Frederick Kotlar
08/27/2020 - 6:00
- Clarín.com
- sports
"Never attribute to evil what can be explained by stupidity."
The phrase, known as the Hanlon principle , applies to multiple planes of life. Does it have something to do with the sensations that Lionel Messi is going through these hours, after having seen how Barcelona's decisions were increasingly distancing him from the club?
It is difficult to know with total certainty, given the hermetic public silence imposed by Rosario after having sent the famous burofax to the Barcelona offices. But at some point he will wonder if all the missteps (were they missteps?) That Barcelona took in the relationship with him in recent days may be due to incompetence. Or if, rather, everything obeyed a plan.
Messi had acquired a healthy and dangerous habit. In a world of soccer in which - as in life - almost everyone loses more than they win, he raised glasses every year. Little by little, that story changed. The Champions League, the great objective of each cycle, is foreign to him from 2015 to here. And in this last season there were not only no celebrations, but the Spanish League went to Real Madrid and the European road was closed with the embarrassing fall against Bayern Munich.
Messi's sadness during the game against Bayern. (Photo: AFP)
Shortly before that sad outcome, Messi had been elusive to discuss with the club the renewal of his contract, which expires in June 2021 and offered him, as everyone knew in these hours, the possibility of declaring himself free at the end of every season. Barcelona's public statements in the face of Leo's attitude always aimed to show his predisposition to dialogue and to come to fruition.
After the Lisbon debacle, Leo chose silence and went on vacation. Meanwhile, Barcelona - with Messi's renewal on hold - started the reconstruction and the steps that were taken seemed to aim more at distancing himself from La Pulga than at approaching him.
The departure of Enrique Setién was inevitable, after a few months in which the team never found the necessary strength to reach the big goals. Far from hiring a replacement who could put together a team tailored to Leo , the Catalan club went looking for Ronald Koeman, a Blaugrana legend for his achievements as a player but with a career without much brilliance so far as a coach. At least for the level of an elite institution like Barcelona.
In his presentation at the Catalan club, the Dutchman assured that his intention was to retain Messi, whom he considered "the best player in the world", although at the same time he made it clear - first warning? - that he only wanted within his project to players with a total commitment.
Bartomeu and Koeman, in the act of his presentation as a new coach. (Photo: DPA)
The Argentine interrupted his vacation shortly after to have a meeting with Koeman. " I'm going to be inflexible , you have to think about the team," La Pulga heard that day . It does not seem coincidental that in the face of that spirit he expressed that he felt "more outside than inside" the club.
But not only did the meeting differ from the harmony that Leo had with other coaches, but also shortly afterwards part of what was discussed appeared in different media. Messi attributed the leaks to the leaders and added a new reason for the anger.
As early as Monday, the news that Koeman had fired Luis Suárez in cold terms after six seasons at the club reached Leo's ears early. His main partner on the field, but also his friend, said goodbye in pursuit of the Koeman project. Another hostile message.
It seems to have happened in another world, but just six months ago, when the world was just beginning to talk about the coronavirus pandemic, a scandal with Messi in the middle had shaken Barcelona: the club had to terminate its contract with the I3 Ventures company , accused of being linked to attacks on the team's own players on social networks. A situation for which president Josep Maria Bartomeu had to give explanations to both Messi and Gerard Piqué. It's hard to believe that by now that wound has completely closed.
It is clear that the signals that Messi received pointed, due to incompetence or perversion, to a rupture. But one wonders: could Barcelona really want to let go of the greatest idol in its history?
One thing is for sure: if the Catalan club's leadership had any will contrary to the continuity of Leo , it would be political suicide to admit it publicly. The out-door attitude will always be to show amazement at the situation and ensure that everything possible is done not to disappoint the fans and achieve their continuity. Like now.
But the concrete thing is that no one inside Barcelona will have closed an account: the team pays the best salaries in the world and has been five seasons without achieving sporting achievements according to that.
The technicians passed, the different players passed - although the base in these years has been maintained, and consequently it also aged - and the titles were limited to the domestic sphere. Too little for a club that barely competes with one or at most two teams locally.
One of Leo's possible destinations is Manchester City, in the Premier League. English is a football with a lot of physical weight, in which Messi most likely has to add some intensity to his game and there is no longer room for those moments in which the rest of the team contributes to the recovery of the ball and he lacks of responsibilities. In the last five seasons, that structure did not work for Barcelona at the height of what it needs. And it is not difficult to believe that someone in the Catalan club understands that Leo, beyond his indisputable talent and his remarkable contribution in the offensive game, was part of the problem.
If something was missing in Barcelona for everyone to believe that it was time for renewal , it was 2-8 in Lisbon. Of course, all the plans had Leo inside the team , but from the steps that the leadership and Koeman took since that day it seems that, if they did not want him to leave, at least they did not do much to retain him .