Rafa Marquez Shows His True Colors
by Zach Woosley on Sep 22, 2011 8:42 AM CDT
in Major League Soccer
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"I think this is a team game and unfortunately there isn't an equal level between my teammates and I." -Rafa Marquez
I'm not an athlete, I've never been one so my understanding on the locker room dynamic is limited. However, as a human who has engaged in a variety of relationships in the last 31 years (I'm dating myself) I think I understand the importance of not selling out people you work with. You don't have to like your co-workers, you don't have to think they are good people or capable of carrying their weight, but you do have to work with them. Part of being a good person is being able to deal with adversity and less than ideal situations with dignity and professionalism. Basically, being the better person.
New York Red Bulls' designated player Rafa Marquez doesn't understand this line of thinking and his comments after the Red Bulls home loss to Real Salt Lake last night prove it.
Was it a knee-jerk reaction to the fans booing him relentlessly all night every time he touched the ball? Possibly.
Can I sympathize with being frustrated with having thousands of people think you're not doing your job well? Actually yes.
Can I defend his comments? No f**king way.
Rafa Marquez is one of the highest paid players in Major League Soccer, part of a roster that includes guys making a fraction of his salary and the best thing he can do is completely call them out and insult their abilities to the media? That's pathetic and if I were Hank Backe (thankfully I'm not) or someone in-charge in the NYRB organization, I'd march in to training today and tell Marquez to get the f**k out. Take your money and go away.
This kind of behavior is completely unprofessional and unacceptable and for a team that is struggling on and off the field this is the last thing they need. Red Bulls just jacked up ticket prices, fans are irate and Rafa thinks it's a good idea to insult his teammates? The organization needs to show some backbone and tell Marquez to go home and never come back. It's the right thing to do and it just might win them some kind of support from their agitated fan base.
If they allow Marquez to stay, what kind of message does that send to the rest of the team? Would you want to keep working hard and playing with an asshole like that? I doubt it.
The New York Red Bulls were a mess last night and this morning, they are an absolute disaster. This team still has a chance to make the playoffs but to do it, the team has to come together. Instead of being a leader and trying to save the season, Rafa Marquez just stuck a piece of dynamite in the wheels and lit the fuse.
One more thing. Can Shep Messing please stop trying to tell us that Rafa Marquez is a great guy? A great guy doesn't throw his teammates under the proverbial bus.
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Here be dragons
We can empathize with NYRB in that DP signings can be treacherous waters…and Marquez is illustrating why. Is he talented? No doubt, but his play is unmasked by his attitude: CTC. I can understand some of that being frustration when you realize that yes, you probably are the best player on the team that isn’t doing a whole lot. I mean, Brad Davis is a perfect example: exceptional talent that some could argue has been wasted here the past couple of years, but does he complain? No, in fact he’s out in the community and leaves it all out on the pitch. It’s why he’s the captain: not necessarily because his level of talent (which is undisputed), its more of how he does things rather than what he does.
I know this doesn’t necessarily apply to DP signings, but considering their level of talent is higher (as you’re paying a higher price) it’s more likely to happen to a DP. You never know how people respond to pressure until they’re under pressure, and sometimes you’re not gonna like what you see.
I think if Marquez doesn’t apologize then you’ll see the team or Backe take some kind of action against him…otherwise, I think the other players will feel like Marquez threw them under the bus, but the team was the one driving it
Awesome
Leave it to that disgusting, nogoodnik to find the “I” in “failure.”
Marquez showed his true colors in the blow to Cobi Jones’ head in South Korea in 2002 and all we have ever seen from him is more of that level of play. It should come to nobody’s surprise that Barcelona’s recent ascension from really good side to one of the best in history can be traced directly to when he got injured and left the side in Guardiola’s first season. It saved Pep the trouble of just benching his sorry ass.
He’s been at times a pretty good defender, but he was always overhyped, always. When NYRB signed him, I almost fell over with laughter, and watching them from time to time, you have seen him constantly getting outplayed by just about any opponent. He’s a classless, gutless fraud, and this article just proves it.
"We don't care who finishes second." -- Celtic's Peter Lowrie
He at least
could’ve pulled a Koke and booked a flight to Mexico but now he gets to face these guys in practice. Awkward. Though I’m not sure he’ll care…I read an article the other day about a study of narcissists which suggest that – shocker – they knew people didn’t like them but they didn’t really care either.
I think he was the case study.
Scumbag
I’ve never liked the guy- in fact you could say I hate him and it has everything to do with his behavior against the USMNT (as Martek also metioned). Lashing out and intending to injure opposing players because you are losing or have already lost is not professionalism. The MLS can do better. Let him go to the Mexican leaugue and see if the fans there will put up with lazy play; he’ll be forced to retire within the first year.
What I’m waiting for is for that scumball to say his comments were taken out of context, which begs the question of exactly in what context that would be OK.
"We don't care who finishes second." -- Celtic's Peter Lowrie
Exactly
I’m not sure of any context where that is ok…the only potential out he has is if it were a question/answer in Spanish or in English. If it were in Spanish, he could say they mistranslated it. If in English, he could say he doesn’t speak it well enough to say what he meant. But to me (and everyone else), I think the intent is clear
He May Be right
Not that I disagree with much of what has been said previously, but I’m inclined to agree. Supposing for a moment the rest of the RBNY team is hardworking, industrious and gives a sh!t, then this lazy, arrogant Mexican douchebag might actually have a point. Perhaps he is calling himself out and saying he needs to up his game to match the rest of the team’s level?? classy ;-)
I think he's 100% right
But he’s also 100% an ass for selling his teammates out. I might be convinced to give him a little bit of a break on this for cultural differences. Maybe the whole locker-room sticks together attitude isn’t as prevalent in other countries as it here. He’s still as ass though. He’s shown that many times before
"If my hips had pockets, I wouldn't wear pants at all." @NotBurtReynolds
64 percent of all the world's statistics are made up right there on the spot
82.4 percent of people believe 'em whether they're accurate statistics or not
I don't know what you believe but I do know there's no doubt
I need another double shot of something 90 proof
I got too much to think about
I don't think
anyone disagrees with what he said, its the fact that he said it publicly. And as I mentioned before, there certainly could be parts of it “lost in translation”, but I would just avoid the subject in general. Just throw out the generic “its tough right now but we’re trying to battle through it as a team”-type stuff. But as you note, the being an ass part is something that eventually comes through
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