Cocu: Barcelona’s passion for football has gone

Phillip Cocu was a trusted lieutenant on Barca’s midfield for years. The former Oranje star is currently ending his imposing career in the Arabian Gulf.

Cocu: “It’s obvious Barca has some problems. Probably with Ronaldinho, but is goes deeper I think. To play top football and win prizes, everything needs to be focused on that goal. Not just the players, everything. Technical and medical staff, the infrastructure, management… You need hunger for success and passion for the game. If you don’t have that you can still win games, but if you want to play the best football of the world, everything needs to be perfect.

I think Barcelona is at a crossroads. Certain people can’t bring the 100% anymore and then the machine stops. It seems like this season the fun is gone. If you look at the body language of the players or even coach Rijkaard, you can tell that the bow has been put under too much pressure lately. You can only play very well if you know that all is good, that all details are organized…

As a player, you only want to think about football. Once you start to get involved in discussions about the stuff around football you’ll get distracted. And even Barcelona becomes vulnerable. To me, it seems as if the players now come to do their job. When I played at Barca, and it was like that last season even, it didn’t feel like a job. It was more like going to a party or like you felt as a kid, when you went out to play some football.

We try out new things on the training, we’d do games, set records… We’d discuss each others strengths and weaknesses. You can only give all that energy and focus when you feel good.

I think it’s impossible for a coach to manage all these elements. It’s psychology, but it’s also like walking a tightrope. You have to work with so many elements within a club. And outside of the club. Press, sponsors, socios, the board, players, the ones that play and the ones that don’t… Medical staff, physical trainers, nutrition, travel…

It’s not math. It’s not like 2+2 = 4. Sometimes it’s 5, in a bad season it can be 3. But, I know the club well and I know Rijkaard well. This is not a lost season, or a disappointing season. That would be strange. Semi finals Champions League and top 3 in La Liga. It’s not the best season, but definitely not the worst. The club has always been good at sorting out their problems on the pitch. When Cruyff had his dreamteam, people thought it wouldn’t get better. Well, it did. And it will again. I happen to know what kind of talents Barca nurtures currently. I am not worried at all.”

Cocu will start as Bert van Marwijk’s assistant at Oranje after the EC2008.