FCBARCELONA.CAT

11.05.2008 23:59

Rijkaard, honoured in the pressroom

Vanessa Forns

In what was his last post-match press conference in the Camp Nou, Frank Rijkaard was sent on his way by applauses from the media representatives who were present.

Smiling and applauding. With the elegance and style that has characterised him throughout his trajectory as the first team coach. That’s how Frank Rijkaard left the pressroom closing what was his last press conference after a game in the stadium as the Barcelona manager. Despite expressing his sadness at being unable to offer the club members and the Barça fans, Rijkaard reiterated, “It has been an honour to work for Barça” and, addressing the journalists there present, affirmed, “I’ll miss you all”.

A sad night

This Sunday, against Mallorca, he managed his last game in the Camp Nou, and he would have liked to do it with a victory, but it couldn’t be. Frank Rijkaard said it was a sad night. “I always said I felt like a little part of the team. It’s been a bad night for the team and for myself”. He also thought the reaction of the public was sad throughout the game. A reaction that, as he said, “was expected before the game”.
“The public wants a Barça that wins”

“Barça is a big club and should always play to win important things. When it’s not like that you know that the public won’t react well. The club members and fans have a right to express how they feel, because they want a Barça that wins. The squad were prepared for that kind of atmosphere”, he added. In the same way the Barcelona manager pointed out the difficulty the team had “with the dynamics and atmosphere this had created on the pitch”, with reference to the different reactions of the crowd in determinate moments of the game.

Finally, Frank Rijkaard commented that, in his opinion, “the team has to be stronger than the circumstances, and today it wasn’t like that”.

Monday, training at 11 a.m.

Barça’s first team will go back to training this Monday morning, a session planned for eleven o’clock. Frank Rijkaard’s men will train behind closed doors.