Maestro Sabina sings in City Fish that “you should not try to return to the place where you have been happy.” And how right he is. It happens to me with restaurants, of which I have great memories from the first time I went. The new surprises and fascinates me. The second time, when I repeat, it always disappoints me. It also happens to me with trips, that’s why I always try to go to new places and enjoy them as if I were never going to return again, because returning will only make them worse in my memory. The second parts were never good, valid for movies and for relationships. It is possible that this is because in our heads we manipulate it and make our memories better. Or things may have an expiration date that most of the time we do not respect. Everything always lasts a little longer than it should.
You always want more, you want to succeed again where you already did once. Because? The return will be worse. Why tarnish that history? The same thing happens with legends. They should be prohibited from coaching the club that made them eternal, the club that saw them shine. Xavi’s departure from Barça on June 30 is just one more example of this. An exit caused by an unsustainable situation both on a sporting level and on an emotional level for the coach. “Being Barcelona coach is cruel, unpleasant, you feel disrespected,” said the coach at the press conference after losing to Villarreal. “It is a terrible drain on mental health, mood… To the point that you say there is no point in continuing.”
What things will Xavi’s Barça be remembered for? Will he be remembered for his time as coach of the Barça club or for his legacy as a player?
Another announcement like that of Jurgen Klopp, who will leave the Liverpool bench at the end of the season after nine years and having won everything, opens the coaching casting at Anfield. In the string of names that appear on the list of candidates is that of Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard. Especially the latter, an emblem for the English entity, should be prohibited from coaching Liverpool. Neither he nor the club deserve it. Why tarnish such a beautiful memory? What’s the point of sullying a love story so perfect that it can only get worse?
Genaro Gattuso at Milan, Andrea Pirlo at Juventus, Frank Lampard at Chelsea, Ronald Koeman at Barça or Diego Armando Maradona in the Argentine national team. They all ruined something that was perfect in our imagination. Something that should not be touched, but rather enjoyed as one enjoys the little things. Their departures were as painful as they were necessary and everyone had more to lose than gain.
That is why I claim that myths cannot train the teams of their lives. Not for them, but for us. From the deepest selfishness, I refuse to accept that they can destroy something that is so difficult to build. We have the right to keep in the depths of our memories Koeman’s goal at Wembley, the hand of God, or the Champions League that Liverpool won with Gerrard at the helm in 2005 against Milan.
Some will tell me that I forget about Guardiola or Zidane. How to do it. They are to blame for all this. They have caused us to believe that it is possible to be successful where they saw you grow as a player. Both are the exception that proves the rule. Don’t be fooled. Let’s not spoil the magic of memory.
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