The relationship between a footballer and a manager is crucial at many levels. It could help a player improve his performance on the field, help the teams overall performance and give them the much- needed confidence. Some players have even went on to claim it's more like a father-son relationship.
Also read: Five possible replacements for Alexis Sanchez
Every player wants to have a good relationship with their manager to ensure they get as much playing time as possible, but fights do happen.
The most recent was in the Premier League between Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Alexis Sanchez. The Frenchman claimed that the reason he dropped the Chilean was tactical. But later it was revealed that the Arsenal forward had a bust up in a training session and also got into fight with few players.
Sanchez has been outstanding for Arsenal this season, but at the end of the day no player is bigger than the club. Wenger's idea to bench Sanchez certainly did backfire in the Liverpool game, but sometimes a manager needs to make a statement.
Here is a look at the top 5 bust ups between football players and their managers.
Sir Alex Ferguson and David Beckham
The fall out with Sir Alex Ferguson was one of the main reasons why David Beckham left Manchester United for Real Madrid. Ferguson was really angry after United lost to Arsenal and once the team got back into the dressing room, Ferguson kicked a boot which hit Beckham straight on the eye which resulted in a huge cut above his eye. Beckham had to be restrained by his teammates following the incident. "Just f***** patch him up," Ferguson was said to have told the club's physio after the incident.
Jose Mourinho and Iker Casillas
The fight between Jose Mourinho and Iker Casillas was probably the biggest the Portuguese had in his life. Real Madrid and Barcelona have had a lot of tense El Clasicos fuelled by Mourinho. Casillas called Xavi and ended the war between the two teams, in the process he also broke the trust between him and Mourinho. Casillas was benched in favour of Antonio Adán and then was replaced by Diego Lopez for the rest of Mourinho's reign.
Mario Balotelli and Roberto Mancini and Jose Mourinho
Mario Balotelli is known for his bad boy attitude and his reckless behaviour on and off the field so it comes as no surprise that he had a falling out with not one but two managers during his time at Inter Milan and Manchester City. Balotelli tried a fancy back heel shot during a pre-season match and then a incident on the training ground escalated the matter. Things got so heated that the rest of the team had to separate the two before it got physical.
During his time with Mourinho at Inter, the Italian international was still a youngster and Mourinho criticised his attitude and approach to training. Later, Mourinho branded him as "unmanageable".
Roberto Mancini and Carlos Tevez
The incident took place during Manchester City's Champions League match against Bayern Munich which they lost 2-0. Mid way into the second half, Mancini signalled Tevez to warm up but the Argentine refused to play. Following the incident, Mancini said Tevez was done at City. Later, Tevez went AWOL to Argentina. Though he did return to play for the club, he was forced to move to Juventus at the end of the season.
David Moyes and Wayne Rooney
The incident between Moyes and Rooney took place during his Everton days when he published a book titled my story so far where he accused his former manager of being bossy. This really angered Moyes who filed a case that saw the publishers pay out and Rooney apologising for the incident. This was one of the main reasons Rooney decided to leave Everton for Manchester United in 2004. The two would be reunited again when Moyes was appointed as manager of Manchester United but their reunion was short-lived after the disastrous start Moyes had at the club leading to his sacking.
