Logo
Football
Written by

Hripsime Hayrapetyan

13-11-2019 | 18:19 Football
798 Views

TOP 10 most famous bust-ups over the years

It's not an easy thing to be a football player, especially when it concerns the relationship with other players. None of the footballers is insured from having some bust-ups as it was in the case of Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez. The two squared up to each other at the end of Manchester City vs Liverpool clash on Sunday. On Monday, they were seen to have a quarrel during England squad training. Sterling was seen trying to grab Gomez as he asked: "Still the big man?". He left the Liverpool defender with a scratch under his right eye. The players were separated by teammates and the City striker was dropped from the squad to face Montenegro for Euro 2020 qualifiers. This is not the only case when the players pay for their behaviour. Let's look back through the years to remember the top 10 most famous bust-ups of the times.

Balotelli v Mancini

Mario Balotelli has experienced hard times when playing in Manchester City. Things became even worse in January 2013 when he was pictured in a training ground bust-up with Roberto Mancini grabbing the player's bib. Mancini explained the incident, saying: "I grabbed him by the collar wanting to push him but he is so strong physically I couldn't move him. From seeing the pictures, you would think that we came to blows but nothing happened." However, the fact is that Just a few weeks later Balotelli was offloaded from the squad. Image Source: Daily Mail  

McCarthy v Keane

Ireland's World Cup campaign in 2002 ended before had begun when the captain Roy Keane left the squad following the disagreement with manager Mick McCarthy. Keane shared his concerns with an Irish newspaper over the preparations on the island of Saipan. McCarthy confronted him, which led the star man to respond: '"Mick, you're a liar … you're a f****** w*****.  didn't rate you as a player, I don't rate you as a manager, and I don't rate you as a person. You're a f****** w***** and you can stick your World Cup up your a***. " Image Source: Daily Mail

Gravesen v Robinho

Never make Thomas Gravesen annoyed. Robinho realized it himself back in 2006. The fight broke out after a usual ill-time challenge from the Danish on Robinho during a pre-season training session. Gravesen was seen to throw punches in the direction of his teammate. Image Source: Daily Mail  

Domenech v Evra

France's World Cup in 2010 has been marked in history with its bust-ups. Thierry Henry refused to play during a group stage defeat to Mexico, while Nicolas Anelka was sent off the game after questioning the tactics of manager Raymond Domenech at half time, saying: "Go f*** yourself, you son of a w****."  Following the incident, France had a goalless draw with Uruguay, heading the national team for an early exit. Things became even worse in the buildup for their fixture against hosts South Africa. France refused to train at the exile of Anelka as a protest before captain Patrice Evra was seen in a public spat with fitness coach Robert Duverne. The coach left angrily in protest and even threw his accreditation pass to the ground. Image Source: Daily Mail

Mourinho v Pogba

Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba weren't in a good relationship for months. The Frenchman had been stripped of the captain role after openly questioning the manager's defensive tactics. The situation reaches the point the day after Manchester United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Derby, where Pogba had sat in the stands and shared a video of himself laughing on Instagram. Mourinho got furious with the timing of the post, that Pogba blamed on poor signal at United. Sky Sports cameras shot the pair having unhappy words. Later less than three months Mourinho was sacked from his management responsibilities. Image Source: Daily Mail  

Barton v Dabo

In 2008 Joey Barton was charged for knocking his French teammate Ousmane Dabo during a row at Manchester City's training ground after they had some quarrel.

Barton continued to punch Dabo while lying on top of him at the time when the Frenchman had already lost consciousness.

After the incident, Dabo suffered a detached retina, while Barton handed a four-month suspended prison sentence.

Image Source: Football.co.uk  

Hartson v Berkovic

In 1999 John Hartson became the first player to be charged with misconduct for kicking West Ham team-mate Eyal Berkovic in the head in training. Berkovic was the fist to aim at Welshman's leg after a strong tackle in training, then Hartson responded by aiming a boot into the Israeli's chin. Speaking upon the incident, later Hartson told: "The aftermath of it was horrendous. I was the front page of every national newspaper across the globe, I was on the News at Ten with Trevor McDonald, there were newspapers knocking my mum and dad's door down in Wales." Hartson was fined £20,000 and given a three-match ban with the whole incident caught on film. Image Source: Daily Mail

Kamara v Mitrovic

Aleksandr Mitrovic and Aboubakar Kamara had to be separated by their Fulham teammates after a fight during a yoga session. The two were on each other's throats as Mitrovic considered Kamara's treatment rude to the yoga teacher. Weeks later Kamara was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a security guard after another fight at the training ground. The forward moved on loan to Yeni Malatyaspor at the end of the month but has since returned to Fulham. Image Source: The Times

Conte v Costa

Antoni Conte and Diego Costa weren't on good terms at Chelsea. They came to a head in January 2017, when the forward had his head turned by the prospect of a big-money move to China. He didn't train with the squad after a bust-up with the club fitness coach, later dropped by Conte. During a heated exchange, the Italian reportedly shouted at him "Go to China."  After rehabilitation Costa helped fire Chelsea to the title. However, later Conte told him he was out of plans by text message that summer. Image Source: Daily Mail  

Ljungberg v Mellberg

Another bust-up is connected with World Cup 2002 ahead of Sweden's opening match with England.

Freddie Ljungberg grabbed Olof Mellberg by the throat, after his teammate chopping him down with a late tackle during the squad's Miyazaki base

TV cameras captured how the two wrestled each other to the ground. They were eventually separated by Daniel Andersson.

Later Mellberg told: "Of course I regret it. You can't put a positive spin on what I did. It is nothing to be proud of. It was stupid." 

Image Source: Daily Mail
Source:Daily Mail

TOP 10 contenders for the Premier League Golden Boot award 2019/20

Related News

Standings

England, Premier League