Post by Golden_Boy™ on Sept 24, 2008 15:03:00 GMT -1
Ronaldinho’s Barça Secrets Revealed
A stunning television investigative report has uncovered some hidden truths about Ronaldinho’s downfall at Barcelona, which subsequently led to his departure to AC Milan.
The report was compiled for Canal Plus TV program, Informe Robinson (Robinson Report) by former Republic of Ireland international, Michael Robinson, who is currently one of the top football pundits in Spain.
Robinson interviewed numerous key figures at Barcelona in an attempt to piece together what led to the rapid and sudden downfall of Ronaldinho. Catalan-based daily Sport has excerpted some interesting comments, each individual giving their own account of what happened to the once untouchable king of the Camp Nou.
Joan Laporta
“In the spring of 2007, after a game against Real Zaragoza, we began to see some changes in his attitude from certain players that started to affect the squad,” the club president said, alluding to the incident in Zaragoza where after the game at La Romareda, Ronaldinho and Deco did not board the team bus to return the hotel, choosing instead to get on a private car and made several “stops” along the way.
“In the end, we spoke to him to him to find out what he was thinking and he said to us he wanted to stay and become the best again.
“We believed in him because of all he had done for the club, but it turned out that despite having so many people supporting him, Ronaldinho was absolutely alone,” Laporta elaborated.
Txiki Begiristain
“Everything began to unravel when he returned from the (2006) World Cup. We noticed the changes in the little details: he was not beating players in one on one’s, he was getting injured, he was easily affected by things happening around him, and he was struggling to return to the national team,” the technical director offered.
Sandro Rossell
“He (Ronaldinho) is responsible for all his actions. Perhaps he is not the only one accountable, but he is the main culprit, because he is the one who shoots, runs and jumps… not any one else,” said the former vice president, who is largely considered the man who made Ronnie the marketable icon he is today after signing him to an extravagant sponsorship contract with Nike.
Juan José Castillo
“There came a point in his life where he realized that he did not belong amongst the group. When your life is being run by fifty people from all over the world, it is normal that this happens to you,” theorized Castillo, a close friend of Ronaldinho who helped him settled into his new surroundings when he first arrived at Barcelona.
“He became more disconnected, more reserved and instead of being with friends who would critique him or tell him things aren’t going well, he chose to surround himself with people who would only say nice things to him.
“He was also going out a lot at night, although initially, it was only to release stress or burn off the post-match adrenaline, but soon it became a lifestyle and a habit,” he detailed.
Edmílson
“Perhaps people at the club, from the doctors to the president, to the managers and fellow players could have done more to help him,” the former Barça player, currently at Villarreal, confessed.
“In Barcelona, there are a lot of bad influences that can harm a player and perhaps he did not have the will to stay away from them.”
Eusebio Sacristan
“We spoke a lot to Ronaldinho. We tried to help him by telling him we were all behind him, but we were never sure what he thought because he never expressed everything that he felt,” revealed the former assistant to then-coach, Frank Rijkaard.
A stunning television investigative report has uncovered some hidden truths about Ronaldinho’s downfall at Barcelona, which subsequently led to his departure to AC Milan.
The report was compiled for Canal Plus TV program, Informe Robinson (Robinson Report) by former Republic of Ireland international, Michael Robinson, who is currently one of the top football pundits in Spain.
Robinson interviewed numerous key figures at Barcelona in an attempt to piece together what led to the rapid and sudden downfall of Ronaldinho. Catalan-based daily Sport has excerpted some interesting comments, each individual giving their own account of what happened to the once untouchable king of the Camp Nou.
Joan Laporta
“In the spring of 2007, after a game against Real Zaragoza, we began to see some changes in his attitude from certain players that started to affect the squad,” the club president said, alluding to the incident in Zaragoza where after the game at La Romareda, Ronaldinho and Deco did not board the team bus to return the hotel, choosing instead to get on a private car and made several “stops” along the way.
“In the end, we spoke to him to him to find out what he was thinking and he said to us he wanted to stay and become the best again.
“We believed in him because of all he had done for the club, but it turned out that despite having so many people supporting him, Ronaldinho was absolutely alone,” Laporta elaborated.
Txiki Begiristain
“Everything began to unravel when he returned from the (2006) World Cup. We noticed the changes in the little details: he was not beating players in one on one’s, he was getting injured, he was easily affected by things happening around him, and he was struggling to return to the national team,” the technical director offered.
Sandro Rossell
“He (Ronaldinho) is responsible for all his actions. Perhaps he is not the only one accountable, but he is the main culprit, because he is the one who shoots, runs and jumps… not any one else,” said the former vice president, who is largely considered the man who made Ronnie the marketable icon he is today after signing him to an extravagant sponsorship contract with Nike.
Juan José Castillo
“There came a point in his life where he realized that he did not belong amongst the group. When your life is being run by fifty people from all over the world, it is normal that this happens to you,” theorized Castillo, a close friend of Ronaldinho who helped him settled into his new surroundings when he first arrived at Barcelona.
“He became more disconnected, more reserved and instead of being with friends who would critique him or tell him things aren’t going well, he chose to surround himself with people who would only say nice things to him.
“He was also going out a lot at night, although initially, it was only to release stress or burn off the post-match adrenaline, but soon it became a lifestyle and a habit,” he detailed.
Edmílson
“Perhaps people at the club, from the doctors to the president, to the managers and fellow players could have done more to help him,” the former Barça player, currently at Villarreal, confessed.
“In Barcelona, there are a lot of bad influences that can harm a player and perhaps he did not have the will to stay away from them.”
Eusebio Sacristan
“We spoke a lot to Ronaldinho. We tried to help him by telling him we were all behind him, but we were never sure what he thought because he never expressed everything that he felt,” revealed the former assistant to then-coach, Frank Rijkaard.
