Here is an email i wrote to snyde. Thought i would share it with you. I am very sad to see him go and i couldnt force myself to write about him. However i was speaking to snyde and this just came out:
Its also a shame that you feel nothing towards samu. But i guess i cant blame you. A lot has happened over the past few months for culés to fall out of love with him. However i only ever saw it as business. What i love about samuel, and the reason why he was my favourite player at the club, is because he is so unforgivably human. He never lived the life of a footballer or acted like a footballer. He was always extremely curteous on the pitch, he always gave 110% in training, he stepped up when he needed to step up. However he doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to voicing his opinion. A lot of footballers remain completley diplomatic, but he says what he wants to say. I see a lot of myself in him to be honest. He was going through a rough patch at fcb, and thats why he said that it's only work for him. He also said that he hates it when players kiss the badge, but just a few weeks later he was doing that at the camp nou. He acts before he thinks, and that's always been his main flaw as a person. But thats also what made him such an incredible player..because he always acted first, and thought later. He was never composed the way a player like...henry is. Henry is graceful to watch because you can see intention in every move he makes. But eto'o just DOES. Thats the only way to describe his style of play. "What do you do samuel?" "I DO". Nothing more, nothing less.
I view the end situation as business. He isn't going to go on to do much after he retires. He isn't going to get a job, and he never has been one for endorsements other than puma. He also wants to have money to give to his charity and to his family. He scored 30+ goals in one season, including a second goal in his second champions league final. He had every right to negotiate a good contract and not get shoved out the door in such a disgraceful manner. As CA said on the forum, ibra took up the front page of every paper, while eto'o was relegated to a side note on the 6th page. He was pushed aside when everyone wanted ibra. And when he stood up and tried to defend his rights to a good contract, people even used that against him, as a reason to want him to leave. He was viewed as the hitch in the ibra deal, nothing more. He wasnt treated as a person or even as a player. In the end he left, and we got ibra. Everything worked out as it should have done, so why isnt the negotiation aspect viewed as just that..negotiation?
In my opinion, he has left fcb as the best striker to play for the club in the post-cruyff era. He is the best not only because of statistics, but because of what he has done for both the club on a domestic and european level, and also how he has pioneered the CF role for fcb. Johan cruyff came to the club and revolutionised the way we play, but so too did samuel eto'o. Im gonna miss him. Grácias, samu. Nunca te olvidaré!
:etoo:
