7 footballers who openly criticized their manager

They say, in the Vedic scriptures, that a teacher is the equivalent of God—and hence worthy of the utmost respect. There is not a sin more heinous, than insulting or criticizing one’s own teacher. It is said, in the scriptures, that he who does this crime rots within the walls of hell for almost all of eternity.The coach, in a strict sense of speaking, is like a teacher for players. They mould them in such a way that they become a force to be reckoned with. However, it is not always rosy with the coaches as some players in fact regress under certain trainers.And it is mainly in these cases where the student opens his mouth to speak about things that aren’t exactly nice. Here are some instances when a player criticized his former or current manager…

#1 Samir Nasri on Roberto Mancini

The Frenchman has had a numerous amount of tiffs, but Mancini was the first manager to witness his ire

If one searches for the most hated players on the planet, then Samir Nasri’s name will be among the top people there. He is loathed by almost every Arsenal and France fan and the main reason is his expressive personality.

He is the type of guy who won’t sit quietly and not react to criticism—he makes his opinion known and it is for this reason that he is one of the toughest players to deal with.

And Roberto Mancini found that only after luring him to Manchester City from Arsenal.

The two shared a hostile relationship and the Italian manager, another eccentric character himself, made it known by constant criticism of the French midfielder even after departing from the club.

And, as expected, Samir Nasri didn’t hold back and let go of the fury within him when the current Inter manager questioned his attitude and claimed that he “settled for the minimum” instead living up to his potential.

"How I can say it without being rude? He's a different person when he wants you and when he has you," Nasri told the Daily Telegraph. "When he wanted me, he was calling me every day, telling me everything I wanted to hear. I arrived here and for me it was a shock. He was really, really the opposite of Arsene Wenger. Not even a 'good morning.'

"Sometimes when you play he comes and talks to you. If you don't play he doesn't talk to you for three or four months. It's never his fault. You cannot have a discussion with him, try to explain something. When we have a loss, he gets crazy in the dressing-room.

"He says things that you cannot say even on the street to someone. I really had the bad experience with him. He had the results as a manager everywhere he went because he had great players with him. But now, he will not be in my top three or four managers of all time."

#2 Mario Balotelli on Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini

Mourinho once described Balotelli as ‘unmanageable’

Now, when it comes to eccentric characters, Mario Balotelli would certainly lead the list. The Italian player is one of the toughest players to work with and Mourinho was the first one to claim so.

Indeed, the self-proclaimed Special One once said that Balotelli is “impossible to work with” and Steven Gerrard, later in his autobiography, agreed.

The former City forward isn’t good friends with the Portuguese either and when Gazata Dello Sport asked him for his opinion on his former manager, he said: "Mourinho is the best coach in the world, but as a man he still needs to learn manners and respect.”

Those are some rather hypocritical words from someone who also was in an altercation with his once manager, Roberto Mancini.

Speaking of Roberto Mancini, Mario Balotelli didn’t spare him either. And to be fair to him, one can only take so many unpleasant words as the former City manager was left so frustrated with the forward’s antics that he believed he would have had fights with Balotelli on a daily basis if he was his team-mate.

And Mario came up with an epic response: “He couldn’t. I do Thai kick-boxing.”

#3 Roy Keane on Sir Alex Ferguson

Despite winning many titles together, Keane and Ferguson were often at each other’s throats

One could actually write an entire book about the number of times Roy Keane opened his mouth to spew venom at his former manager.

Here is an extract of what Roy Keane had to say when Sir Alex revealed a bit too much in his autobiography.

“I felt it was a bit harsh to criticise me or other players,” Kean told Football Focus. “We did OK for the club, had a bit of success, won a few trophies, and here is the manager criticising us all.”

“A manager who has made millions of pounds out of us, got statues and stands named after him, and he thinks he can criticise us without anybody saying anything to him because he thinks he's got all this power. "I thought, 'No, why should we sit back and listen to this nonsense?'”

When asked whether he would say this all to Ferguson when he met him in person, he added: "Truthfully, I'd probably have a go at him. Yeah, why not?

“What would I say? Why are you talking nonsense about us, talking rubbish about me and other lads who have done well? He'd probably defend himself, take a running jump as you'd expect. But I don't see why we should just accept it - it was all about power and control for him.”

“I'm 43 years of age - am I supposed to be frightened of him? You've got to take them on. Football is a small world, so I'm sure we'll cross each other, and I look forward to it.”

Well, Mr. Keane, you were never frightened of anything at any given age whatsoever.

#4 Carlos Tevez on Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson

Tevez famously refused to play for Mancini

Do you guys see a pattern? The same set of managers having difficulties with hot-headed players. And Carlos Tevez is one of them.

Once again, like every other player on this list, he is not someone who is afraid to express his opinion, regardless of how controversial it might be. Heck, he couldn’t care any less even if he wanted to and a night in Munich is a testament to that.

In fact, as soon as the Italian joined the club and doubled the amount of training time, Tevez didn’t take it too kindly and said the following words...

"The players are not happy with this," Tevez said. "We are at the end of a long season, we have big matches, we are tired but there are still double training sessions, morning and afternoon. Then, the next day, we train for two hours. I do not understand. But, please, he is the coach and I am the player. He is in charge. I am OK with him."

This wasn’t all. He didn’t seem to have a good relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson and said, before City’s game against United about 6 years ago: “Ferguson is history for me but I know that he is scared of playing against us."

#5 Cristiano Ronaldo to Jose Mourinho

The Portuguese duo didn’t gel well at all times

Jose Mourinho makes his second appearance in the list., which is not surprising. After 2 great seasons with Real Madrid, things went sour behind the scenes as he fell out with numerous big names at the club.

And one of them included the guy who scored more than 150 goals in the 3 years that he trained him, helping Mourinho to add a La Liga title to his name.

As soon as he left, however, Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t hold back and opined that Mourinho wasn’t his friend. He was quoted saying on The Sun: “There was a bad atmosphere and it was a difficult period in personal terms.

“Of all my managers, the only one I have a friendship with is Sir Alex Ferguson. But I’m not in football to have friends. I’m here to win.”

#6 Brede Hangeland on Felix Magath

The mild mannered Norwegian usually had a good relationship with his bosses

Felix Magath is the strictest coach in the world of football. He is so authoritarian that some people even compare him to Hitler. Indeed, his training methods have been likened to military practices that test the player to the maximum; which either strengthens them further or, in most cases, breaks them down.

And Brede Hangeland was one of those players who found it extremely hard to work with the German. Magath might have been the manager to take Schalke to the semi-final of the Champions League and a runner-up finish in the Bundesliga, but his spell in England was nothing but a disaster.

Hangeland told Sky Sports News: “He's very difficult to work with. He's a very strict manager and his main tool is to try to mentally and physically batter his players and hopefully get some results out of that.”“Is that the right fit for English football? I don't think so. I thought rather than help us try to avoid relegation he made things worse. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think he is the right man (to get Fulham promoted) and things will get worse before they get better.”

#7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Pep Guardiola

Guardiola and Ibrahimovic did not see eye to eye

This is the mother of all player-manager rivalries. This is a rivalry of such an epic proportions that one can’t fathom where to begin.

From calling Guardiola a “spineless coward” to asking him “go **** yourself”, if there is one guy Ibrahimovic hates the most, it must be Pep Guardiola.

The Swede endured a tough time with the Catalans and wasn’t pleased with his treatment at all. In fact, Guardiola’s decision to sacrifice him in order to put Messi in the center outraged him so much that he thought Pep bought a Ferrari to drive it like a Fiat. The Swedish star also claimed that the Spaniard was "not a man."

However, this wasn't even the worst thing. As revealed later by Barcelona chief Josep Bartomeu, Ibrahimovic apparently told his agent, Mino Raiola, that he wanted to punch Guardiola. The war followed to such bitterness that Zlatan Ibrahimovic wanted a Real Madrid move as revenge on Pep Guardiola.