It’s fair to say that Gerard Pique has become something of a divisive figure of late where Spanish football is concerned.
A fiercely proud Catalan, his heritage and the way in which he has flaunted it clearly irks the Castillian brotherhood — but alongside Sergio Ramos for the national team, there’s no finer central defender.
He’ll surely be missed once he takes his leave in the not too distant future, sick and tired of the constant focus on off-field activities rather than the exceptionally high standards of his performances.
Within a few years we’ll see the curtain drawn on his club career too, and with a stated aim of becoming Barcelona president, Pique may well be back on the scene quicker than expected.
He certainly seems to have the backbone for the position and isn’t frightened of taking on the authorities if he feels he has been wronged.
Take this past weekend and another swipe from Pique at La Liga’s underperforming officials.
He didn’t mince his words when suggesting there had been an eight-point swing to Real Madrid because of the decisions made by the referees or their assistants at games involving Malaga and Villarreal.
It follows the diatribe that Pique dished out to La Liga chief Javier Tebas, in the stands when Barcelona were denied a clear penalty at Villarreal after Bruno palmed the ball away from goal. Television replays weren’t necessary to see that the Catalans had been robbed, for want of a better term.
Comparing it with the spot-kick given to Los Blancos on Sunday is light and shade. Bruno was again involved, only this time he was at extremely close quarters and could never have got out of the way of the ball’s trajectory. Therefore, Pique’s continued ire is to some extent understandable.
What’s interesting is that Barcelona’s board of directors haven’t been particularly hard on their employee when bringing him into line on the issue.
Suggesting that referees can be bought in some way is distasteful at best, and it has led to the Spanish Referee’s Committee lodging a formal complaint against him.
Other than a light tap on the knuckles however, his club have stopped short of coming out and fully condemning his actions — as might be expected from an organisation that takes great pride in promoting themselves as the exemplar.
‘Mes que un club’ and all that.
Could it be that, in fact, he’s only saying what his board are thinking but are in no position to espouse?
A fanciful notion? Perhaps. Though it’s quite clear that he isn’t going to be gagged just yet and nor would the Blaugrana faithful want him to be.
At this rate we could be looking at one of the most popular Barcelona presidents ever.
