Royston Drenthe Opens Up About His Arguments With Jose Mourinho and David Moyes
Ex-Real Madrid and Everton flop Royston Drenthe was always a fiery character who was often judged on his, shall we say, negative attitude towards the game.
So, it will come as no surprise to anyone that the Dutchman often engaged in frequent arguments with managers who attempted to quell his rebellious persona.
Retiring at the age of just 29, after struggling to find a contract at a new club, Drenthe has decided to focus on a music career and now insists that his bad boy image as a footballer was blown way out of proportion.
Real Madrid defender Royston Ricky Drenthe (L) pleads his innocence as LA Galaxy player Juninho (R) appeals and gets a penalty during their friendly at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on August 7, 2010. Real Madrid went on to win 3-2. AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
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Despite never seeing eye-to-eye with both David Moyes and Jose Mourinho, the former Sheffield Wednesday and Reading loanee states that he always operated in a professional manner, even if there were disagreements.
"I had a lot of arguments with Moyes at Everton and I didn't have a good relationship with Mourinho during our short time together at Real Madrid," he told RTV Rijnmond, as per Goal.
"I was branded as a 'bad boy', but there were also a lot of coaches who asked me how that was possible, because they didn't have problems with me. But you never see these kind of stories in the media.
Everton's Dutch midfielder Royston Drenthe (R) vies with Tottenham Hotspur's Brazilian midfielder Sandro (L) during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north-west England on March 10, 2012. AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications (Photo credit should read ANDREW YATES/AFP/Getty Images)
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"At Hercules [on loan from Madrid] the squad agreed that we wouldn't be attending the training session, because our salary wasn't paid [during the incident when the club failed to pay salaries in 2010]. But when I turned on the TV in the Netherlands I saw that everybody was training except me.
"Back in Spain my windows were broken by fans and they sprayed graffiti. They saw me as a money-grabber."
Drenthe stated that the circumstances he would often find himself in sapped his motivation for the game and forced him to move faster in seeking a path out of the game altogether.
Hercules Dutch midfielder Royston Drenthe gestures during a Spanish League football match against Barcelona at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, on September 11, 2010. AFP PHOTO / JOSEP LAGO (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)
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"I still love playing football, but I don't have the motivation for everything around it anymore," he continued. " At my last club in UAE I had to ask for my salary every time myself, otherwise I wouldn't get paid. They still owe me four months of salary and if I don't follow-up on that, I get nothing.
"These kinds of things demotivated me, because I worked hard for it. Now I just want to do things that I like."
