Who knew Pepe cared so much about how he’s perceived?
The Real Madrid defender is a very good player, but he has become a by-word for play-acting and the dark arts of football that infuriate fans.
Pepe’s antics in the Champions League final particularly angered spectators.
The Brazilian-born Portugal international spend a significant amount of the game on the ground, rolling around clutching his face, in an attempt to con the referee and get opposition player’s booked.
Gary Lineker summed up the thoughts of the watching public when describing Pepe’s antics in the final.
Pepe is an enormous dick.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) May 28, 2016
Less than a month later, Pepe was back to his old tricks at Euro 2016, where, to be fair, he played excellently as Portugal won the competition.
Beloved of all https://t.co/OScVhe7Fhe
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 19, 2016
Pepe has been behaving this way on the pitch for a long time, but has never given the sense that he cares one bit what people think about him.
Which is why his criticism of his former Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho seems so strange.
According to Pepe, when Mourinho was in-charge at the Spanish club between 2010 and 2013: “people hated us when we got out there on the pitch.”
“Things changed when [Carlo] Ancelotti came in, you could see people started treating us different again,” Pep told Cadena Ser.
While Mourinho was a divisive figure during his time at Madrid, behaviour like this didn’t exactly boost the club’s popularity either:
Ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League tie against Sporting Lisbon, Pepe also revealed that he was glad to see the back of Mourinho.
“It lasted three years and thank God it went very quick,” Pepe said about Mourinho’s reign at the Bernabeu, before comparing Mourinho unfavourably to Zinedine Zidane, the current Madrid coach.
“What happened with Mourinho is in the past now. I was strong and got over it. I maintained my high level at Madrid. Mourinho and Zidane are very different, one could say they are opposites.
“But it’s not like one is bad and the other is good. Mourinho has a lot of experience as a coach, with great clubs and players. Zidane has only just started in La Liga last year.
“But he has played at the highest level himself and always knows what’s expected on the pitch. Zidane has been a player and knows what we think. He had a brilliant career at Madrid, so understands what the pressure is like here.”
Pepe’s criticism of the Manchester United manager’s playing career echo comments made by Eden Hazard recently. The Chelsea winger also appeared to take a pop at Mourinho’s playing career.
The United manager played at a semi-professional level, before turning his attention to coaching.
Saucer of milk for Eden https://t.co/lvmCRYmh0J
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 29, 2016
The GAA Hour took their show on the road to Castlebar to preview the All-Ireland final with Colm Parkinson, James Horan and some very special guests. Listen below or subscribe here on iTunes.
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