7 most outspoken players in football

Zlatan loves media attentionFootball is the most popular game in the world. It's popularity has seen risen to new heights during the last 10 years because of the Internet and the high media attention the game has received. The increased attention has made it all the more important for players to say the right things when speaking at press conferences or expressing their views on social media. Of course, there are those who have no real problem in expressing themselves. Sometimes it comes off as cheeky and hilarious but other times it's just plain offensive. Here are 7 players who are very outspoekn

#7 Benoit Assou-Ekotto

Assou Ekotto was a regular at Tottenham Hotspur at a point of time in his career. The right-back was very inconsistent playing really well in one game and becoming totally anonymous in another.

Ekotto was part of the Spurs squad from 2006 to 2015 but only made 155 appearances in that time scoring four goals. He is very much a forgotten man in the Premier League and now plies his trade back in France with Saint Etienne.

Ekotto is not a big fan of sponsors and made that pretty clear when he said this: "I'd rather be free than to prostitute myself for a sponsor. In all honesty, when you're an African player, it's not that interesting to have a sponsor"

He also had his say on the loyalty of Spurs’ players while he was still at the club in an exclusive with The Guardian, "I must say, as well, that I have seen quite a few Spurs players kiss the badge and then fuck off. I am still here."

He gave a very frank answer on why he chose football as profession: "Why did I come here? For a job. A career is only 10, 15 years. It's only a job. Yes, it's a good, good job and I don't say that I hate football but it's not my passion"

#6 Joey Barton

Good ole’ Joey Barton. There is always controversy when the fiery Englishman is involved in a match. But the ill-tempered midfielder is as active off the pitch as he is on it. Barton has given his views on a variety of subjects.

He doesn’t restrict himself to jibes on just footballers. If he isn't talking about something on TV he’s busy tweeting his opinions without any regard for what anyone thinks about it.

This is what he had to say about Thiago Silva’s fitness: “Another overrated Brazilian Sort your hamstrings out Fat Boy”

Barton had the privilege to play alongside Alan Shearer but he clearly doesn’t think highly of the Premier League’s all-time top scorer,:“I really don't like that p***k, in fact I honestly despise him...I'd take it off Hansen and Lineker but not from that bell, same fella that stamped on Neil Lennon,then threatened FA if they banned him”

Barton even had an opinion on global pop star Justin Bieber: "He looks little a shaved little bird with earrings. This is a truly f****d up world, if he's 'cool'".

And finally, he would never pass up a chance to talk about Luis Suarez now would he? “People are going on like he's actually eaten someone. Nobody has died. Worse things happen in nurseries every day of the week. Move on”

#5 Gerard Pique

Gerard Pique is currently Barcelona’s best defender. A product of the famous La Masia academy Pique first moved to Manchester United in 2004 before Barcelona could sign him on a professional contract.

But after three unsuccessful seasons, he decided to return to the Catalans and became a regular alongside Carles Puyol. But the defender has earned an unwanted reputation for stirring controversy with his comments on rival players and clubs

The defender is a known hater of Real Madrid and made some unsavoury comments on their star man Cristiano Ronaldo. This obviously didn’t go down well with he fans and he was booed by the Bernabeu crowd when playing an International against Costa Rica. When asked to respond after the game on the matter he said “I don't care, I've just won the treble!”

The Real Madrid hate continued as he took another jibe at the club after Barca’s 5-4 in the UEFA Super Cup. He was heard screaming by a Spanish local television team saying, “Come on lads, let's celebrate! Madrid can f**k themselves. Let them see us turn this round!”

He even disrespected Barcelona’s minnow rivals Espanyol because of how less they have achieved compared to the Catalan giants saying, “They call themselves the 'marvelous minority,' and they're in such a minority that they can't even fill their ground. Let's see whether they manage to fill it for the return leg, because the other day it wasn't full.”

#4 Patrice Evra

Patrice Evra is one of the best left-backs in the modern game. The Frenchman is known for his speed and penetrating runs on the left flank and combined really well with Cristiano Ronaldo when he was at Manchester United.

Evra moved to Juventus in July of 2014 after Louis Van Gaal took over as manager. Despite being 34 he hasn’t let his age affect his performances. He has continued to be consistent on the left flank and won the Scudetto with the Turin giants in his first season.

Evra despite being a very good player had a tendency to say whatever comes to his mind without thinking much about it. After United’s semi-final win in the Champions League over Arsenal this is what he said about his opponents:

“It was 11 men against 11 babies. We never doubted ourselves. We have much more experience and that's what made the difference. We were always confident. It should have been that score [3-1] in the first leg anyway. It is a great United team that won”

When he was asked to give his view on Manchester United he said, “United is a completely different world, they take care of the tiniest detail for you. To be honest, I’ll be the king of all c**ts if I can’t be a success under such conditions”

He was also asked to comment on rumours of Cristiano Ronaldo’s future but Evra was in no doubt on that subject: "Any agent asking for a transfer request for Cristiano Ronaldo would have to come with a bazooka”

#3 Antonio Cassano

Antonio Cassano is one of the most famous personalities in football more than being a famous player. The Italian is known for his temper and complete disregard for manners whether it's on or off the pitch.

In his career, the Sampdoria man has been involved in several controversies and heated exchanges with players and managers alike. But the man knows how to have a good time. In his autobiography he’s described what a perfect night is for him:

"I had a friend who was a hotel waiter. His job was to bring me three or four pastries after I had sex. He would bring the pastries up the stairs, I would escort the woman to him and we would make an exchange: he would take the girl and I would take the pastries. Sex and then food, a perfect night.”

Cassano has made some pretty scathing comments, making the headlines for the all the wrong reasons more than once in his career. When he was dropped by Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello he had this to say: “In the locker room I told him ‘you’re a piece of s**t, you’re more fake than Monopoly money”

Another Cassano classic was when he was asked whether there were heterosexuals in the national team: "Queers in the national team? That's their business. But I hope not”

#2 Daniel Alves

We all know how good Dani Alves is. The Brazilian has been one of the mainstays in Barcelona’s team and is brilliant going forward. The right-back has won everything there is to win in football.

His trophy cabinet consists of 5 La Liga titles, 3 Champions Leagues and 3 Copa Del Reys. He has also been named in the FIFA FIFPro XI 5 times, coincidentally once every time Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’ Or. But Alves has a love-hate relationship with football fans because of his erratic comments.

When he was asked how a team can beat Real Madrid he had a pretty simple answer. ”The secret to beating Real Madrid is having a great team that plays with b**ls”

Pep Guardiola was his mentor and the guy who brought him in. So he must have learnt a thing or two from his coach during his four-year spell. This is what he said about the coach: “Respecting the opposition means scoring the fourth, fifth and eighth goal... We learnt that from Pep.”

There is no end to how much Alves hates Real Madrid with this comment justifying that relationship: "I don't hope Real Madrid do badly... I hope for much worse than that”

And how does he as a player compare to everyone else? “When people compete with me, they usually lose”

#1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Everybody loves Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He scores some amazing goals season after season. Even at the age of 34 the big Swede keeps banging them in and is currently top scorer of Ligue 1. He is also in the race for the European Golden Shoe.

But the thing we love most about the striker is his charismatic personality. Zlatan makes the headlines more for his press comments and quotes than for his footballing skills. There have been several instances of his instinctive and outrageous responses.

When Arsenal wanted Ibrahimovic to give a trial he gave a typical Zlatan response - “Zlatan does not do auditions”.

John Carew accused the striker of doing too many pointless tricks to which he said,“What Carew can do with a football I can do with an Orange”

Recently he was asked If he would consider staying in PSG but Zlatan being Zlatan had a very interesting condition: “If they replace the Eiffel Tower with a statue of me[the I will stay]”

And finally, the quote the epitomizes his Zlataness! When he was asked which is his favoured position on the pitch he said, “I can play in 11 positions because a good player can play anywhere”