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'Messi's view is that he's been talked to by Luis Enrique as if he is a kid'

Lionel Messi might have been wearing the captain's armband tonight in tonight's Copa del Rey clas...
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Newstalk

22.03 8 Jan 2015


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'Messi's view...

'Messi's view is that he's been talked to by Luis Enrique as if he is a kid'

Newstalk
Newstalk

22.03 8 Jan 2015


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Lionel Messi might have been wearing the captain's armband tonight in tonight's Copa del Rey clash against Elche, but clearly things are not all that well at Barcelona.

Tonight La Liga expert Graham Hunter joined us on Off The Ball to talk us through what is going on behind the scenes.

Graham gave us an insight into manager Luis Enrique's manner which seems to be grating with the squad and Messi in particular.

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"This is his view: He's been talked to by Luis Enrique as if he is a kid. Luis Enrique has a very brusque, very sneering manner with the media and I've increasingly been informed by people close to the players that too many of his squad think Luis Enrique talks to them like that too," he said, before touching on a training game where the tension boiled over.

"It came to a head on Friday. There were harsh words between Leo Messi and Luis Enrique." 

Graham also spoke about Enrique's rigidity which caused major problems at Roma.

"Luis Enrique at Roma, applied a rigidity of discipline, a rigidity of rules which lost him favour with some of the senior players. He dropped De Rossi for being two minutes late for a meeting ahead of a game that he'd knew he'd lose without De Rossi."  

While Messi would be expected to win any battle with Enrique, Graham added that the Argentine wants to see an improvement at Barca rather than forcing his way out at this point. 

"Not until Leo Messi forces his way out, will there be a change in who he plays for right now."


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