Fenerbahce coach Vitor Pereira has dismissed rumours of a rift with Dutch striker Robin van Persie.
- By Michael Bell
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Two weeks ago Van Persie spoke of his frustration at starting games on the bench, and after the Dutchman was once again omitted from the starting line-up for the tie with Besiktas at the weekend, he was pictured sharing a frosty handshake with boss Vitor Pereira.
This has sparked rumours of a rift between the pair, but speaking ahead of Fenerbahce’s tie with Celtic, Pereira has insisted he has no problems with Van Persie.
He said, “I have a great relationship with my team and players,”
“Sometimes the tensions are high. We want this team to get better and improve professionally. Robin van Persie is part of the team and we all want to get better.
“Our relationship is based on trust in each other, confidence. We have our objectives. We have a normal relationship.
“Sometimes high tension stuff happens, but in football we can solve these kind of situations perfectly.
“Many times in football to win games you need these kinds of tensions. If we are all in the the calm tone you can’t win the games.
“These kind of things are normal to us, the people who work for the club. We live it and forget it, but I understand the press point of view, you would like to make news about it. It happens fast but we solve it fast too.”
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