Bojan: “It Would Be a Big Mistake for Lamine or Cubarsí to Play in Euro and Olympics

Bojan Krkic, the Coordinator of Football Operations at Barça, believes it would be “exhausting” for the young talents to participate in both competitions.

He urges to “focus not only on the present moment but also on ensuring longevity.”

Bojan Krkic welcomes us to the offices of Planeta, the publisher of ‘Controlling the Uncontrollable,’ a book in which the former footballer opens up about the mental challenges he faced during his professional career. It’s essentially an extension of what was depicted in ‘Beyond the Smile,’ the documentary where he broke his silence. Destiny has placed him in a position at Barça where he must oversee the emergence of young footballers into the first team. As the coordinator of football operations, he is responsible not only for monitoring loaned players, some of whom are from the academy, but also for closely observing those who are starting to appear in the first team or even cement their place in it. Few individuals have Bojan’s experience in this regard, as he burst onto the scene at Barça under Frank Rijkaard at just seventeen years old. He lived through it firsthand, and it wasn’t easy, as he explains in his book.

“When did you realize you had a problem?”

“With all these situations that were new to me—when I left Barcelona, when I became a public figure… Everything that my body couldn’t handle and caused me anxiety. That’s when you have to accept your weakness and face it.”

“Did your problems affect your football career?”

“I don’t know if it affected, but it certainly influenced… I don’t see it that way; I focus on the fact that none of those situations was a barrier or an impediment to progress. When I say I’m proud of what I’ve done and experienced, it’s because I did it while overcoming these situations. I didn’t give up, and they didn’t defeat me.”

“Bojan, Ricky Rubio, Iniesta… Are they isolated cases or the tip of the iceberg?”

“Well, these are situations that athletes or even non-athletes can experience. The thing is, it’s hard to express it because it might seem like a hindrance to opportunities for growth.”

“Could explaining what was happening to you have been a setback in your career?”

“Actually, I didn’t see it that way, but others did; they made me see that expressing these situations could be a limitation. I don’t see it that way, nor do I feel that way, neither when I was a player nor now, when I might have to decide whether to incorporate a player who may be in such a situation. It’s a process that has an end and can be managed, like a muscle injury. We need to empathize with people.”

“No one empathizes more with them than you.”

“It’s important to do so. We can’t forget that these players, when they’re on the field, are men and demonstrate a very high level of personality and competitiveness, but off the field, they’re kids. And this isn’t a 100-meter sprint; it’s a marathon, and we have to support them so they can cover as much distance as possible.”

“What do you think when you see Lamine Yamal or Cubarsí at that level?”

“Seeing Pau, Lamine, Héctor Fort, all these kids when they rise and perform well… Marc Guiu… It doesn’t surprise me. I’m currently in Cadet A getting my coaching license, and you see 15- and 16-year-olds who have great talent. Like in Juvenil or the reserve team. It doesn’t surprise me when they debut and do well, but we shouldn’t focus on where they are now; instead, we should focus on making that moment last for many years. That’s the goal we all need to embrace.”

“How?”

“Well, this is day-to-day work, mainly about management. On the part of the coach and his staff, the club, the environment, agents, family, the Federation. For example, this summer we have two important events, the Euro and the Olympics, and it would be a big mistake to call up any of these players for both competitions. We all need to be aware of the significant strain it entails after the season, which already involves playing many matches. There are many people in many areas who need to understand that they are kids, players who are still developing, and what we need to try is to ensure they can play in many Euros and many Olympics.”

“Have you talked to the RFEF?”

“I know there have been conversations, but I don’t know what the intention is or if there’s a final decision yet.”

“Is there a risk of burning them out?”

“It’s not about that; it’s that they are young people, and emotionally, they have experienced significant changes in their lives recently. Going to the senior team is already a success, like playing for the first team at Barça. And playing in a Euro or the Olympics is also a success, but we can’t cram everything into a space that I consider already very full. For the sake of the player and the person.”

“And how do you restrain them?”

“My role is to give my opinion and make them see, whether it’s the players, the coaching staff, or sports directors, that this isn’t a matter in which the player should have decision-making power. Going to a Euro or the Olympics is fantastic, but in this life, you can’t have it all. We need to make them see that being in one or the other competition already has a lot of merit and value.”

“Do you notice a generational shift in mentality in this new crop?”

“It’s obvious that young players see that the doors to the first team are closer than they were. It’s a reality, and what this does is that, today, we all have to continue to value what the Barcelona Cadet, Juvenil B, Juvenil A, and the reserve team are.

“What do you mean?”

“Obviously, being in the first team is an ideal and privileged place, but being in the Barcelona Juvenil is also. And all those teams are part of a necessary learning process. And despite there being many cases, or several cases, of players who, as juveniles, have jumped directly to the first team, that’s not the only path. There are other paths, and it’s very valuable to belong to Barcelona.”

“Does Barça’s success depend, to a large extent, on a high percentage of homegrown players in the first team?”

“Barça has always been characterized by this. That’s why many players want to come to Barcelona as young players. Because they see that they’re not being sold a story that isn’t real. Many are seeing that, by coming as Cadets or being Juveniles, they can have real chances of making it to professional football in a team like Barcelona. And that needs to continue to be the case. We need to continue to invest in Barcelona’s youth football, which is working very well in terms of players and the entire structure.”