Good-Bye Ronaldinho

It's official now, Barcelona has agreed terms with A C Milan for the transfer of their biggest star Ronaldo de Assis Moreira. According to the official site, the deal is worth 21 million euros, plus a 4 million for performance related objective. Ronaldinho would be in Milan today for a medical test to p[rove his fitness. Technical director Txiki Begiristain explained that the deal was made possible by ronaldinho who readily renounced his right to 15% of transfer fee. He also added that the club was trying to find the best possible solution for Ronnie, where he could be happy. Whatever Txiki claim, it's crystal clear this hasty transfer conclusion was made possible by Ronaldinho's open defying of Barcelona management by staying back in Brazil for preparation of Olympics. It was clear from the time Guardiola took charge, that Ronaldinho was not in the scheme of things. The club was trying to make the most of the player and stalled his transfer by asking insane amounts. But with Ronaldinho openly revolting, they knew that they have to settle the issue as soon as possible; otherwise that could lead to unrest in the dressing room. Whatever Pep may claim, this guy still will comment immense respect among his club mates. The likes of Messi and Iniesta grown up in his shadows.

This brings to end one of most loved partnership between a club and a player. When Barcelona brought him in 2003 and to the time he is leaving, he has simply taken the fans by storm. The first three season was like a dream come true. First from the middle of the table he took Barcelona back to the top. Then two spanish league title and a great Champions League triump; all courtesy of Ronaldinho. But the last two season he has been in sharp decline. His fitness dropped; even then he was occasionally producing the magic. Hope he will recreate his magic in Milan. He should be m,otivated there as he get a chance to play with Kak and Ronaldo. Moreover he will not be the biggest star in Milan - it will be Kaka. So he has to first de-throne Kaka.

With Barcelona confirming Ronnie transfer, the rumours regarding Arshavin has suddenly sprung to life. Barcelona might again go in for a bid which could topple the 18 million offered by Chelsea and Arsenal. Nothing can be said as if now, let's see how thing unveil.

Football's Olympic Dilemma

My friend Nic, from Fcbnews.com has written a post about Ronaldinho's decision to skip the first team training and instead join the Olympic preparatory camp with a very controversial title More Indiscipline from Ronaldinho. Barcelona has stated from the start that they will not let their star players leave for low-key affairs like Olympics. Many Barcelona fans at FCBNews also hold on to the same argument of Olympics being a low key affair. They point out that why you should represent your team when football is not going to take the centre stage. This is pretty odd, what are they calling a low key affair; Olympics - It is the biggest sporting spectacle in the world. If football takes a backstage in Olympics then that is precisely because of the enormous scale of the event. With the same argument why should a player like Hleb participate in World cup or Euro qualifiers, when he precisely knows that his team is the weakest in the line? Do these stop them from fighting for their country?

Let me conclude about the situation in Barcelona before getting into the bigger picture. Who is responsible for this Olympic mess? I have only one answer - Pep Guardiola. He was the one who insisted that he will not let Messi join the Olympics. He made it so tough for the kid, that he could only conjure the courage to state his decision when he was in Argentina. Pep's statement of not including Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto in the scheme of things did add fuel to fire. Till that statement was made, Ronaldinho never stated any intention of going to Beijing. Pep is giving a great impression of being an absolute disaster in man managing. If his idea is to bulldoze through his troubles, I have to warn him now that he could be in for some troubled ride. He needs to be decisive but in matters he can control. His insistence for not letting Messi go to Beijing was stupid, as the club was bound to let him go. The club's and coach’s insistence should have made life somewhat miserable for Messi. But Ronaldinho's case is somewhat tricky. It cannot be judged or analyzed in the same way as Messi's case. Barcelona as a club does not have to release Ronaldinho to national duties. But does Barcelona have the moral authority to ask him to stay? Absolutely no; especially when it is been publicly stated that he is not in the future plans of Barcelona. The club has been insisting insane amounts for his departure. Ronaldinho might have been two time world champion but his present form is a shadow of the past. He is over weight and not fit. Instead of trying to off load him to the best place which can afford him, Barcelona still insist on high price. They conveniently for got that this is the same player who in just three years turned back the club once again in winning ways. A player of Ronaldinho's capabilities should not be insisted to play reserve games and it looks like that could be in Pep's scheme of things. Ronnie has been indulged in excessive partying last season and precisely that was because of Barcelona's inability to discipline the player. But now its clear that he could only renovate himself at some other place. Ronaldinho by making the decision to stay in Brazil could be sending a signal to Barcelona to lower their asking price with Milan. He will be fined for sure, but if they can't off load him that is going to split the dressing room. Now is Barcelona justified for asking that high price? Again the answer is no. Why? Because he is a shadow of the WPOY. So Milan obviously will have doubts about going for him; if he was that good now, will Barcelona ever think of selling him? Barcelona fans have been asking Ronnie to show loyalty and report back to club. Yes, I do agree that he is bound to do that by contract. But this cry of loyalty is same as the one we heard when Santos signed for Totenham. You have to show loyalty at places where you are respected. In both these players case Pep and company never showed any kind of respect. If Barcelona is paying insane amount to Ronaldinho, that is because they wanted to keep him here a year ago. Don't portray a scene of Barcelona doing some kind of charities to these players. In this backdrop I completely disagree with the post titled More Indiscipline from Ronaldinho by Nic. We all are fans of this wonderful club, but that should not make us shut our ears on the other side of the story.

Now to the bigger picture, if you look the whole scene there are a number of players who are insisting that they wanted to represent their countries in Olympics. In Europe and South America it's the U-21 and U-20 championship which serves as the qualifier for Olympics. In rest of the world they have Pre-Olympic tournament which serves as qualifiers. Brazil and Argentina qualified from CONMEBOL. From Europe it was Serbia, Italy, Netherlands and Belgium who qualified. The tournament it its form is an U-23 event and allows a maximum of three players who are over the age of 23 to be included in the squad. Surprisingly In South America, there is a rush of seniors trying to get into the side, whereas their European counterparts are least interested. This makes the entire event a low key affair as far as Soccer is concerned. The usual reasons given by the senior players in Europe are of course the stress it is going to cause them. But surprisingly more and more players from South America see it as a pride to represent their country at the Olympics. There is no sporting spectacle as big as the Olympics. If there is a concept of a sporting event being "More than just some sport or games" it is this. The likes of Federer and Nadal are jumping into the Olympics squad. Federer sees it as a moment of immense pride to carry the National flag at the Olympics. Most of the stars of other team events would die to represent their countries at the Olympics; but not the footballers - especially the Europeans. They all are interested in playing for their clubs and making sure that they have an injury free season ahead. Europeans club are fighting among themselves to see how many players they can stop from going to Olympics. On this backdrop the International Olympics Committee should take steps to counter these greedy clubs. They should make it mandatory for FIFA to get the three over-aged players listed in the squad released from club duties. Actually try to raise the number of over-aged players; then we will know the real spirit of European footballers. These over-paid players will never like to share and stay with other mates in an Olympic Village.

Barcelona Agrees on Hleb

If you remember my last post, there was news of Hleb showing his displeasure against Wenger. I have written that that could be an indication of Barcelona closing on him. It looks like I am going to be proven right. Almost all the major sport websites and daily has reported the closing of the Hleb deal by Barcelona. Barcelona seems like have paid somewhere around 18 million for the Belorussian. Inter Milan and Bayern were interested in him, but Hleb is said to have a keen desire to play in the Barcelona uniform. The player who was born in Minsk has started his career with Dinamo Minsk. His preferred position is the attacking midfielder role. From Minsk he moved to F C Bate. It was during this time Stuttgart scouts spotted him and eventually led to his transfer to the club. In 2005 Arsenal bought him for 15 million. He did shine in matches but was overwhelmed by the presence of Fabregas. He was also not helped by the fact that Wenger played him out of his position. In that backdrop it's still a big question mark where he will play in Barca. He is supposed to take the position of Ronnie, but his preferred position is the attacking midfielder.

In my last post, I reported a story of Laporta resigning which was broken by Sport. Laporta has denied this after a frantic board meeting on Tuesday. If you consider that one trouble is over, just wait for the next one - Ronaldinho is insisting on his rights to represent Brazil in Olympics. Ronaldinho has said that "Going to Beijing is an honor". He sees Olympics as the best chance to re-kindle his form and fitness. But the club has said No to Ronaldinho's participation in Olympics. It looks like Ronnie is very much unhappy with the way Barcelona treated him during the transfer saga. They are not yet able to find a club for him and this could complicate matters. But like as in the case of Messi, I am with Ronaldinho for this. I believe that a player should not be stopped from representing his country, let whatever be the circumstances. This also put into question the commitment of European players to their national pride. If you analyse carefully all the players who are fighting with the club to make into Olympics are from Latin America. European players seem like happy with the money. By the way it looks almost certain that Messi will represent Argentina in Beijing. All the best for him and kudos for making a brave and wise decision.

Other news are - the arrival of young Brazilian player Henrique to Barcelona. He is considered as a player of the same capability as Jose Edmilson. But Barcelona hopeful signing of Hernan has stalled. The club very soon will withdraw from negotiations with Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo is not ready to lower the price tag and Barcelona as usual is not ready to pay a bit more. But the latest rumour is from Goal.com. Goal has reported a possible Barcelona bid for Valencia's David Silva. Silva was the best Spanish player in Euro. Valencia is reported to be in some financial crisis and would be thinking of selling one of their stars.