbursts is major news
all over marca and now ballague is talking about it

[anfieldanfield]

its huge in spain
this afternoons outbursts is major news
all over marca and now ballague is talking about it

What did Balague have to say about it ?

[Diego]

things heating up at camp Barcelona

things heating up at camp Barcelona...

Eto'o critical of Barcelona coach Rijkaard

MADRID, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Samuel Eto'o has hit out at Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard for saying the striker refused to come on as a substitute in Sunday's 2-0 victory over Racing Santander.

"Telling a news conference I didn't want to play is the behaviour of a bad person," the Cameroon international told reporters on Tuesday.

"They can say what they want but I've always met my obligations to my team mates. If you want to know what really happened you should ask Rijkaard."

The Dutch coach asked Eto'o, who recently returned after four months out with a knee injury, to come on in the closing minutes at the Nou Camp but the striker rejected the request.

"Eto'o warmed up but afterwards told (assistant coach) Eusebio he did not want to come on," said Rijkaard after the game.

"I think it's a shame because every minute, every moment, can be important...I haven't spoken with him but I'm always prepared to talk to the players."

Eto'o, whose outspoken comments have landed him in trouble in the past, said the incident had been built up in the media by opponents of Barcelona president Joan Laporta. "I've found myself in the middle of a war which isn't mine," he said. "There are two groups in Barcelona and I'm the one taking the flak.

"I don't have to give any explanations to anyone. I will only give an explanation to the club if they ask me to."

Link

[Ron_Mexico]

if eto'o feels he wasnt fit then he shouldnt play, teams rush players back all the time. what if he had come on and tore his knee again like the real ronaldo did? in a meaningless game for that matter. i would be pissed at rijkaard too, covering his back and making eto'o look like a dickhead.

eto'o is world class and id have him at Liverpool in a second, i htink he is a rafa player and i dont know why people think hes a prima donna.

[bazza76]

I wouldn't take too much heart from this.
Clubs in turmoil, if even you could call it that, can becaome notoriously hard to beat at times, it can bring them together in times of adversity, Italy in the world cup would be the most recent of a long line of examples. What would it be like if it was Eto'o first game back was against us, what a stage for him to shut everybody up on. People go on about Ronaldihno and Messi, this is the man we should be watching out for, and I think he will play.

[tomasjj]

if eto'o feels he wasnt fit then he shouldnt play, teams rush players back all the time. what if he had come on and tore his knee again like the real ronaldo did? in a meaningless game for that matter. i would be pissed at rijkaard too, covering his back and making eto'o look like a dickhead.

eto'o is world class and id have him at Liverpool in a second, i htink he is a rafa player and i dont know why people think hes a prima donna.

Well, he sure talks a lot, and doesn't seem very sharp imo.
These are matter that should be solved face to face.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ca/6353861.stm

[Ron_Mexico]

Well, he sure talks a lot, and doesn't seem very sharp imo.
These are matter that should be solved face to face.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ca/6353861.stm

yeah he can be a bit mouthy but has the kind of fighting spirit and desire you want in a footballer. and he takes no **** from anyone, i loved his monkey dance he did in response to the racists

in his mind barca and rijkaard have wronged him, and he is making sure it doesnt happen again

it is rijkaard who started it all by saying he didnt want to play to the press, eto'o wondered why he didnt talk to him face to face

[tomasjj]

yeah he can be a bit mouthy but has the kind of fighting spirit and desire you want in a footballer. and he takes no **** from anyone, i loved his monkey dance he did in response to the racists

Well, I don't think he should take ****, but also, he shouldn't dish it out in public like he does.
I guess we have to disagree on this.
I think he is a bit of a **** actually.

[Ron_Mexico]

Well, I don't think he should take ****, but also, he shouldn't dish it out in public like he does.
I guess we have to disagree on this.
I think he is a bit of a **** actually.

fair enough

im not saying what he is doing is right, but i can understand why he is doing it

[tomasjj]

fair enough

im not saying what he is doing is right, but i can understand why he is doing it

Right on.
I guess it is impossible for us to get a hold of what really goes on anyway.
All we see are the media spins.

[Ron_Mexico]

Right on.
I guess it is impossible for us to get a hold of what really goes on anyway.
All we see are the media spins.

absolutely, it's easy to get caught up in the stuff that happens off the pitch with the media being how it is now, when all that really matters is what happens on it

[AFII]

Samuel Eto’o made the transformation from substitute to whistle-blower last night with an astonishing attack on Frank Rijkaard, the Barcelona coach, and the accusation that the European champions are a divided team. With only a week to go before the next round of Champions League matches, the internecine warfare will be music to the ears of Liverpool supporters.

The Cameroon striker was incensed after Rijkaard and Ronaldinho made comments about him after Sunday’s 2-0 win over Racing Santander at the Nou Camp. Rijkaard claimed that Eto’o had “refused” to take the field with seven minutes left, prompting Ronaldinho to suggest that his co-star should think more about the team than himself.

However, as Eto’o launched his counter-assault, the waters were further muddied when Joan Laporta, the Barcelona president, said the player had merely been concerned about a knee injury and that “when he speaks to Frank it will all be cleared up”. That is unlikely to be the case given the very personal nature of Eto’o’s public remarks. As well as questioning Rijkaard’s integrity, the suggestion that the team is divided into two factions will cause concern among the Barça hierarchy.

“Mr Rijkaard is the one who said what he said,” Eto’o said. “He is the one who has to speak to you. It’s a bad person who gives a press conference to say that Eto’o has refused to play. If anybody has balls they should tell it to me face to face.”

Warming to his hatchet job, Eto’o then rounded on the squad. “At Barcelona there are two sides, two groups,” he said. “One is the one of the president and the other related to another person. The others are those that are worried.” That other “person” is Sandro Rosell, the former vice-president, who as the head of Nike’s South American division helped to lure Ronaldinho to Catalonia.

“When he was my boss,” Eto’o said, reportedly of Rosell, “he never said hello and now he comes from behind to attack me. That really is a bad person.” Ronaldinho, too, did not escape the fury of a striker scorned. “If a teammate says that you must think of the team, it’s up to him to think of the team,” he said. “Personally I always think first about the group and then money.”

Eto’o has scored 68 goals for Barcelona since arriving from Mallorca in 2004 and has been voted Africa’s top player for the past three years. He was also third in the Fifa world player award of 2005.

He has not been a stranger to controversy, however, and was fined €12,000 (about £8,000) in May, 2005 for insulting Real Madrid, his former club, during Barcelona’s title celebrations. His strength of character was also evident when he threatened to walk off the field during Barcelona’s game away to Real Zaragoza after being racially taunted by home supporters. It was no surprise that Laporta was happy to back Eto’o, given the indelible links between Rosell and his galácticos. “His knee needs time to warm up and he didn’t have enough time,” Laporta said. “He preferred to be careful. He didn’t do anything inappropriate or wrong.”

With Barcelona still leading La Liga, Laporta might argue that talk of civil war is overstating the case, but Eto’o was happy to pursue the military analogy. “This is not my war, but this is a war,” he said. “I’m in the middle of a war between two people and I’m the one who is taking all the punishment. But I will return to play.”

Eto’o is on the comeback trail from a knee injury picked up in Barcelona’s Champions League match away to Werder Bremen in September. The chances of him making his European comeback against Liverpool a week today would now seem to be very slim.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle1381490.ece