Pique: "United squad full of fatties."
Sid Lowe in Barcelona
The Guardian, Monday 25 May 2009
Thieves had stolen Gerard Piqué's satellite dish four times before Greater Manchester police clicked that the people putting them up were the same people taking them down again. For the young Manchester United signing it was a drama – yet another link to Barcelona stolen from him, a lifeline severed for someone growing ever more homesick. After all, he says: "I was at Manchester United and, sure, it was fantastic, but I was very young, I wasn't playing, I was stuck in the house, I missed my family and it was eating away at my head."
Monday-night poker with Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown was not enough; nor were the running battles with his neighbour Patrice Evra or the support of Michael *Carrick, whom he describes as "the perfect gentle*man". There was only one thing for it. When the Barcelona president Joan Laporta bumped into Piqué's mother and he asked how the young man was doing in England, the reply said it all: "Desperate to come back".
When Piqué had joined United at 17 Laporta was furious, vowing that he would never return. Four years later, the wound had healed. It was time to bring the defender home.
A mistake against Bolton, when Piqué allowed Nicolas Anelka to score, hardly helped, but it was flirting with his former club that brought his fleeting Old Trafford career to a premature end. The second that Ferguson got wind of discussions, Piqué disappeared from the United team. Missing last season's Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, despite *Vidic's absence, was particularly hurtful. The Scot threatened to prevent his departure but relented and, delighted, Piqué eventually rejoined Barca for £5m.
If United, blessed with Ferdinand and Vidic, have barely missed him, it has proven a bargain for the Catalans. At 22 and with Rafael Márquez, Gabriel Milito, Carles Puyol and Martín Cáceres ahead of him, Piqué was not expected to be a central figure – not yet, at least. But after a season that he describes as being "better than I dared imagine"‚ he appears to be accelerating towards superstardom.
Piqué has everything to be the perfect cult commodity. The son of a wealthy Catalan family, his father is a lawyer, his mother the director of a prestigious *spinal injuries institute. He also has been a Barca soci (member) since the day he was born. He is tall, blue-eyed and handsome, impeccably turned out, intelligent and sharp, with a hint of mischief about him. One-liners punctuate his appearances before the press, practical jokes his presence in the dressing room. He may have been back at Barcelona for less than 12 months but already Piqué is a leader. A ring-leader.
"Piqué," says one insider, "has got 'future captain' written all over him." In the final weeks in particular he has become indispensable, playing more Champions League minutes than anyone else and earning an international call-up at the Santiago Bernabéu. He scored too, and repeated the feat upon returning there against Real Madrid, grabbing the sixth in Barcelona's biggest-ever victory over their bitter rivals as he strode out to start and finish a 70-yard move.
That night he won the ball nine times without committing a single foul, but it is Piqué's ability to carry the ball forward that has really set him apart over the past month, during which time he has gone from erratic kid to "The New Kaiser", with one Catalan newspaper dubbing him "Piquénbauer". As time slipped agonisingly away at Stamford Bridge, it was Piqué who constantly began attacks; and in the Copa del Rey final, it was Piqué who invariably set Barcelona on their way.
"At no other team does the centre-back attack like here," he says, reflecting the message drummed into him since he was a kid. "I was here for eight years before joining United. Barca is in my DNA. I've been a Barcelona fan since I was born, I grew up with Barcelona and my entire family are Barcelona fans."
Piqué's grandfather was even a club director, and one day he invited Barcelona's coach Louis van Gaal to lunch. "This," he said, introducing the young Gerard, "is my grandson – a centre-back for Barcelona's youth team." Van Gaal looked at Piqué and, without warning, pushed him over. Towering above the 14- year-old, he barked: "You're too weak to be a Barcelona defender."
He was probably right. But for United, Piqué's presence in Wednesday's Champions League final would be unthinkable. "United made me a footballer," Piqué admits. Not that the Old Trafford regime was always perfect. "Every fortnight United measured our body fat and you'd be amazed how many top players practically broke the machine because their diet was beer and burgers," he says with a laugh. "And the gaffer spoke a very Scottish kind of English that might as well have been Chinese."
Roy Keane, meanwhile, terrified him. On one occasion, Piqué's mobile started vibrating in the dressing room. Keane went ballistic, ripping clothes from their pegs, rummaging in pockets, screaming that he would kill the man responsible. Luckily, it rang off before Keane reached Piqué's trousers. A relieved man, he told friends he had never felt closer to death.
As the club prepares to face United, Piqué admits that the text messages with former team-mates have dried up, but he is still in a privileged position. "I know all of Cristiano Ronaldo's tricks," he says. "Mind you," he admits, "that's no guarantee. Ronaldo is even more complete than Messi. He is quick, strong, good in the area and has a great shot. And, just like Messi, even if you know every move, he always has one up his sleeve. If he scores, he could leave me looking like an idiot."
Two months ago, it would have looked like an uneven battle; not so now. And if Piqué can control his former team-mates, Barcelona will have gained a major advantage. He will also draw closer to a unique record: no player has won successive European Cups with different teams.
"Last season I was in the stands, this year I'm playing – I feel much more part of it," Piqué says. "Besides, while I'm very grateful to United, there's no comparison. This time, I will be playing for my real team. Ask any fan wearing a Barca shirt in Rome what they're feeling and I'll be feeling exactly the same. I'll be doing it for them. This time, I'll be doing it for Barcelona. My Barcelona."
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25-05-2009, 07:44 PM
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