Barcelona star in fresh dig at football fans: ‘They don’t watch the games’

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Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong has this week made use of the opportunity to call into question the understanding of the everyday football fan.

Midfielder De Jong has for his part never been shy in defending himself from his many critics across the world of football.

Often accused of not making enough of a decisive impact in the attacking third, and at times of simply allowing the game to pass him by, the former Ajax man has never fully managed to win over many of a Barcelona persuasion.

De Jong, though, has time and again hit back, assuring that those who truly understand the game pick up on the intangibles which he brings to the pitch on a weekly basis.

And as alluded to above, this week, the 29-year-old has again moved to reiterate his point. Speaking during an interview with ESPN (as cited by journalist Fabrizio Romano), De Jong insisted:

“People don’t really watch the games. Very few people watch the full 90 minutes.

“They don’t really understand what’s happening on the pitch or why certain decisions are made. The easiest way to judge a player is, of course, to look at whether he scores goals or provides assists.

“And naturally, those numbers are much lower for me.”

Conor Laird – GSFN