I am a true Barca fan and i like all the players in the team. But Eto`o imo is too selfish. Dont you think so? He has so many chances but his finishing is poor. Imo he should pass more. For example in Barca - Mallorca...he had many chances ( ok he scored 2, but the first was a little lucky and second was 1 m so he just had to put it in) but there were more chanses what for Eto`o were like half-chances, but IF he had passed the ball to Giuly, then it would have been a definite chance - Giuly just would have touched the ball and it would have been in. Like when somebody passed and Giuly was alone in front of goal but Etoo was with the ball in a very hard and short angle - he made the shot instead to pass... But he wanted to score a Hattrick or like last year he defenetly wanted to win top scorer award and shooted every time he got the ball but i think thats why he didn`t won the top scorer award - he just wanted to score everytime he got the ball instead to wait and build the attack to create real chances.

He had the assist on Deco's goal, the winning goal, at Werder Bremen two days ago.....

He is suposed to try and score as much as possible.... He is our loan striker.

He is class.

I agree entirely. Eto'o is one of the most selfish players around. He plays for himself, not the team. Yes a strikers job is to score goals but he shoots or tries to regardless of better options around him. He puts his own agenda above the teams and its obviously to the detriment of Barca. His attitude contradicts the whole Barca ethos.

I also agree that his finishing isn't great, he misses a lot of chances. All he really has is blistering pace, which makes him the player he is. Other than that his finishing could be a lot better, he doesn't play for the team, he has poor technique and hardly any skill. Not among the very best strikers in the world IMO.

I disagree 100%. YOu have not watched many Barca games the last year and this year thus far. He is always always passing with the other attacking players. This is a very inaccurate conclusion you have drawn IMO.

Detriment of Barca? Yeah, they only one La Liga for the first time in 5 or 6 years with him scoring the most goals of the team.... 'detrimental' for sure......

Clearly you don't know what you are talking about if you say he doesn't ahve any skill and ONLY has pace... you have not seen him play enough....

African player of the year 2 years in a row..... You think his 24 goals last year were all pace? Come on, you are the type of biased hater that makes me angry.

roga, read the post properly. Eto'o is clearly not to the detrimrnt of Barca, however his selfish play is. If he played for the team and chose the right option, it would benefit Barca, no doubt about it.

I watched most Barca games last season, Eto'o plays for himself, he constantly turn down better options to get a shot at goal.

Eto'o CANNOT be more beneficial to Barcelona. He is a poacher yes, a vulture that takes care of tapping in easy goals... but that's his job. He is a striker, and is in no way detremental to Barcelona, as a matter of fact he is what made sure they got the title last year as he put in many of the 1-0's from last season.

Big mouth yes, no intelligence yes, very arrogant yes, team player no.. but that's his job.

ROGA you must admit he is at least a little guilty of selfishness. He had a great season last year but toward the end of the year it seemed like he was more worried about getting the pichichi than playing for the team, and Barca's play suffered. They didn't play nearly as well as the season went on and I think part of the reason was Etoo. At the beginning they were playing as a cohesive unit and it showed. Last week against Mallorca he was VERY selfish, more than usual, iMo

Yes. This is usually a fault of all of the great strikers. They tend to be selfish. I'd rather my striker be selfish than too unselfish. I agree that if a striker is tooo selfish, it can detract from his effectiveness on the team. Certainly, Eto'o could stand to be a bit less selfish, however, that is something a Striker usually learns over time more.

As long as he keeps scoring goals like mad, then I'll forgive some sins of overly selfish play.

Brief examples of selfish strikers that score(d) loads:

Romario
Ronaldo
Adriano
Cantona
Shearer
etc.

BNuddy I am not biased nor a hater, Im from Scotland why would I be biased lol.

He obviously has more than ONLY pace, but in terms of world class players, which he is considered to be, it is his pace that makes him who he is.

His other attributes ie flair and technique are poor compared to other player of his level. He has decent movement too.

His 24 goals las year were down to decent finishing, decent movement, his awesome pace and the fact that he plays as acentral striker in a 4-3-3 in one of the best, most attcaking, fluent teams in the world and has ronaldinho, giuly, Deco and Xavi creating for mainly him.

His only world class attribute is his pace.

To me it seems as though you are just an Eto'o fan who is not willing to discuss the possibility of any negatives of your player.

Yeah, and they won 2-0 with two goals from Eto'o.... That is being the laon striker for Barca, his job if you will... what he gets paid to do.

A good striker is always selfish in front of goal... they get paid to be just that.

I'm just tiered of the constant anti-Eto'o threads in the Barca forum... he is the biggest reason we were able to win la liga.

Cantona and Shearer arent/werent selfish mate. they both play for the team and have good football brains. The other 3 are selfish, especially Adriano, who is a great player but would be better if he took the right option mor often.

For the record Carlos, I said his selfishness was detrimental to Barca not him/

Yeah, so selfish that 48 hours after being in the hospital overnight for a head concusion, he scores 2 headers and takes 3 others for shots on goal... that's the type of anti-team player I don't want on my team............

Yeah they won, and Etoo got his goals but the team didn't play particularly well. Don't you think they could have had even more? If you are OK with your team winning like Chelsea do then that's fine. But if I were a Barca fan I would want to score as many goals as possible while playing the most attractive football.

What game were you watching? Barca dominated Mallorca.....

Also, if Barca plays bad, it is the fault of our striker now????

They dominated in terms of posession but they didn't play like they did in the first half of last season.

Im not putting the blame solely on Etoo's shoulders just that he was a factor.

Listen Roga, this is my opinion of Eto'o....

He has scored a shitload of goals for Barca, nobody can take that away from him, fair play to the guy. The bread and butter of a strikers game is goals, so yes, he does his job and is undoubtedly a vital asset to Barca. However, despite his great goal, ratio, ther are many parts of his game which arent that good, the main one for me being that he is greedy, not even an attribute, just an attitude. ther are plenty times during games he elects to shoot or go it alone instead of playing in a team mate in a clearly better postion.

IMO he is quite a good finisher, not up ther with the best, he does not have great technique at all for a player with his standing in the game, doesn't have much flair and doesn't have a good football brain. He has obviously blistering pace, good enough movement and is also good in the air.

Nobody can take away what he has achieved but IMO he is not up ther with the greatest strikers ie Henry, Shevchenko.

His only top class attribute is his pace.

I think the refs dominated Mallorca, but that's off topic.
Anyhow, I think Eto'o fits the shoe, but beware of his desire to be pichichi.. that could hurt you guys in the end.

Ps.
Motta re-injured himself, out another week.

Last year, 24 goals, La Liga Champions:

This year, 3 games, 3 wins, 0 goals agianst, 4 goals for the team, Eto'o with the goal or assist in 75% of those 4 goals. The other being a penalty that Eto'o selfishly let Ronaldinho take........

Closed case. Eto'o is the most selfish player, and Barca is suffering for it.

Do you have the same criticism of Romario from his prime? Of Ronaldo?

Certainly it Eto'o can be better in this regard, but again, for me I don't have a problem. I'd like it if he was better but it hardly bugs me right now.

Anyway, keep it friendly, I could be wrong, but it seems your a bit perturbed. We're all friends here.

First of all since when do players decide who takes the penalties?? I thought that usually the coach decides.

Listen ROGA Barca are a great team, the best in Spain and top 5 in Europe. This is for sure an enviable problem, shit I wish we were arguing about this in the RM forum.

However teams can ALWAYS improve and in the case of Barca, I think they can play MUCH better than they are now. I honestly think they can be THE best team in Europe. Im just saying that if Etoo was more of a team player they could possibly get there.

BTW Josh I have criticised Ronaldo for this same reason many times

Of course he and the team can improve, but he is much more than just a guy with pace. That is my point.

My other point is, the last thing you want a striker and leading scorer to be thinking is PASS FIRST....

Roga, its clear u will just back eto'o regardless and use any kind od argument in his favour. Im talking about his play on the field mate, he doesnt play for the team. Do u honestly believ that he chooses the option he feels is the best for his team?

As for being in hospital 48 hrs prior to the game. Yes, his appearance would undoubtedly help Barca but it would also help etoo himself. This has nothing to do with his on field play and anyway, he seems so desperate to win the pichichi he wouldnt want to miss games.

I disagree. IT shows good character, and strong fight FOR THE TEAM. Name one top class striker that thinks pass first... just one.

I've been saying this FOR YEARS, anyhow he is no Sheva or Ronaldo, who can do more than run fast and shoot hard.

Despite the fact that he often carries the team on his back.

To Mikaldinho, yes, I do think that Eto'o does play for the team.

I think it boils down to a difference of philosophy. Aside from the fact that this is just a matter of opinion, some people prefer that their striker be selfish, some others don't.

None of us are on the coaching staff so I guess it is rather academic.

Dude, u don't want any player to be thinking to this first or that first, unless u r in trouble at the back, obviously clear it.

U want to assess the options, if the shot is on take it, if the pass is the better option, its common sense and best for the team to take it. Simple as that.

As for the penalty thing, dude, it just looks like your trying to find more arguments in Eto'os favour. Ronaldinho is the penalty taker, Eto'o never let him take it.

Guys like Henry, Sheva even Ronaldinho although not a striker, is a flair player but he plays for the team.

Edit: as for the hospital thing, its not too relevant here IMO, it shows strong desire to play, no doubt about that. Eto'o could have had many reasons for wanting to play, could be to help the team, most probably, Im sure he was also thinking about the pichichi though, he also doesnt want to lose his place to Larsson. Regardless, it doesn't change the way he plays on the pitch.

Also, if non-playing attitude comes into play, I have never seen a player so obsessed with individual awards ie African Footbaler of the Year and pichichi as Eto'o is, yes everybody wants to win these but not many disrespect ther fellow pros(Drogba) when asked about it and I feel such emphasis on personal awards shows Eto'o's attitude.

I disagree. I want my striker to think score first pass second. Ideally I want him to make the best choice. If he has a easy pass to someone in a great scoring position, I prefer him to make that pass than take a difficult shot. So there is some common sense I would expect of my striker. But I want them to have shoot on the brain!

Well mate, u say he's selfish then say he plays for the team, its a total contradiction.

As for your question about ronaldo, yes I would say the same, though not to the same extent. Its hard to say about Ron in his prime as his runs etc were for the benefit of the team, more often than not he could just create an opportunity out of nothing, still applies now but not as much. I would say he can be selfish, not as much as Eto'o.

Romario was a poacher, many times his best option was to shoot. He used the ball well though and also had the ability to to things like chip the keepr from outside the area etc so it aint entireley selfish like Eto'o.

Edit: Guys, look at my short evaluation of Eto'o a few pages back. If u disagree with any of it, bring it up.

I disagree that it is a contradiction. Again, I think it is a matter of philosophy. I want my striker to be more on the selfish side than on the unselfish side as I believe that will lead to my team scoring more goals which will lead to my team winning more games. Consequently, I believe the striker is doing his job and, hence, playing for the team.

I see no contradiction there.

There is no right answer here. You have one philosophy and I have another.

Well dude, no offence but to break it down "playing for the team" is a term regularly used in football, it means put the best interests of the team ahead of your own.

Your hypothetical argument is true, but, in practice say eto'o, for, example picks it up and drives toward the box with 2 men in his way, giuly is making a good run into the box but eto'o either elects to shoot when he is clearly blocked by the defenders or tries to beat them in order to get the personal glory of scoring and the goal for his side as opposed to setting up Giuly for a much easier chance of getting the goal for his side, without Eto'os name on it. This is the type of thing I see from him and it aint really a matter of opinion, the correct option and best for the team is the pass. Simple as that.

That's cool. But to point out a techincality, there is no such thing as the correct opinion. There is one person's opinion....his beliefs. He can not be wrong about what he believes. You can disagree, but if you tell me chocolate is better than vanilla, can I tell you you're wrong?

I do know a thing or two about the game as I've played it for over 25 years and watched high level footie for about 10-15 years.

I think you might be misunderstanding me. I agree with your criticism of Eto'o. He can definitely improve in his passing before taking a bad shot. My point is that I'd rather my striker err on the side of being too selfish than being too unselfish.

I respect your opinion very much. Mine happens to be only slightly different.

I totally realise the technicality, hence the word "really" and really, no need for the ice cream analogy lol. I Also would defo rather my striker be too selfish than not be prepared to take responsibilty and shoot, nonetheless IMO it is undoubtedly better to shoot when appropriate, pass when its the best option. Eto'o does not do this.

Ironically in his search for personal glory, he gets criticism from the likes of me and football pundits, he would look a much better player if he did what I, along with just about everybody in football as playing for the team.

I agree with Joshinho, we can argue all day about what Eto'o can or can't do, cause there is no perfect player.

I know that we "can" improve, every team can improve. But as of now, I wouldn't trade Eto'o for any other striker in the world. Adriano, Henry, Sheva got nothin' on this cat.

Just my humble opinion.

Yes he does! That is what makes me upset... that statement that Eto'o does not pass when he has no shot... that is exactly what happene don Deco's goal 2 days ago. Eto'o had no shot, laid it off to Deco, and Deco scored the winning goal...... Eto'o DOES do this.

I never saw the game, but I take your word for it. But in all seriousness, he isn't going to shot every time he gets the ball, and no doubt he does sometimes take the right option, of course he does but it doesn't mean he does it as much as he should do.

There are countless examples of him being greedy, turning down a pbetter option.

This aint no attack on Eto'o, Barca or u Roga, just what I see him do.

No ofence bud but Im sure if u wern't a Barca fan, u wouldnt be saying that. Those 3 are better players than Samuel Eto'o in most peoples eyes.

Why is everyone "bud?"

Personally, I'd much rather have Eto'o than Henry. I would rather have Adriano than Eto'o.

For Shevchenko, I'm not sure. I call that a push, imo.

Joshinho, he's lucky he even gets called bud. I just said that to keep the peace, he said Henry Sheva and Adriano "got nothing on Henry" without any explanation as to why, when all the evidence suggest otherwise. Of course its all down to opinions but since he voiced this one so emphatically there are many worse things I could call him than bud.

As for u, well I could not disagree more, you'd much rather have Eto'o than Henry? Why, except age?

Agree with you on those three. Adriano is the only clearly better option for my view.

Well, personally, I think the way you have been using "bud" in this thread is rather condescending (i.e. disrespectful). Condescention would imply that your opinion is better than another's. There is no need to talk down to anyone here. If I'm off base there, I apologize. If I'm close, I request you please use a more respectful tone with people as it usually leads to a more enjoyable & fruitful conversation (you'll find that we actually require people to be respectful in the board rules).

Regarding Eto'o & Henry, I prefer Eto'o for two reasons.

1) I'm of the opinion that Henry tends to disappear in the "big" games. Personally, I think Eto'o is better under pressure than Henry.

2) As you pointed out, Eto'o is younger and also less injury prone now.

btw, there are bojinov & giuly video highlights here: http://www.soccerpulse.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=58557

You'll find at least two instances where Giuly ran on to a ball that Eto'o could have called. Eto'o, unselfishly allowed Giuly to take it as Giuly had better positioning on those balls.

I think when it comes to handling the ball and placing a shot in the upper V, Sheva is miles ahead of the group.

See the problem with these last comparisons is that you're comparing apples and oranges, these forwards have different attributes that fit their team's style of play.

Eto'o might not work in Inter and Adriano might not work in Barca.

Sheva is the kind of forward that will end up passing the ball to Inzaghi more often than not, while Adriano's sheer "baptista-like" strength and speed is waht drives the Serie A defenders nuts. Eto'o is a fast and agile striker who poaches, and has a decent shot. IMO they are all good for different things, and you shouldnt have to compare them.. if you should compare Eto'o with anyone, try Rooney or RVN, they have almost identical playing style and this is another reason why the Man. Utd. team of today is not impressing anyone. You need a creator and an Explosive force, this is why Raul and Ronaldo is something that's been working more often than not.. when the midfield do their job anyway.

I was with you, right up to the point that you caimed Raul/Ronaldo was working.......

Come on, you must admit Ronaldo is a beneficiary of Raul's creativity, the fact that we haven't scored many goals sucks, but the formula is there.

Of course they have different attributes, but all do well as lone strikers...especially Adriano. They are all strikers.

I like Barca and Eto'o is a great striker, He attempt for whenever he gets a chance which is needed by a striker, But sometimes he is a bit selfish as it is hard to score but he will not control it and give it to other players.

Here we go again......Henry chokes in big games...... So people keep saying. I've seen Henry score many a time against big clubs, to say all his goals are against teams at the bottom of the league is ridiculous, people are making far too much of this and taking it way out of context. Josh, if u actually watched Henry in the big games, Im sure u wouldnt say what u do. I feel its just a bandwagon folk have jumped on. He has been man of the match in both the FAcup final and Euro2000 final. I bet if u looked at the stats, he wouldn't have a poor record against big teams compared with other top strikers, this is obv just golascoring too, he offers much more to the ateam than just goals and more to the team than any other striker. If u watched the games he doesn't have to score to make a massive impact on games. Folk see Arsenal in a big game, see he hasn't scored and think "Henry choked again". Anyway, he scored countless amounts of goals against Man U and Chelsea and is the 3rd highest scorer in CL history.

Im going on here because, with all due respect, this choker thing is utter nonsense IMO. He had, along with the rest of the French team, an horrendous WC2002, but he only really played 1 game. He didnt produce his best at Euro2004 but he got 3 goals and had defenders stucking to him like glue the every game. He performed well in 98 and in 2000, both in which he was in the All Star team. To use this when comparing him to Eto'o is ridiculous anyway, he's hardly had any really big games. What has he ever done in massive games except score in a classico or in the African Nations, which IMO is less of a level than the CL and many la Liga games.

As for the age thing, of course he is younger, meaning he can improve and also has sell on value but in terms of who is the better player, it doesn't really come into it.

IMO Henry is far better because he has scored more and assisted more over the years and generally has a higher level of performance than Eto'o does. He is clearly better than Eto'o in every single attribute except heading and arguably pace. In short Henry has more flair, much better technique, is a better finisher, is far more creative, has a better touch, is a better dribbler, is better with his weaker foot, probably stronger, far better passing, vision and awareness, has more of a football brain and plays for the team. More of a close one is movement, its hard to say as they're so different. Henry has simply performed better over the years and contrary to what u say, he has, unlike Eto'o, performed at the highest level ie CL. Eto'o is a better header of the ball and about matches him for pace. This may sound excessive but are ther any other ares where Eto'o is better?

As for the clips, I take your word on them but this doesn't change the many instances in which Eto'o took a more selfish option rather than pass to someone in a far better postion last season. These are 2 examples and because I reckon he's selfish, dont mean he goes alone at every opportunity. It's also possible Rijkaard has had a word with him as he was apparently trying to improve aspects of his game, ie playing him out wide etc, Reagardless, up until now, Eto'o has been a selfish player but there are so many other reason why Henry is a far better player.

Sorry for the mile-long post but to me its ludicrous to suggest Eto'o is better than henry, especially on the grounds that henry doesnt show up for big games which is nonsense plus the fact that Eto'o hasn't even had many big games.

First of all, I agree with mikaldinho, on a few things.

I can't remember reading anywher that he said Eto'o should pass first then shoot. What I understand him to be saying is that Eto'o should use the option of a pass more often than he does. How many time I have seen Eto'o opt to try to beat a defender or three when all it would take is a pass, to open the defence. At times it's as if he refuses to pass because he wants to score so badly. I agree with his criticism. Right now Eto'o is in good form, when he isn't his selfishness can and will hurt Barca especially in a big game. Now don't get me wrong, I like Eto'o, but in my opinion mikaldinho's point of view is spot on. He never said he was a bad player just a player he dislikes, for the reasons that he put forward, and was attacked for his point of view, not by all I must add.

Secondly, I also agree ROGA has on his Barca blinders and Barca and its players can do no wrong.

Thirdly, chipdela looked for the bud, came into thriving, intelligent argument with no more than a baseles statement. To say Adriano, Shev and Henry have nothing on this cat was ridiculous given he didn't back up his statement. It annoyed me reading it, just came and went like a fart in the wind.

Mate, RVN and Rooney are so far from identical its untrue. RVN is an all-out poacher, has a wicked nose for goal and holds the ball up. Rooney on the othet hand is often the one playing the pass to Ruud's feet. Rooney is basically a deep lying striker but spends half his time in midfield areas, even in defensive areas at times. For me, it would be hard to find 2 more different strikers. Rooney just happens to be creator and an explosive force.

Yes Eto'o, Adriano, Henry and Sheva and Rooney and RVN for that matter are all different types of player but they all play up front and could all be compared, except arguably Rooney.

For Essky, I never said Eto'o should look to pass nor did I say he should look to shoot, I wouldn't say either thing about any player. He should look up, assess his options and pick the best one.

You may feel that it's nonsense, however I still hold that opinion that Henry doesn't score in big games.

I feel that scoring against a big team is much different than scoring in a big game. Big game meaning the final stage of the CL, meaning a game that could decide the league, etc.

Henry scored many CL goals but they were in the group stage...not when the pressure is really on in the final stage. How many goals did he score in Korea?

I'm not the only one that feels he disappears in big games and I said it was my opinion that Eto'o is better in pressure games, not that Henry was rubbish in them. Big difference.

I didn't say he choked. I said he had a tendency to disappear which I believe he does.

If you think Henry is better than Eto'o, that's your opinion. My opinion is different.