Making excuses is the national sport, an inescapable habit, like naps, coffee or family meals on Sundays. It consists, basically, in the fact that the fault always lies with the other. It is without a doubt the easiest way to hide flaws, mistakes or complexes. Football has the perfect excuse in the referee. A team loses or draws because of its fault, never because of a cowardly or conservative approach of the coach, because of a striker who does not score a goal in the rainbow or a goalkeeper who does not have his afternoon. How easy it is to point out and avoid the necessary self-criticism, which takes a discreet background (or doesn’t even exist) on too many occasions. Atlético made it clear when Gil Manzano showed Correa a straight red for tripping Rudiger with the ball a few yards out: it had been another trap at the Santiago Bernabéu. Diego Pablo Simeone’s message at the press conference, an ironic tweet, another tweet (this time with a photo) and, finally, the final straw, Gil Marín’s statement/interview on the club’s website. Harsh text in which he launches forceful sentences of the type “we always suffer these actions against this team because of the pressure it exerts on the arbitration panel”. What has been said, the national sport.
Victimhood is the food of losers, of those who are unable to assume that to grow it is better to act than to criticize, of those who do not understand that you improve by correcting mistakes and not by looking at what others do or say. The bad thing is that the faithful buy this speech from you without even stopping to reflect. It is easy. Two statements and a couple of tweets are enough to create a favorable state of opinion, especially yours. This avoids talking about an elbow that has gone for a merry walk or about playing better and ending up with a draw. And if you also face your biggest rival, even better. Those in front are always benefited, they are always forgiven that clear card and, of course, they are always whistled for a dubious penalty.
In short, how great is this wonderful sport called football where sentiment prevails over truth and the colors of the heart win over reason. It doesn’t matter what happens, the important thing is what you feel.
PS: Bravo for Xavi Hernández’s reaction. With yesterday’s disaster in the field of Almeria, the man from Terrasse could have looked for the excuse of casualties or fatigue, but no. “The worst game of the season,” said the Barça coach. Self-criticism Of course. This is how problems are fixed.”