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Joey Barton: "French players don't like working"

Barton:
© AP Photos
Joey Barton claims that French players believe that working hard implies compensating for lack of talent.

Marseille midfielder Joey Barton has said that French players do not believe in working hard on the pitch.

The 30-year-old, who joined the Ligue 1 club from Queens Park Rangers on loan last summer, believes that in France working hard means compensating for the lack of talent.

"In France, when you work hard, it's taken as meaning you have no talent," he told L'Equipe. "They don't believe in work, in making an effort.

"I don't understand that. The number of discussions I've had on the subject! French players don't like working. They don't like getting themselves dirty.

"If you push yourself in training, for them it means you don't have any talent. But if you have talent and you also work really hard, you get even better, don't you? Anyway, I don't have any talent, so I have to work."

Barton added that he thinks that French players perform to their best when they are "angry".

"I get the impression that they have to be angry to really push themselves," he said.

"It's the same with the national teams: rugby, football. If you tell them, 'You're rubbish, you're a bunch of losers' they'll play really well.

"If you tell them, 'You're brilliant', they're going to stop working. So I suppose you have to try and annoy them."

Marseille will take on Paris Saint-Germain away from home in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

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A dejected looking Joey Barton after Marseille's 3-0 defeat to Lorient on December 9, 2012
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1Paris Saint-GermainPSG108202982126
2Marseille1062223121120
3MonacoMonaco10622157820
4Lille10532169718
5Nice104421991016
6Lyon104331715215
7Lens1035297214
8Reims104241615114
9StrasbourgStrasbourg103431919013
10Auxerre104151718-113
11Brest104151316-313
12Toulouse103341111012
13Rennes103251316-311
14NantesNantes102441214-210
15Angers102441116-510
16Saint-EtienneSt Etienne103161024-1410
17Le HavreLe Havre10307820-129
18Montpellier HSCMontpellier10118830-224


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