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Footballers need to set the example and not rise to the bait of opposing fans

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One of the biggest selling points of football, especially English football, is the passion seen in the grounds. If you ask the majority of Spanish fans what they feel their league is lacking, or what attracts them to the English game, it’s the full stadiums and constant noise. Spaniards, in comparison, are relatively calm and reserved throughout a match. They might curse, put their head in hands or leap off their seat should a chance present itself but overall the experience is quite mellow, almost sleepy at times. All while eating an obscene amount of sunflower seeds.

There are, of course, exceptions to this general rule of thumb. Matches against local or hated rivals generate a atmosphere seldom seen in England. I’ve gone to a few big derby matches in England and while there’s the back and forth chanting, in Spain, the hate feels a lot more real. The flares outside of the ground and whistling as the opposition team leaves their bus is intimidating. The raucous noise as every tackle is contested. It’s special. More often than not it stops there but, like in England, it sometimes goes too far.

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At the weekend we saw a couple of Valencia fans bring shame upon their club after one threw a packet of pipas, sunflower seeds, at the returning Paco Alcacer. This incident escaped a lot of attention as Jeremy Mathieu, another Valencia old boy, quickly picked up the bag and passed it to the man who threw it. The fan’s reaction is priceless, as his act didn’t produce the desired effect, and instead only added to his own stupidity.

Sadly the other incident did generate a lot of headlines, and rightly so I might add, as a water bottle was thrown at Neymar and company deep into injury time. Although everyone within 10 metres held their head, stumbled backwards or fell down, it was an unsavoury way to end a high octane match. What was thrown matters little, only that something was, and it’s completely wrong to do so. The culprit should be banned, no questions asked.

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I’ve spoken to a few Valencia fans who pointed to the fact Carles Puyol once snatched a lighter from Gerard Pique, who had been hit on the head from it, and tossed it off the pitch. Puyol was a special character, one seriously underrated by a lot of people, but while his actions were commendable it allowed the league to skim over the incident. It isn’t acceptable, whoever the target of your rage is, and ignoring the problem doesn’t help to solve it.

Speaking of which there’s still no word on the sanction to be handed to Sporting Gijon after a section of their fans racially abused Iñaki Williams to the point the match was stopped. This happened on the opening weekend in LaLiga, over two months ago. No rush, eh?

However while I believe the fan deserves to be banned, I think it’d be unwise to gloss over the provocation caused by the Barcelona players as well. Footballers are booed and whistled every week depending on whether they’re at home or away, a good player or a bad one, no one escapes being disliked or attempted to be put off exerting their influence. It’s all part of the modern game, same as that almost circus like noise whenever a keeper takes a goal kick.

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There needs to be a limit though. It’s easy to get lost in the moment if you score a winning goal with seconds remaining but shouting at the opposition fans, gesturing towards them and even insulting them isn’t going to make unsavoury incidences like what happened at the weekend go away. You have to factor in other aspects as to why a crowd is unhappy, conceding an offside goal and being denied an almost identical penalty appeal. There’s legitimate anger and frustration but rubbing it in is simply asking for trouble.

“If they give out abuse they should expect to receive it as well.” Okay, I understand the thinking behind this but doesn’t it sound quite childish, the whole ‘you did it first’ attitude? Footballers are people too, have feelings, perhaps family members in the stadium, but they are also role models and as such need to behave in such a manner when the spotlight is on them. If you score a winning goal, you’ve already answered the critics and hate. Stooping to their level by insulting them, or making aggressive gestures, isn’t appropriate.

We teach our children to be the bigger person and walk away from those who choose to insult or attack them. We insist that while the natural urge is to respond in a similar fashion, the correct course of action is to ignore it or report the matter to the relevant authority. Other parents teach or feel otherwise, I get that, but someone has to make a stand and be mature about the situation otherwise it’s going to descend further into the ridiculous.

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Neymar has received criticism for his style of play because certain people believe his fancy tricks are mocking his opponents and thus is asking for a kick or two from the defender. That’s ridiculous. We all fell in love with Brazilian football because everyone played that way, made it fun to watch, and he shouldn’t live in fear of being taken out each week because he’s frankly better than most of his opponents. He should be admired for attempting things most of us would need to see a physio afterwards if we tried.

However, perhaps due to his critics, there’s a lot of anger inside the young Brazilian. It’s worth remembering that he’s still only 24-years-old so is bound to make mistakes but while we should encourage aspects of his character, other areas need to be straightened out. Whatever he said or did, it didn’t warrant him getting hit by a bottle. However to say he’s completely innocent and did no wrong would also be incorrect.

We saw a rare moment of Lionel Messi losing his cool also after seeing his teammate struck by the bottle. If lip readers are to be believed then he said some nasty things about the fans - and their mothers - and it shouldn’t be ignored because it’s Messi. LaLiga has this clampdown on offensive language at football matches but the Argentinian should know better than to react.

Footballers need to be the ‘bigger men’ and walk away otherwise the situation will only get worse. As to not do so would make the fans try to go one further to find a way to rile an opponent, and where does it all end?


MAILBAG

Do you think Sevilla can do the distance and fight for the LaLiga title? - Saril

I’d love to see a new face in the title mix but even with Sevilla’s impressive start to the season they don’t look ready to challenge for the title yet. The club has overseen a bigger reshuffle this summer than in recent years - and that’s saying something - so I think to be in the position they are is of great credit to Jorge Sampaoli and his players. I feel they’ll drop off eventually but will certainly be in the mix for the last Champions League place. Need to improve their away form though.

What is going wrong at Granada? - Damo

Everything! It’s been a bit of a mess since the Pozzo family cut ties with the club and then moved on their premier talents to clubs still under their control, significantly weakening the squad. Paco Jemez was considered a smart appointment but it didn’t work out for him and while the amount of losses could be expected, given the turnover of players, it was the manner of those defeats which caused the most panic. They’ve escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth more than once but unless there’s a drastic change this might be the season they finally go down.

What do you think of Marcos Llorente? Do you think he can challenge Casemiro for the starting spot next season? - Ayub

I think Marcos Llorente has started really well at Deportivo Alaves and looks a genuine talent, as if he’s been playing at this level for a couple of years already. The other day I had a debate with a Real Madrid fan about the value of loaning Llorente out when they had no natural cover for Casemiro but I guess stability is key at this stage of his development and he’s more likely to play 90 minutes every week at Alaves as opposed to at Madrid.

Could he challenge Casemiro for a starting spot next season? Well, time will tell. The season is slowly getting into full swing but it’s worth remembering that starring for a smaller side isn’t the same as doing it with the pressure on focus on you every week, which is what would happen at Madrid. Casemiro is another underrated player so I think it’d take a lot to dislodge him from his role in the team but as we saw with Marco Asensio, a good preseason might change people’s opinion of you.