[Cal-FCB]

Good suggestion by Nolan to make Samu a thread so I obliged.

Samuel Eto'o Fils was signed age 23 from Mallorca in 2004 for around 24m Euro. His time at Barca has coincided with one of the greatest periods in the club's history. In his 5 seasons at the Camp Nou Barca won 3 La Liga titles, 2 Champions Leagues, and a Copa Del Rey, whilst Eto'o won a host of individual accolades such as the pichichi in 2006. His goalscoring record has been nothing short of phenomenal, with 108 league goals in just 145 games, he is one of the leading scorers ever at FCB. He has also spearheaded two of the greatest strike forces in recent times- Ronaldinho Eto'o Messi, and Henry Eto'o Messi.

Alongside his consistent goalscoring exploits, his attitude on the pitch has always kept him a favourite with Cules. Even during rough patches, his dedication to the side and constant running up front highlighted his character perfectly. When hit by some major injuries (07 and 08, during which Barca won no titles) he always expressed his determination to come back and score goals again. In both cases he finished the season with a goal ratio of better than 2:1 in La Liga. Whilst he sometimes allowed his passion to spill out off the pitch, this was normally due to a lack of thought than ego or a lack of commitment. One classic Eto'o moment that will always be remembered fondly is his "Madrid, cabron..." during the title celebration in 2005.

His determined nature has again been displayed in his final season at the club. After being told he could leave by new boss Pep Guardiola last summer, he proceeded to outperform every other player in preseason to win over his new boss. Eto'o repaid the faith Pep showed in him by scoring 36 goals in all competitions. This of course included the opening goal in the Champions League Final, where he made Nemanja Vidic look amateur. His final goal for club, it was typical Eto'o- pace, quick feet and a natural strikers finish. After a nervous start the goal calmed his side and gave the game a momentum that never changed. Perhaps the perfect send off for Eto'o.

He joined as a promising African striker with attitude problems. He leaves as a club legend and one of the greatest strikers of the decade.

Cheers Samu

This post has been edited by Cal-FCB: 23 July 2009 - 12:04 AM

[yusuf423]

club legend and will be sorely missed

[LaFuriaBlaugrana]

This topic will be rightfully pinned.

[Los_Merengues]

Shame he was forced out the door.

[yusuf423]

i know

[JAMAIN]

Los_Merengues, on 23 July 2009 - 02:09 AM, said:

Shame he was forced out the door.

Which door are you talking about?

You must mean Real Madrids...

He came from the enemy in his early 20's feeling undervalued and underated. Laporta and Tixiki took a gamble and made him our main, go to stiker partnering him next to a then motivated and amazing Ronaldinho. These two got together and tore up Spain, won applause at even the Bernabue and brought cups back to Barca. Eto the 'Galacticco' that never was (at least in Perez's eyes) conquered Europe and made Barca history in the process. Ego's, jelously and bitterness eventually humbled him at times. But in the end under Pep, Eto was redeemed and showed what kind of player he can be with something to prove.

Eto goes to Inter unlike how he came to Barca. Established and recognised as one of the best strikers in the world. He may be the best or least the most predatorial striker of his generation. You sense he hounds defenders and tracks back, not so much because he wants to help the team, but because he knows he can't score again without the ball. I loved that obsession he has in his game. He leaves us with Two European Cups, Three Spanish titles and a Copa Del Rey. More than that though, Eto got in the end what he craved for from the very start. RESPECT as one of the best.

I remember when he use to be owned by Madrid and playing on loan for Marollca. He scored a goal in the game against the Blanco's who thought he would never be good enough. To celebrate he rushed up to the Madrid bench and in front of all their players and coaches pointed his finger down to the ground. As if to say this is where I belong!

Today he can go to any big club in the world and do the same thing and no one would dare disagree.

Inter has gotten a champion in Eto. We will always remember him for all the championships he helped us win.

This post has been edited by JAMAIN: 23 July 2009 - 06:20 AM

[Los_Merengues]

JAMAIN, on 22 July 2009 - 11:17 PM, said:

Which door are you talking about?

You must mean Real Madrids...

Oh come on, even you must see that he was forced out of Barca's door.

[Impeh!]

etooooooooooooooooo





and yeah he was kinda forced out..

[Aasim]

What a sad day for the club I always though we would keep him until he's 33 and he'll then want to move to Mallorca.

Fantastic player. Great memories. Superb goals.

Thank you Samu for everything.

[JAMAIN]

Los_Merengues, on 23 July 2009 - 06:54 AM, said:

Oh come on, even you must see that he was forced out of Barca's door.

He was forced out, but every big player draws to a close at a big club at some stage.
What will not change is that he leaves a champion.
The way a player leaves is a very small thing in the end, compared to the achievements.
Eto had many during his time at Barca. Thats what history will remember. Same for Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and other great Barca players before them.

ps. Except Figo. Figo is a dog.

[Los_Merengues]

Pep didn't want him when he took over as coach and despite Etoo's goals he didn't want him this summer either. That is a bit of a difference between as you say "big player draws to a close at a big club at some stage" and telling him to f**k off despite his prolific season.

Yes he achieved alot but he is at the peak of his career which meant he could of achieved more.

[yusuf423]

Spanish Inquisition: The Mistreatment Of Samuel Eto’o
Goal.com’s Cyrus C. Malek explains that Joan Laporta’s callous treatment of Samuel Eto’o this summer crossed an unspoken boundary…



From refusing to come on as a substitute to head-butting a reporter, Samuel Eto’o has never had a reputation for docility. Outspoken in the press and frequently lacking in terms of tact, he is a controversial character who certainly has his faults. But to Barcelona fans, Eto’o is an idol, serving as one of the principal reasons Barcelona have been as successful as they have been during the course of this decade.

A Real Madrid youth product, Eto'o was never given the opportunity to break into the Merengue first team. Instead, the Cameroonian was loaned out to second-division outfit CD Leganés and then to Mallorca, being transferred in full to the islanders in the 2000 season.

After four years at the club, Eto'o finally departed Mallorca as the club's all-time leading scorer in La Liga with an impressive 54 goals. While then-Madrid president Florentino Perez was keen to bring him back to the Bernabeu, and to loan the player out again, Eto’o instead decided upon a more lucrative offer to move to arch-rivals Barcelona; it would be where he would etch his name into the history of one of the most storied clubs in the world.

Eto’o made his Barcelona debut in the season opener at Racing Santander in 2004 and, alongside Ronaldinho, instantly helped lead the Blaugrana to success as the Catalunyan club would win the Liga title. His first season with Barcelona was not without incident though: during a Barcelona match at Zaragoza, Eto’o was subjected to racist monkey chants whenever he touched the ball and some reports even claim that the crowd threw peanuts at the player while shouting racial slurs.

Rightfully incensed by the bigotry, 15 minutes before the end of the match, Eto’o decided to abandon the match and began walking off the pitch towards the tunnel as cameras caught him saying "Ya no juego mas" [I'm not playing any more]. Players from Barcelona and Zaragoza, training staff from both teams, and the referee managed to persuade the player to continue the match, but the incident reigns as one of the darkest moments in Spanish football.

Nonetheless, the outrageous incident seemed to motivate Eto’o further and the next season would spell much more success for the player as Barca would repeat as Liga champions and take the Champions League trophy in Paris. Eto’o was particularly superb over the course of the year and came away with the Pichichi (the award for La Liga’s top goalscorer) in the final matchday of the season and also won an historic third consecutive African Player of the Year award.

The next two seasons were difficult ones for both Eto’o and Barca as the player suffered a number of injuries and had a series of very public exchanges in the media with Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho while Barcelona lost their Liga supremacy to Real Madrid for two consecutive years. After the 2007/2008 season, Barcelona president Joan Laporta began making fundamental changes to the Blaugrana squad and it was widely speculated that Eto’o and his distracting antics would be included in the Rijkaard-Ronaldinho-Deco et al. exodus.

Instead, the Cameroonian international found himself in a Barcelona kit come the season opener and under new coach Pep Guardiola, Eto’o rediscovered his world class form, leading La Liga in scoring for most of the season (missing the Pichichi by two goals) and helping Barcelona win an unprecedented triplete in the Liga championship, Copa del Rey title and Champions League trophy.

In five seasons at Barcelona, Samuel Eto’o scored an astronomical 108 goals in 145 appearances, becoming a fan favourite and one of the most effective players that has played for the Blaugrana in the past decade. Eto’o not only scored goals for Barcelona, but also scored crucial goals. In the 2005/2006 Champions League final, he forced Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann into a crucial mistake as the German keeper was sent off for bringing down the striker just outside the area. The expulsion forced Arsenal to play almost the entirety of the match a man down, but Eto’o did not stop there in helping his team; he scored the equalising goal in the second half and Barca would go on to win the trophy.

This past season, Eto’o delivered a crucial goal in the Camp Nou against Real Madrid, a goal that tipped the pendulum in Barcelona’s favour and re-established a new balance of power in La Liga after Real Madrid’s two years of superiority. And once again in the Champions League final against Manchester United, Eto’o delivered with flying colours, beating Man U goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar to score the first of Barca’s two goals and bring another Champions League crown to the Catalunyan capital.

Despite all these crucial contributions to Barcelona, this summer has once again (and this time somewhat inexplicably) seen Eto’o as the subject of transfer rumours with Joan Laporta publicly shopping the player around in the hope of seeing David Villa in a Barca shirt.

Last summer in the Spanish capital, arch-rivals Real Madrid undertook a similar strategy, very publicly dangling starlet Robinho over the transfer market as a bargaining chip with the hope of bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu. The Brazilian took offence with such treatment and by summer’s end, Robinho forced his exit from Los Blancos, leaving the club with no suitable replacement.

While the Eto’o case is somewhat dissimilar in that Barcelona seem to have secured an insurance policy in Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the principle remains the same: as a player who helped Barca reach the heights of footballing glory on more than one occasion, Samuel Eto’o deserved far more respect from Barcelona’s front offices than he received.

When one contributes as much as Eto’o has to Barcelona, one expects a certain measure of dignity and prudence when it comes to business affairs and this summer, Joan Laporta reduced that sacred relationship to one of an irreverent monetary exchange. Big mouth or not, Eto’o was invaluable to Barcelona and for the organization to turn its back so dishonourably on such a valued player has to send a disparaging message to the rest of the Blaugrana squad.

If the Ibrahimovic deal comes to fruition and Barca are able to improve with the addition of the dynamic Swede, then perhaps all will quickly be forgotten. But if Barcelona do in fact falter, the summer Eto’o saga could well forecast a tumultuous season for Barcelona—a situation that will only be compounded should Barca face Inter in the Champions League next season…and Eto’o be given his opportunity for redemption.

Cyrus C. Malek, Goal.com

------------------------------------------

it is no fluke that when he was injured our team never won no titles and when he was healthy it was the best stretch in club history. at still 28 i would rather him stay with us then go with ibra at the same age

[FCB-Mo]

ETO'O ETO'O, COMMENT TU T'APPELE, JE'MAPELLE SAMUEL!


An absolute fucking disgrace the way the club treated him.

[LaFuriaBlaugrana]

I hope he scores against us in the Champion's League. How hilarious would it be if Inter win the CL this year? It won't happen, their team is too shitty, but Inter is slightly less hateable now.

I don't really feel bad for Eto'o, he's making more money than I will see in my lifetime per year playing for the Italian champions, but I hope both Pep and Laputa are aware that they have made their Zlatan shaped bed and will be sleeping in it no matter what happens; if this fails they will be disgraced even if the alternative is Rossel and the Nike All-Stars

[Cal-FCB]

I always felt after 5 seasons and the success of this past one it was the right time for Samu to leave. We could try something new up front to keep things fresh and he could move to any club that could afford him. But this should have all been handled behind closed doors. Pep and Laporta should have sat him down and thanked him for what he has done, but also suggested it feels the right time to change things a little. It has been handled very poorly in the public eye and you can't blame Samu for feeling unhappy about things.