Jeremy Mathieu is keeping silent after press blunder over Messi and Lucho row

Jeremy Mathieu is keeping silent after press blunder over Messi and Lucho row

Jeremy Mathieu is angry. In the last few weeks, fortune has not smiled down upon the Barcelona man. Among physical problems and a few selection decisions, Mathieu has not played a great deal of late. Javier Mascherano and even Marc Bartra have been picked ahead of him, while Gerard Pique is in sparkling form. For one reason or another, when he has played it has been in less important fixtures. But the height of misfortune came in the last few days - with the player not used to taking too many interviews, he decided to make an exception and now is regretting it. 

Like many of his peers, Mathieu doesn't like doing too many interviews. However he knows that it's part of the job, when playing for a team like Barcelona. He gave an interview to RMC and his comments about the clash between Lionel Messi and Luis Enrique have raised considerable controversy. 

So far nobody has reprimanded Mathieu for his statement, something stupid for an experienced player. However he has decided to avoid the media as much as possible. He will still make appearances in the press room like all players do, but will cut down on individual chats with journalists. 

However, things are looking up for the Frenchman. He has stepped up in training and the pain has stopped almost entirely, after problems in the Achilles tendon. He is now available for Luis Enrique, playing as a substitute against Atletico Madrid during the week. 

Now there are just the technical problems to solve. The Asturian must find a balance so that all his players feel valued, and rotation has been kept to a minimum recently.