Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Barca Woes

In an apparent attempt to continue my string of jinxes (Are you aware that I singlehandedly ended the Warriors' span of 35+ 100-point games?), uncertainty continues to rise from the Nou Camp, with suggestions running rampant over the futures of both Ronaldinho and unsettled striker Thierry Henry. (Champions League pick--bye bye!)

  • Speculation has long surrounded Ronaldinho, who has played only 1/3 of his teams games this year and is oft-cited as Roman Abramovich's next big target.
  • Now, however, it appears that Thierry Henry deeply misses his daughter, who still lives in London; thus, the French international is reportedly mulling a move back to the EPL, with Barca insisting that they would be willing to entertain offers (15-million pounds plus) for the disgruntled former Arsenal man.

Two points of note here:

  1. It speaks to Barcelona's depth that they could afford to lose 2 of the top 10 players in the world and still manage to compete--and, to be sure, they can. With Leo Messi and Samuel Eto'o, both of whom could also arguably be placed in the world top 10, the Catalans should be OK. With the money they'd make for Ronaldinho and Henry, they could surely afford to buy some first-rate young talent. (They always do.)
  2. Henry's departure from Arsenal epitomizes the tendency for stars to underappreciate their situations. Why couldn't Henry have stayed at Arsenal, where he could play under the world's finest manager and become a one-team legend (like Ryan Giggs at ManU and Alan Shearer at Toon)? To leave a top-10-in-the-world club for another is a precarious decision--because, in reality, things can only go downhill. Now it appears that Henry could head to Man. City, Newcastle, or West Ham--all of which would be a far cry from the Nou Camp or the Emirates.

Lesson learned.

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