In a rare event, FC Barcelona striker Lionel Messi lost his cool, and lashed out at reporters who questioned him about being the reason for the club’s poor performance.
Antoine Griezmann’s former agent accused Messi of running a “regime of terror” at the club. After being surrounded by reporters at the airport who asked him to comment on his “terrorising” leadership, Messi said, “I am tired of always being the problem with everything that goes on at this club.”
Apart from Griezmann’s agent, former FC Barcelona boss Quique Setien also commented on the striker last month. According to a report by ESPN, Setien spoke to El Pais newpaper where he compared Messi to Michael Jordan and claimed players like him are “difficult” to manage.
“It’s true that there are players that are not easy to manage, among them, Leo [Messi],” Setien told the newspaper. “It’s difficult when someone is accustomed to winning.
“And when inside him, it generates an anxiety when you don’t achieve that [win], it harms you. The demand that exists today in football is brutal, it has saturated him and others that need to permanently win.
“We also have to take into account that he is the best footballer of all time. How am I going to change him? If there [at Barca] they have accepted him for who he is for many years and they haven’t changed him.”
He added: “There’s another facet beyond just the player and it’s more difficult to manage. Much more difficult. It’s something inherent in many athletes that can be seen in the Michael Jordan documentary [The Last Dance]. You see things you don’t expect.
“He [Messi] is very reserved and only shows you the things that he wants you to see. He doesn’t speak much.”
