Alexis Tsipras has returned holding a Barcelona ball and thinking that with a little football aesthetics he can rewrite his political resume. The colours of the new party, he says, will be blue and red.
The blue of the country and the red of the games. Except that when a politician needs the colors of a foreign team to explain his identity, he probably hasn’t managed to build his own.
His obsession with Barcelona is nothing new. In 2023 he said that SYRIZA was like Barcelona because it was “more than a party.” Three years later, with SYRIZA dismantled, decimated and politically exhausted, he returns to the exact same line to sell his new project. If the first “Barcelona” ended in internal party massacres, splits and electoral debacles, then what exactly is the second one?A low-cost remake with the same protagonist and a worse script?
The real Barcelona was built on philosophy, discipline and the production of cadres. It didn’t live on slogans, easy complaints and personality cults. Tsipras, by contrast, ruled with the familiar mix of populism, divisiveness and communication fireworks. From “we’re tearing up the memoranda” to the referendum that turned into a political shitstorm in a matter of hours, its run looks more like a team that changes coaches and systems every Sunday than a European behemoth with a stable identity.
Even the symbolism of the colours seems sloppy. Blue is enlisted to caress a more patriotic audience. Red is left to keep the revolutionary veneer of the old left. In practice, it’s political alchemy without coherent content. A communications cocktail that tries to fit everyone and ultimately convinces no one.
And that’s where the really comical part begins. The former prime minister wants to appear as the political Messi.The leader who will take the party by the hand and take it to the top. Except Messi is judged by titles, consistency and winning the big games. Tsipras is counting consecutive electoral defeats, retirements under pressure and a party that fell apart before his eyes.
The truth is simpler and harder. He doesn’t resemble Messi. He reminds Daracle. But not the likeable grassroots footballer who used to get down in the mud and put his heart and soul on the pitch. At least Daraklitsa had authenticity and didn’t pretend to be a superstar. Tsipras has only direction, lines and a ball in his hand.
So the video did not look like a presentation of a new political proposal. It looked like a veteran soccer player who changed his jersey and thinks the stands have forgotten the repeated own goals, suspensions and consecutive defeats with his hands down.
