In the intense heat of the cauldron of competitive professional sports in the international arena, particularly in the highest pinnacles of club-level football thronged by mega thousands of gaga-eyed fans vociferously bellowing enraptured support for their favoured, beloved teams, idiosyncratic temperaments flaring up with temperatures quickly rising in the raging inferno are only to be expected as part and parcel of the ensuing hue and cry.<\/p>\n
Such was the situation with the recently concluded and highly-anticipated El Clasico derby clash between traditional bitter rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Spanish La Liga. In the heat of the action, observers could not have been faulted for having thought they had caught sight of Jose Mourinho passionately venting his frustrations in the dugout with his trademark style of histrionics. But Mourinho at the La Liga El Clasico? How could that possibly be?<\/p>\n
As the camera zoomed in closer for a better look, the lively figure in the lens at the centre of the action morphed into that of Eder Sarabia, the assistant coach of Barca\u2019s Quique Setien. To the uninitiated, this would certainly be a poser but to those in the know, a smile would begin to curl up at the edge of the lips.<\/p>\n
Setien\u2019s young lieutenant was caught on camera by TV stations Movistar and Gol displaying his full emotions without restraint and in full animated splendour tempestuously raging all throughout the match that the Barcelonians finally lost 2-0 to Los Blancos. Sarabia was in his unparalleled perfect form unleashing full salvos of foul-mouthed invectile at any and all several players that did not meet with his approval with none spared, not even the legendary Messi. Needless to say this angered the squad and added caustic insult to injury as the loss itself was sufficient to rankle the Blaugrana weary without the beleaguered warriors having to suffer the indignity of a young wannabe coach adding in his unsolicited two bits worth of unbounded non-stop commentary that could at worst be imiconstrued as self-righteous sarcasm from a twit still wet behind the ears.<\/p>\n
So who the heck is Eder Sarabia, this young fiery tornado with the toxic mouth and rapier-like tongue that could hurl incessantly verbal lashings of foul expletives deleted and abuse with such fluidity that he even has the gall to question the performance of the likes of Messi and Griezmann on the pitch?<\/p>\n
Eder is the son of legendary Athletic player Manu Sarabia. The young lad had grown up under the hypnotic influence of Barcelona\u2019s \u2018Dream Team\u2019, which won the club the European Cup for the first time in 1992, as well as the La Liga four times between 1990 and 1994. His father had been Setien\u2019s team mate at Logrones while Eder was only eight and it was through this connection that Sarabia found his way into the Blaugrana dugout, having first been Setien\u2019s assistant at Las Palmas and the link had been perpetuated since then, continuing at Real Betis and now Camp Nou in Catalunya.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, Eder Sarabia has been described as the new Jose Mourinho due to the volatility of his fiery temperament on the sidelines as was clearly demonstrated in his behaviour in the Clasicothat has caused such a ruckus among the fans and some of the players.<\/p>\n
However, truth be told, there seems to be ambivalence in opinion over Sarabia\u2019s off-pitch behaviour, with some figures higher up in the upper echelons at Barcelona, and a substantial portion of Barca supporters, actually lending support to the histrionic antics of Setien\u2019s assistant. According to\u00a0Diario Sport<\/em>, not all Barca\u2019s stars think that his virulent fervour is a necessarily bad thing, although the caveat is that it should not have been exposed publicly.<\/p>\n El Periodico<\/em> reports that clubs have forwarded complaints to La Liga over the television companies filming the benches and putting together subtitled videos to the ridiculous extent of even using lip-readers, which was how the cameras were able to pick out the verbal ranting of Sarabia. Surprisingly, fans voting in a poll from Gol <\/em>have backed Setien\u2019s assistant, with 76 per cent of respondents saying Sarabia\u2019s reactions were \u2018normal\u2019.<\/p>\n This time around at the latest instalment of the El Clasico at the Bernabeu, the controversy rose up a couple more notches after he was filmed on camera insulting his team\u2019s own players.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, those f*cking sh*tty long passes!\u201d<\/em> he complained about Gerard Pique\u2019s distribution of his passes.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not doing anything he\u2019s supposed to be doing, f*cking hell!\u201d<\/em> Sarabia grumbled, disgruntled with Nelson Semedo.<\/p>\n \u201cAgain, Arthur, f*cking hell!\u201d <\/em>mumbled the assistant, targeting Barcelona\u2019s Brazilian midfielder.<\/p>\n Antoine Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets were also not spared his scathing fury and comments and were accordingly rebuked.<\/p>\n \u201cGriezmann is a world champion. Who is Eder Sarabia to tell him he\u2019s not doing what he\u2019s supposed to do?\u201d<\/em> questioned French journalist Fred Hermel on\u00a0Gol TV\u00a0<\/em>.<\/p>\n Another priceless clip showed Sarabia frantically shouting at six-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner and perhaps the best player in the history of the game, Messi, in attempts to get his attention. \u201cLio! Lio!\u201d<\/em> hollered the assistant with full abandon.<\/p>\n Some of Barcelona\u2019s players have taken offense with Sarabia\u2019s behaviour and off-colour comments. On top of that, the fact that he has no proven credibility and meritorious history of his own has not aided the issue in his favour but has actually militated against him, especially considering that he\u2019s never ever hidden the fact that his father\u2019s status has opened doors for him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems he rules more than the coach and nobody knows him because he\u2019s done nothing on a professional level, how can he give orders to Messi?\u201d<\/em> a Barcelona source told\u00a0ABC\u00a0<\/em>newspaper.<\/p>\n Setien has admonished Sarabia to caution restraint over his pitch-side behaviour and calm it down and both coach and assistant admitted on Thursday that they had apologised to the players.<\/p>\n