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Things are going badly for Barcelona forward Ansu Fati. The 22-year-old’s career prospects have been declining for about four consecutive years, as a succession of leg injuries (and subsequent prolonged absences) have taken him off the development path that once made him one of the brightest teenagers in the world. After returning from an unsuccessful loan spell at Brighton for the 2023-24 season, he is now on his last legs at Barça. Lately he can’t even make the match day squads. The holder of several records as the youngest goalscorer in this or that competition has not scored or assisted in any competition for more than a year.
If he is to have any realistic chance of rebuilding his career, Fati clearly needs to leave Barcelona, whether on a permanent transfer or on an extended loan to a smaller club where he can get tons of playing time. Unfortunately, his gigantic salary, negotiated several years ago, makes this a very difficult circle to square. The type of club that could afford to take on his salary generally wouldn’t pay that much or devote guaranteed amounts of playing time to such a dubious recovery project; the type of club that could guarantee him a lot of playing time would have to alter the salary structure of their squad to pay him. Meanwhile, you can imagine why a 22-year-old player who has had more knee surgeries than 90-minute game appearances in the last half-decade might balk at the idea of an 80 percent pay cut for leaving the club he joined. when I was 10 years old. It’s a difficult situation! But that’s not really what this blog is about.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick is German. He does not speak Catalan or Spanish well enough to hold press conferences in either language. Therefore, when he has his usual presence with the press before Barça games, the questions are asked in English or translated into English, and he answers them in English, which is also It is not your native language. Then the Spanish media—Sports World, Sport, AS Diary, Brandetc.—staffed largely, one assumes, by native Spanish speakers—they translate your answers from English into, well, Spanish. Then, I, an English speaker who cannot read Spanish fluently, visit the websites of those news outlets and the automatic language translators in my web browsers translate their content into English.
Here’s how it played out on Tuesday, after Flick answered a question at the press conference about Ansu Fati ahead of Wednesday’s Copa del Rey match against Real Betis. Sports World—typically the first stop on my morning Spanish-language newspaper circuit— thus quoted Flick, once Google Translate had rendered Maryland‘s informing English:
“I am honest with everyone, I have spoken with him. It will be what he wants. He is ready to be a professional and show great performance, I said it when I arrived.” [….] He was injured, but after the injury he didn’t show us his 100 percent. And it is a shame for him and for us. He didn’t give it his all. You have to work like everyone else and give your best. That’s what we want.”
Curse!I thought reading this, which seemed incredibly harsh to me. Flick must really want Ansu to leave, to shout his effort like that.. He didn’t show them his 100 percent! He didn’t give it his all! These are incredibly damning things to say about a young player on your own team who is going through the lowest point of his career.
Then I navigated to Sport. Sport In general (for me, reading it in all cases regardless of the efforts of Google Translate) it is a little more sensationalist than Sports WorldThat’s why I don’t go there first. This is how Sport quoted Flick (according to Google):
“I have to be honest with the players and I have spoken with Ansu about the situation as I have done with all the players. Everything will depend on him and what he can show us in the future.” [….] Ansu returned very well in the summer. He had done a very professional job, but then his first injury came and he had to stop. He has not been able to show all the football he has and all his quality so far, but he must continue working. “He is a Barça player and is in our squad so we will continue working.”
Hey! That doesn’t seem so hard. SportFlick’s version feels that Fati has not been able to give everything. That sounds very different and much more merciful.
My next stop was AS Diary. Unlike Maryland and Sportwhich are based in Barcelona, AS is a Madrid publication, and tends (or seems tend) to frame Barcelona news in less friendly ways, in line with its Madrid-centric stance. This is how AS quoted the same part of Flick’s press conference, again at the end of the Google Translate work:
When I arrived at Barça I said that Ansu was doing very well and that he was working very hard, but the problems after his first injury… meant that he was never able to show his 100%, it’s a shame. When we arrived we were convinced that he could return, but, for now, he will have to work, like everyone, to return and offer his best version.
At this point I had come to the conclusion that Sports World I was doing anti-Ansu Fati journalism. this, like SportFati’s version is lenient and kind: Flick talks about how injuries have hindered Fati being able to perform at your highest level. There’s nothing here about him not giving it his all!
The last stop on my morning newspaper circuit in Spain is Brandanother Madrid publication, and I like it AS generally hostile towards Barcelona. Opportunely, Brand titled his article “Flick’s warning to Ansu Fati” (at least according to Google Translate!) and quoted the manager like this:
“I’m honest with everyone, I’ve talked to him. It’s what he wants. I told him when I arrived that he was ready to be professional and do a great performance. He got injured, but after the injury he couldn’t do it anymore.” He doesn’t show us his 100 percent. And it’s a shame for him and for us that he didn’t give it his all. “He has to work like everyone else and that’s what we want.”
What the devil! This is almost exactly the same bad shit. Sports World had! Now we return to Flick taking advantage of Fati’s professionalism.
On Wednesday, Barcelona announced its squad for the match against Real Betis; As expected, Ansu Fati was left off the list. Let us remember that on Tuesday Sportsigned by Luis Miguelsanz, had quoted Flick less harshly than Sports World and Brandwith the coach saying that Fati had not been able to show his best since his preseason injury. Today, Wednesday, under the signature of Jordi Carne in a report about Fati’s absence from the Copa del Rey squad list, Sport He reviewed the quotes from Tuesday’s press and presented them as follows:
“I am honest with everyone, I have spoken with him. I told him when I arrived that he is ready to be professional and show great performance. He was injured, but after the injury he did not show us his 100 percent. And it is a shame for him and for us. He didn’t give it his all. He has to work like everyone else and that’s what we want.
This is almost word for word the same as how Brandthe evil half-Madridista, quoted Flick. What the devil, Sport! Get it together!
Somewhat embarrassingly, I had gone through this whole circuit with growing bewilderment when it occurred to me that I could just… watch Flick’s press conference for myself. After all, I speak and understand English, and he delivers his press comments in English! Why do I need to translate those comments into Spanish and vice versa?
QUESTION: I want to ask you about a player who has not played in the Super Cup, Ansu Fati, what are Hansi Flick’s plans with Ansu Fati? Have you talked to him? Could there perhaps be a loan for him?
FLICK: I’m very happy with all the players, the team and the squad, so it’s like in football, now we are in this moment, yes. [Iñigo Martínez] He is injured and Marc Bernal and Marc ter Stegen, um, I think, but we have, then, Andreas Christensen, who will return maybe on Sunday, um, the next game, um, no, not Sunday, it’s Saturday. , I’m sorry. Um, and you know this is, this is for me the important thing and, uh, I will be honest with each player and I also talk to Ansu about his situation, so it’s up to him what he shows. And I think, you know, when we got here, and it was also when I had one of the first press conferences and I said Ansu is really doing well, he came back very professional, worked hard and also showed. A great performance in training. Uh, but then he has, you know, about the problems with the first, after the first injury, um, yeah, and he never, he never showed us or can show, was able to show one hundred percent how good he is. And this is a bit of a shame because for him and also for us because when we arrived we were very convinced of that, that he returned, but for now, yes, he has to work. He has to work like we all do and come back to bring the best. And this is also our job to help you.
Well, there you go, uhhh… do you have it? The thoughts of a German coach, answering in English to a Spanish question translated into English, now unadulterated by Spanish journalists translating those thoughts into Spanish and then Google Translate translating them back into English, which is not the first language of any of the people involved in any part of the exchange.
What have we learned here today? Nothing at all, nothing at all.
