Since football interests philosophers and journalistic chronicles are written by poets, to manage in this sport it is essential that the presidents of the teams, and especially the coaches who appear weekly in front of the press so that they can break their faces, have of a story.
A true legend of Barcelona fans like Ronald Koeman ended up being fired for being so sincere to say, after a home defeat against Bayern Munich: “It is what it is.” Calvinists are like that, they stick to the strictest reality and don't let anyone come to them with milongas. Any communication expert would have advised him to declare that in many moments the team has shown that it could win, but we have lost because of small details. Or any other verbal periphrase to avoid a forceful headline.
I have no doubt that in coaching schools there will soon be sessions on how to make up for a fiasco in front of the press. The American political scientist Stanley Greenberg wrote that the story is the key to everything, whoever tells the best story wins. Sometimes even when he loses.
After Girona's defeat of Barça, Xavi Hernández, who is increasingly dealing with the press, declared that we had to be calm, that Barça was a team under construction. Brilliant excuse, without a doubt, although his rival coach has been on the Girona bench for the same amount of time as him and already has everything built. And with less budget.
But we must give him credit for using a good argument in a city like Barcelona, which has been building the Sagrada Família since the 19th century and which has been developing a square like the Glòries Catalanes for more than a decade. Barça is not only more than a club, but also the best metaphor for Catalonia, where everything that does not work is because it is under construction, be it education, health or infrastructure.
The luck is that we Catalans are positive people, like Xavi. Not only because we are patient, but because we have even been able to turn the independence failure into a song to cheer up in the stadium. It cannot be said that we are not good people.
