by Avalon » Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:10 am
The monkey chants is something that happens in Spanish football and is not down to just Barcelona. As a matter of fact, it was Eto'o that wanted to storm off the pitch, because he was racially abused by the crowd, whilst he was playing for Barcelona. I believe Henry received the same ill treatment.
As for Barcelona, as much as I love the team, they too have their douchebaggery. Xavi and Iniesta waving for cards is one of them. Pedro constantly diving is another. They're extremely talented, play wonderful football based on the philosophy of Johan Cruyff, who was manager when Josep Guardiola was a player and have the world's best player setting the world alight.
Then there's the players that, in the same vein, ruin that. Why is Puyol diving? The guy's a giant! Nobody believes it, apart from the ref. Lucio, that Brazilian defender at Inter does the same bullshit. Why is Mascherano acting like an actor? He's known for being a tough midfielder with crunching tackles, why does he go down like a bitch? Pedro? The worst scumbag of them all. Xavi and Iniesta? I'm still of the opinion that as soon as a player is waving imaginary cards, they should receive an instant yello. No arguments, no nothing. Wave a card to the ref and get one yourself. I'm also of the opinion that ref's should review matches after they're done and be shown key moments and be able to admit they didn't see a foul, or didn't see a player was diving and then have a committee still take the appropriate action. As for diving, instant yellow. I hate diving and I don't care who does it.
As I said, Barcelona play lovely football, but some of their players ruin it and they should be punished for it. UEFA needs to crack down on some of their antics. They're no saints. They're as much of a football club as Grays FC are. The rules apply to everybody.