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The age-old conflict between the bosses and the working class, if I may, has pervaded the world of football as well. Well, the nature of the relationship between a manager and a player might not exactly be a fair representation of capitalistic vagaries but the fallouts often are.
Managers have their own distinct philosophies and styles of play. When a manager arrives at a club, it's only natural that there will be players there who won't suit the project that he plans on executing. Sometimes managers do communicate that to the players and ask them to find a different club.
However, when a manager and a player who don't get along are forced to do exactly that, a lot of ill-feeling could seep in. We've seen this plenty of times in the past and continue to as well.
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Without further ado, let's take a look at five footballing superstars who were disrespected by managers.
#5 Iker Casillas - Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas is a Real Madrid legend and one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. Mourinho took over as the Real Madrid manager in 2010. Casillas and Mourinho had a falling out which saw the legendary Spanish goalkeeper being ousted from the starting lineup.
Mourinho's stint at Real Madrid was shrouded in controversy. He once poked then-assistant Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova in the eye during a brawl in an El Clasico. Casillas wasn't impressed with the same and it contributed to their spat.
In Colgar las Alas, a Movistar+ documentary, Casillas opened up on how the relationship soured.
"There was a players' strike in August 2011. As the captain, I spoke to my team-mates and we decided that we weren't going to play which meant the opening games of the season wouldn't go ahead. We said a couple of things that neither of us liked and took badly but it was left there. Then came the Super Cup.
“We gave a terrible impression. There were scraps, battles, giving your heart and soul… but the other things (poking Vilanova’s eye) - that was the kind of thing you might see at other clubs - tacky clubs, who need to resort to that sort of thing, and that is not for us.
"We played Levante, a game in which we fell further behind to Barcelona. That was the moment when we stopped talking. We were alone together in a room and he starts telling me that I should be more open and honest.
“I told him that I didn't think it was right for a professional to poke another coach in the eye. Someone from the press department at the club grabbed us and told us to calm down, to talk it through. We sat down again and said what we had to say face to face.
But the pair have since made up and Mourinho has admitted to having a good relationship with Casillas. The World Cup winning goalkeeper said Mourinho was among the first people to call and check on him after he suffered a heart attack.
Casillas told ESPN:
“A lot of people don't know it but José Mourinho was one of the first people to call about me, to call me to find out how I was.”
#4 Luke Shaw - Jose Mourinho (Manchester United)
Jose Mourinho really doesn't seem to care what the world thinks of him. He burnt quite a few bridges in the lead up to his exit from Manchester United. Chief among the things he did which led tensions to rise was his constant scapegoating of players. Luke Shaw was a consistent victim.
Mourinho did not seem to like Shaw much. After settling for a 1-1 draw against Everton in the final months of the 2016-17 season, Mourinho criticized Shaw's performance quite harshly. At the time, Shaw was being used as a deputy to Ashley Young. Mourinho criticized his footballing intelligence and said:
"We need his fantastic physical and technical qualities but he cannot play with my brain. He must accelerate the process. Twenty-one is old enough to have a better understanding. He has a future here but Manchester United cannot wait."
The relationship never got better from that point on and Shaw has now burgeoned into one of the best left-backs in Europe under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Mourinho and Shaw had a bit of a spat during Euro 2020.
The current AS Roma manager said the Manchester United left-back's delivery against the Czech Republic in the group stage was 'dramatically bad'. Luke Shaw wasn't going to take it. He responded in kind.
“He likes some, he doesn’t like others and I fell into the category where he didn’t like me. I tried as hard as I could to get back on to his side but it never worked out, no matter what I did.
“There is no hiding that we didn’t get on. I think he was a brilliant manager but, you know, the past is the past. It is time to move on. I am trying to move on but, obviously, he can’t.
“He continuously talks about me, which I find quite strange. Even some of the lads have said: ‘What’s his problem?’ and: ‘Why does he keep talking?’ He just needs to move on. Hopefully he can find his peace with that and finally move on and stop worrying about me. Clearly I am in his head a lot and he clearly thinks about me a lot.”
But after Shaw's wonderful outing at Euro 2020, Mourinho retracted his criticism, saying he might have been too harsh on the Englishman. He said:
“Maybe I was too harsh with him, maybe he was not ready for that.
“The injury was such an incredible injury but I think in this moment the country looks to him and deservedly as a proper left-back for the national team from my side I can only say congratulations to him because he did it by himself for sure, with the coaches of the club and the national team."
#3 Yaya Toure - Pep Guardiola (Barcelona, Manchester City)
If you thought the Yaya Toure - Pep Guardiola beef started in Manchester, you'd be wrong. Toure had a falling out with Pep during his stint with Barcelona. Pep simply preferred Sergio Busquets to Yaya Toure in defensive midfield. The Ivorian even played at centre-back multiple times before he was allowed to leave in the summer of 2010.
Yaya Toure would go on to become a club legend at Manchester City and establish himself as one of the greatest central midfielders of the Premier League era. Guardiola's history when it comes to dealing with players that don't suit his style of play has always been sketchy. Look at Samuel Eto'o or Zlatan Ibrahimovic for example.
Unfortunately for Yaya Toure, Guardiola was appointed Manchester City manager in 2016. That very season, he decided to omit Yaya Toure from City's Champions League squad. He didn't inform the player of the same before dropping the bombshell on the world.
Toure's agent, Dimitri Seluk, didn't hold back as he criticized Pep.
“It is Pep’s decision and we must respect that. “If he wins the Champions League for City this season then I will travel to England and I will say on television that Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world.
“But if City don’t win the Champions League then I hope that Pep has got the balls to say that he was wrong to humiliate a great player like Yaya. This is Pep’s decision and we must respect it."
It only got worse from there. Pep told Yaya Toure that he won't play anymore unless his agent issues an apology. Seluk responded with more scathing comments and likened Pep's treatment of Yaya to that of his treatment of players like Eto'o and Ibrahimovic.
The midfielder apologized for everything that was said and left the club in 2017. After that he had no reason to hold back.
Yaya Toure has since accused Pep Guardiola of being biased against players of African origin, a statement the Ivorian has since apologized for. But it's safe to say that the relationship between the player and the manager is likely to remain awkward.
#2 Angel Di Maria - Louis van Gaal (Manchester United)
When Manchester United signed Angel Di Maria in the summer of 2014, he was the hottest winger on the planet. The Argentine had just played a stellar role in Real Madrid's La Decima Champions League triumph. The Red Devils paid £59.7 million to secure his services for Los Blancos.
Di Maria got off to a flying start and his individual brilliance shone through as he became an instant hit with the Old Trafford faithful. But Louis van Gaal did not know how to use a player like Di Maria. For Van Gaal, it was all about possession or sideways passing, as justifiably frustrated United fans would tell you.
You can't blame them though. Manchester United were utterly boring under the Dutchman's tutelage. Di Maria had become a peripheral figure by the end of the season and was continuously played out of position.
He left the club that summer and has since made multiple comments that has soured his relationship with Manchester United. Di Maria's latest jibe in that general direction came against Louis van Gaal. Speaking to TyC Sports last week, Di Maria absolutely laid into Van Gaal. He said:
"My problem at Manchester was the coach. Van Gaal was the worst of my career. I would score, assist, and the next day he would show me my misplaced passes. He displaced me from one day to the other, he didn't like players being more than him."
#1 Miralem Pjanic - Ronald Koeman (Barcelona)
Miralem Pjanic joined Barcelona from Juventus on a questionable deal in the summer of 2020. The Catalans sent a young and promising Arthur Melo the other way to sign the 30-year-old Bosnian international. Pjanic did not pr be a great fit for Barcelona and started just six La Liga games in his debut season at the Camp Nou.
Fast forward to this summer and Pjanic wanted to leave the club just as badly as Barcelona wanted him offloaded. He has finally found a way out of the club, albeit on loan to Besiktas. Since joining Besiktas, Pjanic has offered his thoughts on what happened with manager Ronald Koeman.
He said:
"Right now, today, I don't know what he wanted exactly. He didn't try to explain things to me or find a solution. I would go to ask him what he wanted from me, positionally or what I was doing well or badly. I wanted to adapt as quickly as possible to the team and be useful.
He added:
"I know what I can bring to a team, but you need confidence and dialogue and things to be said to your face. I'd have preferred things to be said to me directly, but it was what it was. It was a very odd way of communicating and it's the first time I've ever experienced this.
"I've had a very good relationship with all of my coaches. I don't know what happened, I honestly don't know. He didn't want responsibility or confrontation, because I guess that couldn't be handled."
Koeman seems to have iced Pjanic out of the team but going by the midfielder's words, there was clearly no communication. That is quite disrespectful, especially since Pjanic is one of the best holding midfielders of his generation.
