Silva says Messi tries to control referees and needs to have more respect

Thiago Silva says Lionel Messi tries to influence referees during games and says, admiration aside, the Argentine needs to behave better on the football field according to Globoesporte.

The Brazilian's comments came after a typically fiery affair between Argentina and Brazil with Messi scoring the only goal of the game in the first half. Messi told Tite to shut up according to the manager Brazil and Silva expanded on Messi's chat on the field.

"I argued with the ref and he kept laughing," Silva said. "You have to put admiration to one side. He always looks to force the referee to give them free-kicks in dangerous areas, he always acts in that way. ‘We spoke with some players who play in Spain and the same thing happens, he looks to control the game and the referee’s decisions.

"In the Champions League he doesn’t have that advantage because the referees are tougher. You don’t see him trying to rule so much. There are referees that, because of their admiration for him, start to weigh in on his side. That we didn’t have Neymar on our side was a disadvantage. ‘It’s hard to understand when we talk about respect on the pitch, and one of the most admired players in the world does that, you don’t do that to an older person but being that it was a coach. As much as there is rivalry, respect has to come first."

Silva said if it were Casemiro doing the influencing, he would be considered a bad guy and that Messi should not be allowed to have such an influence on the game.