Why Pique should be admired, not criticised for embracing social media

Arguably one of the most controversial stars in Spain over the last couple of years has been Gerard Pique. The former Manchester United centre back found himself being booed on more than one occasion while wearing a Spain shirt, which is understandable if those matches were away but not in his home country. So what has he done to cause this backlash? Put simply, he dared to be honest.

Pique has made no secret of his love for his home city of Barcelona and strongly supported the call for a referendum on Catalunya’s independence. He attended ‘La Diada’ – a date which is celebrated as National Catalunya Day – and was widely criticised for doing so. Funny, as teammate at the time Xavi Hernandez also attended the celebration but there was no outcry over him doing so, only Pique. He also attended a planned march which called for Catalans’ rights to vote on whether they wanted to be independent or not. This was met with the customary yet childish response, “If you don’t want to be part of Spain, don’t play for the National team!”

Pique isn’t one to shy away from criticism or the limelight. He isn’t one to sulk when people boo or shout obscenities about him or his famous wife. “If I play for Spain it’s because I really feel I should. First, because we have a fucking incredible team and second, because right now, I’m Spanish.” This is what Pique told ‘Papel’. He later added that just because he was in favour of a referendum it didn’t make him pro-independence either. “There are lots of people who support (the right to) a referendum, in both Catalunya and Spain, yett who are against independence.”

Why isn’t a man allowed to air his political views? The issue is a lot of Spaniards, primarily in the Madrid region it has to be said, are very patriotic. His political beliefs don’t hurt anyone and there’s no question of him giving less than 100% when wearing La Roja. He’s a man of strong principles but that doesn’t mean the boo-boys haven’t affected him when representing his country.

“It looks like I’m handling it well? Well, as I’ve always said, it’s a moment I’ve got to live with and I hope it’s for the shortest period possible. Nobody likes it (being booed).” It was a rare chink in the armour of Pique who often appears to joke over any ill feeling, but not so in the instance. I guess for him, and countless teammates from all over Spain - including rivals clubs – fans should back every player who represents their country, more so someone who has played a key part in Spain’s recent dominance.

For Pique it reached a point where he considered his place in the national set-up. “There are two options. One is to leave the national team, say “that’s it” but I believe that would be giving in to those that don’t deserve it. And the other option, and the one I’ve opted to take, is to play (for Spain) until the end, until the mister decides not to choose me. I want to stay here and help my teammates, try to add all the qualities I bring because I think I can do a lot for this team.”

There’s an element of truth that if you’re good enough to give it out then you should be able to take it as well. I don’t think there’s an issue for Pique if Real Madrid or Espanyol fans want to hate him. If anything, he probably enjoys being a hate figure. Yet it’s when he represents his country and one he’s done so proudly for many years that he feels the booing is uncalled for, especially when playing at home.

Pique himself admits that he’s naturally impulsive and can’t bite his tongue when he sees a comment directed at him, or something he feels is worth talking about. He’s had a running battle with ex-Spain teammate Alvaro Arbeloa on Twitter, stemming back from comments Pique made after Real Madrid were awarded a contentious penalty, calling it a ‘horror movie’.

The two exchanged words before it all died down a little, that was until Arbeloa called Pique his friend but said he should be doing comedy shows. After Barcelona had drawn 2-2 with Deportivo Pique was asked about the full-back’s comments and duly responded as only he knows how: “Arbeola said we’re friends? I don’t consider him a friend but an associate.” However, in Spanish, associate is ‘conocido’ and Pique emphasised the ‘cono’ part which, translated into English means ‘cone’, an unfriendly nickname handed to the Real Madrid man by rival fans.

This caused Esteban Granero to but-in to the conversation and told Pique he should “respect his superiors”, indicating that Arbeloa had done more than the Barcelona man. Not to be outdone and when Barcelona had won the World Club Championships he tweeted a photo of of himself with the trophy and followed it up with an image showing all the trophies he has won at the club. Of course, it included the hash tag, “for my superiors”, for added effect.

It’s funny that fans spend so much time demanding players love and support the club as much they do, but then reject it as unprofessional when they demonstrate a human side on a social media platform. I thought it was great that Pique laughed when Real Madrid were thrown out of the cup for fielding an ineligible Denis Cheryshev. It shows he cares and it adds a bit of extra spice the next time the two clubs meet. If Barcelona had made the same mistake and it was Sergio Ramos posting laughing emojis, wouldn’t Real Madrid fans hail him as a ‘legend’ too? It’s part of the game. If you can’t laugh when your rivals mess up, when can you?

In his latest Periscope session, Pique’s new toy, he talked about the rivalry between the two sides and admitted he liked to get under the skin of his opponents. “I like to irritate them and I consider it part of the show. The Barca-Madrid rivalry is what happens when you’re always the biggest teams. For that I like to stoke the fire now and again – it isn’t provoking for the sake of provoking.”

In an era where so many social media accounts are run by agencies with standard, sponsored tweets it’s refreshing to see popular figures use it like you and I do. I don’t want to see my club captain acting like a robot and posting his new boots and standard post-match comments. I want authenticity, I want passion and I want genuine, natural responses. It’s refreshing to see that from Pique and we need to be careful we don’t try to eliminate that from the game.

And while that banter between rival fans and players is great to see, it should be put to one side once they wear their nation’s shirt. As soon as the game or tournament is over, take your digs at will, but until then a unified side can only be beneficial. No one is asking them to be best friends or pose together at every opportunity as that would be fake, but if they’re pulling in the same direction, where’s the beef?