A brief respite in the packed calendar before the next European season means the start of an entertaining, risky and frustrating sideshow called the transfer market. It is possible to reflect on the past and how it informs the present. The 13th anniversary of an atrocious piece of Barcelona summer market business that didn't have the same financial penalties as their recent misadventures is just around the corner. At the time, Barcelona had just won the treble, only the fifth club to do so, andPep Guardiola had emerged as a catalyst, not only for his club, but for a particularly exciting and intricate brand of football. Despite the best form of his career, Samuel Eto'o was told he would be offloaded in order to bring Zlatan Ibrahimsson from Inter Milan. It was foolish for enough adults at Camp Barcelona to think that Zlatan was worth more than Eto'o. The 46 million fee was paid for the privilege of pushing out a ferocious, free scoring, Tasmanian Devil force of nature to do so. It's ridiculous. Zlatan lasted one unhappy season in Blaugrana, while Eto'o immediately became the only player in history to win the treble in consecutive seasons. It took Eto'o 21 months to win the LaLiga, the Copa del Rey, the European Championship and the Italian league. Is it 'oops!' or something else? - ESPN+ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more (U.S.)
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- Don't have ESPN? Get instant access It was indefensible both in its original form and in retrospect. When Eto'o went into his national team's dressing room after their narrow win over Burundi, he used some juicy language at the players. Eto'o is not an easy man to live with. They were trying to qualify for the next African Cup of Nations so they could play in the World Cup. You might think that a win by Cameroon at the end of a tiring season was a victory. It's not Eto'o. He saw a lack of an "all or nothing" attitude. He lost it. The person filmed him in the dressing room. Who thought it was a good idea to give it away? #Cameroon FA boss Samuel Eto'o: "No one has a guaranteed place. You have to do your job. Whoever wants to come and wear the Cameroon jersey, he does his job when he is in this team. Otherwise, he does not come and I'd be happy. I would play with children."pic.twitter.com/kuSSJ73FPh It was ironic that Eto'o, who was constantly in dispute with his national FA, his employers at the club level, his teammates and the media, should immediately use his new position. It wasronic that Roger Milla put the boot in on Eto'o when he was on his way to the World Cup. Milla said that Eto'o had done little for the Indomitable Lions. Eto'o threatened not to play for his country at the World Cup if that was how he was seen. It was a ludicrous situation that was avoided, and Eto'o scored both of the goals as they were eliminated from the World Cup. I wonder if Eto'o was aware of the possible consequences when he ripped into the current squad while in Tanzania. He took Milla's words as badly as he did, so was he aware that some of them would take it badly? I'll reproduce most of it here because it wasn't a long verbal battering. "I'm not happy, not happy at all. I have to pick the Cameroon team and those of you who don't want to put the work in can f--- off. I don't care who you are. Everyone must do their job. "Do you know how many tears I've shed over the years because of all those lost chances in the World Cup? I know exactly why we didn't make it back then, and I have no intention of letting it happen again now. Not as long as I'm president. That's why I took this job: to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. "And it doesn't matter who you are: no one is guaranteed a place in my team. Everyone has to earn it without exception. If you want to wear the Cameroon shirt, I expect you to knuckle down and put the work in. Anyone who has a problem with that will not be part of my team. I don't care if I have to pick a bunch of kids to go to the World Cup. "I was exactly where you are for 20 years. I know exactly what you're thinking, and you're probably all calling me a b------. But I was the best and even I ended up where you are now. "I'm going to give you everything ... I'm going to turn my entire life over to getting you in the best shape for this competition. And I'll go toe to toe with every single one of you if I have to. You're here now, and I expect you to put the past and all its baggage behind you. For me, nothing matters more than Cameroon. There's nothing greater or more beautiful than this country of mine. I'd die for my country, and I'm going to do it proud, with or without you. "If you intend to join me on this journey, then I want to see some graft. And don't make the mistake of assuming you're in my squad. In fact, if I see another performance like the one I saw today, I can tell you now you won't be going anywhere. I need much much more from you. "I had beautiful experiences as a Cameroon player. We had exceptional teams, but we lacked any kind of unity at a basic human level, and that's why i didn't get my World Cup. This time around that's going to be different. I need the players in this team to connect on a human level. To enjoy being together, living together. If we get that right, nobody will be able to stop us." There's a beautiful game here. You can watch tournaments and teams.
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It's a type of rant you would imagine giving to a group of players if you were suddenly in charge. "try harder," "show more pride," or "don't be under any misapprehensions that I'm the big bad boss" are reasonable themes. Most of us think that these themes are important to a team's under performance. It's not clear whether it's dangerous to attack modern, well-paid, pampered professionals like that and let it be seen in public or whether it's effective.
Eto'o hid for months in his sister's flat in France in order to enter that country illegally when he was a child, and he tried to throttle a club employee who had awarded an offside against him.
He is this. He was driven by a huge, volcanic and volatile inner fire that led him to speak the truth as he saw it, to not fear retribution and to treat every training session as if it were life or death. For those who didn't get to see him in full flow back in the day, this video is for you.
Think for a moment. Who are you aware of who are like this? Is it possible that every detail is cut from the same cloth? I'm pretty sure those from whichever club or national team are successful and well-regarded by their peers.
Serbia, Switzerland and Brazil will be watching this bout of "Eto'o-ism" very closely. All of them are trying to find a little bit of that Eto'o style aggression which will improve their squad.
Barcelona lack all-or-nothing, naked competitive aggression in their squad, even though they need to cut costs. Some of the intangibles in Erling Haaland have been added by both Manchester City and Begiristain. He's a guy who goes to war day in, day out despite his talent and physical attributes. It's great to recognize him.
How do they identify and successfully lure more guys with the Eto'o spirit that they once had and lost? That is going to be a long, hard and possibly futile task.
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