Sarabia, the finger and the censor

Eder Sarabia is the son of Manu Sarabia. An excellent player for Athletic de Bilbao and a commentator for those who have not been friends with Movistar+'s second division matches for years. Sarabia and Setién coincided in Logroñés after the earthquake that devastated Athletic in 1985. A serious conflict with Javier Clemente for a reason that both will take to grave and that divided a city more than the estuary. 

Conflicts that parents suffer and forge children's personalities. Javier Clemente was the coach who had put Athletic on the bandwagon to celebrate two leagues. A fashionable coach with a pupil who made the other football fashionable. Quality and touch versus the kicking style with which they had won titles. Sarabia was a substitute for the stubbornness so typical of Clemente. And the more they asked him about the player, the more he mistreated him. Until the fire burned down Barakaldo's and he was dismissed in January 1986.

Eder Sarabia is that restless guy who always shows up behind Setien. In Las Palmas, at Betis and now at Barça. We already know that he is the bad cop, vehement, hard ... but also a strategist and the one who whispers in the ear of his boss so that the games do not get out of hand. The showcase of the Classic served to see Sarabia in his natural habitat. A match watched by half the world with a magnifying glass that brought out the colours of Barça. 

I haven't found the perfect assistant coach manual. I ask about his manners and I have the same answers for and against. Something's not right. Rumour has it that Barça players are unhappy with his attitude. He's being dismissed in June. And even it is thought that he will lower his level in the future. The football enthusiasts want us to believe that this is the debate, but while we look at Sarabia, with the other hand, the scissors of censorship appear. 

The images of Barcelona's assistant coach's behaviour at the Bernabeu have been viewed by millions. On Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram... The video that launched Movistar+ is seen and seen a lot. So much so that Barça has not been very happy that his image continues to bottom out. They have the right to kick off just as Movistar+ has the right to tell stories about what happens on the football pitches for which it pays a good price for the. 

An X-ray of football on television reveals a power struggle between journalism and competition. Nothing is known about the journalist who dared to ask Griezmann about his future at Atletico Madrid. It was not his place to talk about it and the editor was cleared. Tebas himself has publicly stated that journalists have a style manual on what to ask. The League reaches the whole planet and they want the exported product to avoid any controversy. But they have to be careful about exporting because the international and national image is often not the same and in the 21st century everything is in the public eye. 

Once the parties have accepted this manual, the time has come to decide what to do with the images that are broadcast. There are no longer TV cameras without royalties at the foot of the field to follow the players. The shot changes when a streaker runs on field. Banners with political demands or insults ( almost ) don't appear on TV. There is less and less focus on the booths to frame more of the audience in the stands. Just think if the famous fight between Luis Fabiano and Diogo could have such a long shot now. Or Mourinho's finger in Vilanova's eye. I don't think so. This happens here and happens in the Premier where serious injuries are not repeated on TV to avoid morbidity. 

And the nut can be tightened even more if, in all this scheme to sell an immaculate football, we put the VAR in. This season we have already witnessed the controversy over a repeat of an offside that Mediapro broadcast with its own airwaves because someone from Las Rozas did not send the shot in time. The RFEF vs. LaLiga war can have unpredictable collateral damage. Tell that to indoor soccer. 

Sarabia's images are another torturous point for the two major clubs that are pulling the strings of Spanish football. On one side of the trenches we have teams fed up with the media focusing on their defeats. On the other side are the media who know they have the right to inform and who defend certain information by making it impossible for clubs to give interviews. Hermeticism derived from the fact that the questions asked by the media do not please the club. An infinite loop of justifications. 

The next royalty sale will be in 2022. La Liga is already working on further improving the image of Spanish football. A task that has succeeded in giving the competition its own identity and recognition. It is here that censorship has to shake hands with the football madness of dinner table chat and discussion. And it will not be easy.