The laws of physics state that friction is always present. If there was a time for football to apply these laws of friction it would be now. Spanish football is facing its equivalent of Amontons’ First Law of Friction.
The force of friction is directly proportional to the applied load.
Ever since Jose Mourinho arrived to Valdebebas the “force of friction” has increased. While I am not giving you earth-shattering news here, let’s not be naïve, the animosity has always been there. The problem is that Mourinho didn’t contribute with his grain of salt, he brought the salt shaker.
If we look back, Barca and Madrid have had their fisticuffs on more than one occasion. Friction and tension is nothing new. The only difference is that Mourinho just gave the rivalry more twists and turns than an Almodóvar movie.
There is no doubt that when you look at the turn that the Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry has taken, you do have to point one of the fingers at Mou. Yet despite all the blame and all the heat he should deservedly take, he is not the sole antagonist. The Spanish press- both in Catalunya and Madrid are like the petulant, antagonizing sidekicks that throw the stone and place the guilty hand behind their back and hide between their teams’ respective “shields”.
The Madrid press have been guilty for years of being one of the provocateurs per excellence. Who could ever forget the pearls of wisdom of former Marca editor Eduardo Inda when he called for Madrid to stop Lionel Messi “by criminal means” if necessary? For every Inda quote or every Punto Pelota feature, you can find hundreds upon hundreds of examples. The Spanish-speaking press has a phrase that if taken literally could lead to someone committing first degree murder. ”In order to stop this player you have to shoot him”.
On Friday, Marca wrote a piece regarding a quote from UEFA president Michel Platini.
“Messi is more protected by referees than Pelé, Cruyff, Maradona or Zidane. That is the way it should be.”
Obviously Marca took their conspiracy theorist role and gave it their usual spin. Platini was always a proponent of allowing players to play and protect them from the lumberjacks. Apparently neither side saw the Copa América where Uruguay took turns beating him up.
Regardless, for Marca as well as As, to have Mourinho in their corner is a way to sell papers. It’s a way to sell themselves- whether they are on his good side or not.
In Catalunya, its the same thing. The only difference is that they hide behind the shield of humility and a model that imposes other qualities. As and Marca are not the only ones that write incendiary pieces. The only difference is that the undertone is not as blatant as Madrid.
I highly doubt that the boys over at Mundo Deportivo and Sport have people so close to the club near the Paseo de la Castellana that they are able to come up with some of their “Confidential” exposés on los Blancos every so often. They, too, don’t want to fall behind as they know that Mou is a newsstand goldmine. It’s all part of the indirect symbiotic relationship that the media in Spain hav with the Real Madrid coach.
Remember that Sport also came out with the “exclusive” that Kaká was about to head to PSG. Also don’t forget that Ronaldo would be heading back to Manchester to play for City.
Are they done to inform or to agitate? Think that the mainstream media is now more about being part of the circus instead of reporting about it.
It seems so funny that the Spanish media- the great dividers- get little heat pointed in their direction. Photogate Shop as well as edited video images also anger people; pieces that douse jet fuel over tensions that are already heated.
Let be honest, Spain (the country) is not the most unified of nations. It is as divided as ever and they are unified by the national team’s success as well as their economic woes- two things Mourinho could care less about. Let’s not get into the historical aspect of this country as it has been delved into ad nauseum. If you do so on your own, you will see that animosity was (and still is) there.
To many, Mourinho is the problem and the case against him is awfully strong. He has gone from Special One to the Willing One. He is willing to put on whatever hat in order to continue having relevance and protagonism in football’s biggest stages.
Is his legacy at stake? Maybe. But our collective attention spans are so short nowadays that if Madrid do end up winning either the league or Europe… all of this will go away. In other words, for him to obliterate every single negative notion that is out there about him he will have to do one thing. He will have to do what got him to the top of the coaching profession- coach.
Mourinho is the most visible face in this soap opera, but there are many more that are just as guilty, the only thing is that they are hiding behind each teams’ back, lurking in the shadows or just throwing stones from the safe haven named Anonymity.
Regardless, whoever is spewing nonsense is virtually looking to sell themselves. They are looking to sell papers. Just like this dying industry, people are starting to get fed up with the verbiage.
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