Feyenoord captain Sem Steijn blasted his teammates following his side's 1-0 loss against Braga, calling his colleagues 'selfish'.
Feyenoord disappointed heavily and went down in Braga without putting up a real fight, taking just five shots and failing to create a single big chance in a 1-0 loss.
Captain Sem Steijn, who yelled "F*ck!" before the interview with Ziggo Sport even began, not knowing the cameras were already rolling, was more than frustrated with his teammates.
"It was just a very bad game from us, with too little energy. We couldn't capitalise on the chances we got, everyone was selfish, and then you end up with a defeat like that."
Asked what he meant by 'selfish', Steijn answered resolutely. "Everyone is playing for themselves, and I think we need to pass the ball much faster," he said.
"We need to serve the strikers, and serve me. We can't just shoot the ball at the goal. We must work together to achieve results. That starts with working hard, competing, giving each other opportunities and doing it together. That wasn't there today."
The captain, who was left frustrated several times when the ball did not come his way, was unsure where the selfishness and low energy levels originated.
"That's frustration because I'm open. You see with Casper (Tengstedt) and Cyle (Larin) that making the run in behind the defence makes you dangerous. We had one offside goal, and the other time we hit the post"
'Not smart'
Manager Robin van Persie explained Feyenoord's supposed selfishness as the inability to give the right passes from the midfield.
"What I saw was that on the occasions when we made runs – and that did not happen often enough – the ball did not come from the second line, from midfield."
The Premier League icon was also confronted with the quotes of his captain, and did not like what he heard. "I don't think Sem's choice of words is very appropriate in this case," Van Persie said.
"I don't understand why he chose that word at all, because it implies that you are making a different choice. I understand that he wants to have the ball, but that has nothing to do with selfishness. It has to do with the choices we make when we have the ball."