I do not wish I was born in Barcelona. Simply the BEST at the moment? I think not.
Arrogant little shits. Pride comes before a fall.
Barcelona have not stopped short of showing their growing arrogance and disrespect to the likes of Arsenal and have now directed their disdain at their South Korean hosts where they have been invited to play a friendly against the K League All Stars.
Despite agreeing to a contractual clause whereby star attraction Lionel Messi is obliged to play at least half an hour against their Asian opponents, Barca coach Pep Guardiola insisted in a press conference today that he will not field his playmaker in the game in order to keep him safe from injury.
The news caused an uproar in South Korea and amongst Asian fans who were anticipating a rare close up view of the Argentinian star in action. Guardiola did not apologise for failing to keep to a promise and instead tried to explain: “One training session after a month of vacations is not sufficient. I would have liked for him to be ready to compete, but he would run the risk of getting injured.”
Even before the revelation that Messi would not feature for the paid guests, the midfielder himself made sure to distance himself from his adoring fans in the country by claiming that he was too tired to care about being in the country and has no interest in what South Korea is like.“I didn’t see much. I don’t know where I am and what time it is. I’m too tired.” said Messi as he waved off questions to him about his first impressions of the East Asian country.
Barcelona’s Brazilian defender Dani Alves also showed the Spanish champions’ lack of effort in keeping themselves informed about their hosts before arrival when he praised them: “Brazil played against Korea in the World Cup. They were a very good team”.
Unknown to the Brazilian international, it was the North Korean national side that the South Americans were up against during the World Cup, and not South Korea – where he will be playing with Barcelona against the K League All Stars.
http://www.breakingfootballnews.com/la-liga/barcelona-players-show-disrespect-to-south-korea-despite-being-paid-to-play-friendly/5880Did you know the second most-hated team in South Korea after Pyongyang City is Barcelona?
Bit of a surprise eh? Especially as the Catalans have done such a sound job convincing the rest of us they are divine missionaries sent to show sinners how to be successful yet humble, scornful of wealth yet rich in so many other ways.
A sort of Mother Theresa in Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly II Elite FG boots.
South Korea used to like them. Up until three weeks ago, when Barca accepted £2million for the briefest of visits, and couldn’t contain their disdain for the place
They fielded a team of reserves against a K-League All Stars team with ticket prices set at five times the going rate.
Lionel Messi was asked what he thought of the country and replied with a yawn: “I don’t know where I am and what time it is. I’m too tired.”
Furious fans demanded refunds after Pep Guardiola announced that Messi wouldn’t be playing. By the time he reluctantly threw Messi on for 17 minutes (to ride out contractual fines) the stadium was half-empty. As Barça swiftly departed Seoul an official K-League statement accused them of an “insincere attitude”, and the media lambasted their breath-taking arrogance, a feeling summed up by the journalist who wrote: “A club which is supposed to be more than a club isn’t much of a club at all.”
Which is a perception that’s been gathering pace all summer, kicking off with their attempts to nick Cesc Fabregas on the cheap. President Jean Laporta thanked Fabregas for saying he wanted to join them, adding he was sure Arsenal would understand and relent, while pointing out he would not be bullied over price.
So blatant was the tapping-up you wondered how UEFA could stay silent. And when senior players publicly demanded his release you expected the NSPCC to demand a child abuse inquiry.
Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique forced a Barca shirt on him, and Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets all told the media how it was natural justice that Cesc should be playing with them next season.
It was an outrage compounded by Laporta refusing to go above £29m for such an immensely gifted 23-year-old, when they were flogging a reserve, Yaya Toure, to Manchester City for £24m.
Anyone giving them the benefit of the doubt over Fabregas, on the grounds that it was where he grew up, has surely binned such notions after their pursuit of Javier Mascherano. The tapping-up started last summer when Rafa Benitez gave it short shrift. But they’ve been tapping away ever since, exploiting the fact that his wife can’t settle in England in order to get him at a knock-down fee.
Once again they encouraged their stars to indulge in emotional blackmail.
“Javier won’t play for the club again, I can assure you of that. He is depressed. Liverpool must act humanely and let him go,” said world renowned peace activist Messi.
Humanely? Liverpool were always prepared to put the mercenary’s bags in a Davy Liver cab the second a £20m deal came in. Which was a reasonable request.
He’s the captain of Argentina, arguably the best defensive midfielder in the world, cost £18m and there was two years left on his contract.
Barcelona agreeing terms with Mascherano then offering his club £12m plus a reject, and saying they wouldn’t be held to ransom, was what I called inhumane.
This summer we’ve looked through Mother Theresa’s blue-and-red skirts and what we’ve seen hasn’t been pretty. It is as though the Catalans are so filled with self-love they don’t realise they’ve become a parody of their “more than a club” motto.
When they adopted Unicef’s logo in the most brilliant PR move ever, Laporta turned into a cheesey Michael Jackson clone by announcing: “The people of Barça are very proud to donate our shirt to the children of the world who are our present, but especially are our future.”
Especially if they can tap them up and nab them for sod-all when they grow up.
Daily Mirror Linkbut I digress, Back on Topic now please...
