23.06.2007 13:00
"Rijkaard is the best coach who there is"
Sandra Sarmiento
Samuel Eto’o believes that Frank Rijkaard is the best coach in the world and that he is already looking forward to having a great campaign next season.
During the club’s recent trip to South Africa, the Cameroonian forward reflected on last
season and looked forward to the next one in a frank interview with Barça TV and
www.fcbarcelona.cat. The striker spoke openly about a whole range of matters.
You must have been delighted to have arrived to such a warm welcome in South
Africa...
"They cheered all of us. I think that Barça is more than about one player and they received
us all in a special way. It shows that Barça breaks down frontiers. I am happy because I am from
this continent and I am proud that my brothers can see myself and my team-mates in the flesh. Also,
those that were not lucky enough to see the game in the stadium, will have felt the sensation of
being close to us."
Is this trip any consolation after the blow that the team had last Sunday?
"I do not think it is like that. There is nothing you can do to help forget last weekend
except to ensure that next season we have a great campaign. Anyway, we will always know how close
we came this year."
How would you sum up the season and, above all, the run-in?
"I do not want to talk about the league only. In general there were things that we did not do
well and now we must focus on rectifying all those things that did not go well and improve them
before next season.
The team looked all set to move to the top and stay there, but in the end they could not.
Why did things go wrong at the decisive time?
"In life things can happen that you cannot explain and now we just have to look ahead to next
season. We have a chance to have another great year because we have an exceptional squad and we
know we can win things once more. Everyone has to improve on what went wrong this year."
What things did not go right?
"I think that the directors, the coaches and the players all know what we have each done
wrong. We do not have to come out and say whether it was this or that, we simply have to improve
the situation and I will be the first to do that."
Joan Laporta has talked about lack of commitment among the players. Do you agree? Do you
understand why he would say this?
"The president is responsible for everyone at the club,
including the players. He said what he thought and I am not going to argue with him. The only thing
I will say is that this season has finished and we can no longer do anything to change what
happened. The only thing we can do is to improve on things next term. For that reason we will have
to battle and, above all, have the desire and ambition from the first day that we step back into
the club. We want to rediscover the desire to do great things, to win titles and to make the
children happy when they come here to see us."
People are talking about the application of the new set of rules...
"At every club there is an internal code of conduct. What has happened is that we had been
lucky enough to have a great coach who is very calm. Each club has their own system and we have
been fortunate because there are coaches who are very hard and who react differently to certain
situations, like we have had throughout the season. In general I think that they believe it will be
good for the squad and it is normal that in any club where everyone has their own way of doing
things there is an internal code of conduct."
Do you think that Madrid were better than Barça?
"If they won, then they have been the best"
As simple as that?
"I think that whoever wins the league is the best."
Have Madrid's celebrations, which attacked you personally, bothered you?
"I was waiting for that because I made a mistake two years ago. It was obvious that it would
happen. I did not hear things directly, but people have told me about it. I was expecting it and
now it has finished. It is all part of the game."
With your injury, has it been one of your hardest seasons?
"It has been my most difficult year. Now I want to rest for a few days and then I will ensure
that I am ready for next season. I really want to be back out there and play like I did in my first
two seasons here. I played three or four months of the season and, although it was not all bad, I
could have done things even better. It is not only about the game either. My reference points are
my first two seasons here and I want to build from those. My only desire now, and it will be the
same when we all return to pre-season training, is to be fit and ready and to be able to enjoy
playing alongside m team-mates again."
Do you feel that you have made any mistakes?
"We all make mistakes. Not because I was right or for how things turned out. I think that we
all have to share the responsibility. I am as much to blame as the next person. I at Barça to take
all the good things and all the bad too and I cannot hide when things wrong or always come out when
things are going well. You have to assume your responsibility and that is why we play for Barça,
the best club in thw world. I have things to blame myself for in all this, just like everyone has
to."
Do you think that the team missed your goalscoring?
"No. What I think is that we are very good and that we have believed things that we have been
told by others. We have a magnificent squad. We have the best player in the world in Ronaldinho. We
have Messi, who will be as good one day. We have a great goalkeeper, one of the best defences in
the world, then there is Xavi and so on. We have also been lucky to have had players that have not
always had the chance to play all the time, but too have been great. But I think that maybe we all
listened too much to the praise we were receiving, everyone telling us how good we were. We are
very good, but as the coach ahs said to us before, if you do not work hard then you will not win
games."
Why do you think that people constantly talk about problems between you and
Ronaldinho?
"It will always be the same. I understand the media, but any
fights we have are like those between a husband and wife because we always reconcile our
differences and make up because I need them as much as they need me. What happens is that they
always need to create characters. there is the outspoken one, the good one, the bad one, th ugly
one, the one who is prepared...and that is what has happened to me. But I am happy because Ronnie
and I know the truth and it does not affect either of us. If someone does not have confidence in a
team-mate then he cannot talk to the other person, but Ronnie and I are always talking to each
other about things. We know that we have an important role at the club and that we have to give
more than everyone else. That responsibility is ours. Hopefully, that will change next season for
the good of the team, but I have a feeling that things will always be like this.
"What really did hurt quite a bit was when they tried to say things were bad between me and
the coach. It was partly my fault because there are times when you want to use a word and you put
in another one instead and everyone is ready to pounce. But have absolutely no problem with the
coach. I am delighted that he is the coach because I think that he is the best there is. I really
want to stay here now. Some months ago it was not so clear and I said something. Now it is clear
and I think that when the desire is there and when all the people that I see that want us to
succeed I have no thoughts about moving to somewhere else. I know that there have clubs that have
wanted to sign and I want to thank them because they have appreciated how I play, but now my desire
is to stay with FC Barcelona for many years to come and feel very happy."
Why were things not clear earlier on?
"When I picked up my injury I really wanted to have a great season. I started well, but then
I spent a long time away from team-mates. I think that it did not help that I spent so long away
from the club and stopped seeing my colleagues. When I came back I felt strange, like it was a new
squad, but little by little I found my place again and everything returned to normality."