With Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric refusing to train for the club, Connor Jipps takes a look at stars, including those once at Manchester City, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, and Chelsea who did the same for club or country, with differing consequences.
Professionalism is a word difficult to associate with the modern game. Of course there are examples of true professionals within the game such as Ledley King, David Beckham.and Jamie Carragher to name but a few, players that have worked incredibly hard and suffered in their attempts to become the best player they can be for themselves and their teams.
Yet stories such as Luka Modric’s absence from Tottenham training, that once would have seemed so disgraceful, barely register on the shock scale.
So what do Modric’s actions spell for him and Tottenham? I take a look at ten other training and matchday rebels, some infamous and some surprising, to see whether the situation can be salvaged between player and club.
Adebayor (Manchester City) – July 2011
As at most clubs Emmanuel Adebayor has played for, his first season at Manchester City was largely successful. Regarded as a cult hero after that celebration against former club Arsenal, it looked as if Adebayor was finally settled and happy at a club matching his ambitions. As at most clubs Emmanuel Adebayor has played for, his second season contained tantrums and a drop in form. Fed up with Adebayor’s attitude, Mancini sent him out on loan to Real Madrid in January where he excelled as the head of their attack. Nevertheless, on his return to the Etihaad, Mancini still felt that his attitude and quality were not up to his expected level and made him train with the City fringe players. Unhappy with the demotion Adebayor went AWOL from training.
Bridges have been burnt between Mancini and Adebayor and the former Arsenal man still awaits his move from City with Tottenham the most likely destination. Don’t expect to see him putting on the light blue shirt any time soon.
Anderson (Manchester United) – January 2010
In his time at Manchester United, Anderson has largely been consigned to a squad role. Bought for £18 million, he came with a reputation as one of the world’s most promising young players, however poor form kept him out of the side with Sir Alex Ferguson preferring to use Central midfield partnership combinations of Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves and Darren Fletcher. Eventually Anderson became frustrated at his lack of first team opportunities and exclusion from the first team squad for a Premier League game against Hull City proved to send the Brazilian over the edge. Anderson missed training the following Monday and found himself in a heap of trouble with Ferguson.
Hard work and improved performances have elevated Anderson to a more involved role at the club, but Ferguson has come out and told of how close Anderson was to being shown the door.
Anelka, Evra & Co. (France) – June 2010
Never has the world of football seen anything like this. Back in 2010, France went into the World Cup as favourites to win Group A with Mexico, Uruguay and South Africa their opponents. A draw against Uruguay was followed by defeat to Mexico and under fire boss, Raymond Domenech, began to encounter resistance from his temperamental squad. An explosive dressing room bust-up with Nicholas Anelka led to the striker being sent home early and sparked a mini-revolution. Coming together in solidarity for their teammate, the other members of the French squad refused to train under Domenech and eventually crashed out after a 2-1 loss to the hosts South Africa in their final game.
Soon after Domenech was fired by the French Football Association and replaced by Laurent Blanc. All 23 members of the French squad were dropped initially due to Blanc’s disgust at the South Africa debacle, and even now very few still have an active International career.
Ben Arfa (Marseille) – May 2010
Hatem Ben Arfa was once seen as one of French football’s greatest prospects, forming a strong understanding with Karim Benzema whilst at Lyon as youngsters. Benzema moved on to Real Madrid whilst Ben Arfa left for Marseille, both citing a need for a fresh challenge. Ben Arfa showed a lot of early promise in his spell at the Stade Velodrome, but arguments with teammate Djibril Cisse and coaches Eric Gerets and Didier Deschamps lead to Ben Arfa being frozen out of the first team picture. In protest at his exclusion, Ben Arfa refused to train in an effort to force through a loan move to Newcastle United.
Not soon after Ben Arfa’s stand, Marseille gave into his demands and let the winger go out on loan to Newcastle United. In his fourth game for the Tynesiders he broke his leg after a horror tackle. Luckily for Ben Arfa, the Newcastle management had seen enough to convince them that he was the real deal and the wide man was signed up permanently in January 2011.
Diouf (Blackburn Rovers) – July 2011
Arguably the most controversial footballer in the history of the Premier League, I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that El Hadji-Diouf did indeed have a training ground spat at one of his many clubs, and Blackburn were the ones to bare the brunt. A favourite of former Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce, Diouf was offered a contract with the club after release from Big Sam’s former employer Bolton Wanderers. However when Allardyce left the club Kean quickly made it clear to Diouf that his days at the club were numbered. A loan spell at Rangers followed and on his return to Rovers Diouf went missing for two weeks before rolling back into training.
With the hatred of the whole of Blackburn behind him, Diouf’s position at the club became untenable and he was released in September 2011. A largely unsuccessful spell at Doncaster followed and he is now a free agent.
Keane (Republic of Ireland) – May 2002
Roy Keane has always been known as a ‘fiesty one’. The majority of people would agree that the feisty side of Keane is what lead to him achieving the success that he did in his career at club level. However on international duty just before the 2002 World Cup Keane’s feistiness got the better of him in a full blown row with Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy. Poor training facilities and lack of equipment were issues that hadn’t been arranged to Keane’s expectations and his opinions were expressed in an interview which angered and undermined McCarthy. Keane went AWOL and infamously was seen walking his dog as the Republic of Ireland played their first game of the tournament.
After the incident Keane vowed never to play for the Republic ever again under McCarthy’s regime, but was recalled under Brian Kerr following McCarthy’s departure from the helm. Soon after he announced his International retirement following the failure to qualify for Euro 2004.
Robinho (Manchester City) – January 2009
Once upon a time, Samba starlet Robinho held the British record for a transfer fee at £32 million. Signed up from Real Madrid as the first major signing under the stewardship of the new Qatari owners, Robinho started his City career with a bang and exciting performances received rave reviews from pundits and fans alike. However it was also well publicised that Robinho had issues with authority. On a winter training camp in Tenerife Robinho left the camp without explanation to return to Brazil. Mystery surrounded the affair with some sources saying it was due to personal reasons and others that it was a result of a strong argument between Robinho and the manager at the time, Mark Hughes.
Robinho returned to Santos, where he’d started his career and on his return was shipped out to AC Milan on a permanent deal. Alongside strike partners Inzaghi, Ibrahimovic and Pato, Robinho has flourished and finally seems to be fairly settled.
Ronaldinho (Flamengo) – May 2012
Once deemed the best player in the World, Ronaldinho has a CV that many footballers would envy having played for such glamorous clubs as Paris St. Germain, AC Milan and of course Barcelona. Following his spell at AC, Ronaldinho decided it was time for him to go home to Brazil, choosing Flamengo where he signed a three year contract back in 2011. Success in the Taca Guanbarana tournament followed and a 5-4 victory over close rivals Santos with Ronaldinho scoring a hat-trick but having not received four months worth of wages owed to him, Ronaldinho refused to train for the club in the summer of 2012.
Ronaldinho bought out his contract soon after this and now plays for Athletico Mineiro, having turned down big money offers from Europe and America this summer.
Scholes (Manchester United) – November 2011
It may come as a surprise to see Scholes’ name amongst this temperamental lot but Scholes has risked the wrath of Sir Alex Ferguson. Back in 2001, the United academy product was struggling for form having been pushed into a more advanced role. With Ferguson looking to get Scholes back up to speed he selected him in the squad to play Arsenal in the League Cup. Nothing wrong with that, other than the fact that Scholes was the only recognised first teamer set to start. Furious at being asked to play alongside players of lesser quality, Scholes refused to play in the game.
Subsequently Scholes was fined for his refusal, but has managed to sustain a successful career at the club having somehow avoided the Fergie treatment that saw the backs of Beckham, Van Nistelrooy and Veron after disputes. Continues to play to this day and has a very strong relationship with Ferguson.
Tevez (Man City) – November 2011
Finally we come to Carlos Tevez. You didn’t think he was going to miss out did you? Tevez is a controversial player. He controversially moved to West Ham under various legal loopholes, then controversially left Man United to join their arch rivals before controversially deciding that he’d decide when he played and trained at City. Tevez had been benched by Mancini for a Champions League game against Bayern to rest but with Man City needing an extra attacking impetus, Tevez was called upon. From the cameras however it seemed that the absurd realisation was that Tevez didn’t want to come on and Mancini was forced to go to Plan B. A public fallout between player and manager followed and Tevez missed training on various occasions, claiming homesickness and displeasure at the fine he received for his part in the Munich fiasco.
A long struggle between club emerged for the next 5 months but eventually Tevez was given his chance to redeem himself as the season neared its end. Forming a deadly partnership alongside Aguero, Tevez’s goals helped to push the club towards their first Premier League title and their may just still be a future for the Argentinian at Eastlands.
image: © Alfonso Jimenez
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