Setién told Messi: "If you don't like what I tell you, you know where the door is..."
SER Catalunya programme 'Què T'hi Jugues' has revealed part of a heated discussion between Messi and Barcelona coach Setién in Vigo in June.
"If you don't like what I tell you, there's the door". Journalist Adrià Albets has revealed some of the words that were said during a heated discussion between former Barcelona coach Quique Setién and his players inside the dressing room at Balaídos during the league game against Celta in June. Speaking on SER Catalunya's Què T'hi Jugues programme, Albets recalled the moment when Setién reproached the team for the mistakes they made in the 2-2 draw with Celta.
Messi did not like the tone with which the coach spoke to the players and asked him to show a little more respect towards a team which had won everything there is to win in the game and who have an honours' list far longer than Setién has achieved as a player or a coach. That prompted Setién to tell Messi: "If you don't like what I tell you, there's the door". Messi's reaction, according to SER Catalunya, was a wry smile as if to suggest he pitied the coach.
The anecdote came out a day after Setién was critical of Messi's attitude in an interview with Vicente Del Bosque for El País: "Leo is difficult to manage. Who am I to change him! If they have accepted him as he is for years and have not changed him. There's another facet beyond just the player and it's more difficult to manage. Much more difficult. It's something inherent in many athletes that can be seen in the Michael Jordan documentary ['The Last Dance']. You see things you don't expect. He's very reserved but he makes you see the things that he wants. He doesn't talk much. He is very reserved but he makes you see things the way he wants. He doesn't talk much. He just looks… After I left I realised that at certain moments I should have made other decisions; but there is something which always comes before you and that's the club. The club always comes first - it's above the president, the players, the club. It's about the club and the fans".