Las Palmas captain Jonathan Viera admits bust-up with manager is the reason for departure | OneFootball

Las Palmas icon and captain Jonathan Viera is leaving the club this winter, having had a strange season so far. The 34-year-old was a key part of their promotion push last season, but with Alberto Moleiro returning to fitness, lost his place in the side. It did not go down well with Viera.

Manager Francisco Javier Garcia Pimienta has been lauded for doing one of the best jobs in La Liga season, with the Canary Islanders 12 points clear of the relegation zone after 17 games. However the falling out with Viera has been an uncomfortable sideshow for Las Palmas this season, with the veteran going AWOL at one point, and eventually agreeing an exit after Garcia Pimienta would not restore him to the starting line-up.

Speaking at his goodbye press conference, bringing to a close his fourth spell with the club, Viera explained his version of events. he told MD.

“There is a problem with the coach and that’s it. I don’t know what his problem is because he hasn’t explained it to me, I know what my problem is with him and that’s it, there’s nothing more,” the footballer summarized. “From there everything began to get complicated and I, in order not to create an increasingly bigger problem, spoke with the president and told him that it was best to step aside.”

He signalled that the flashpoint was an incident with his wife, where he took time off to be with her during her illness.

“I had a very serious personal problem with my wife, she is fine now, and if there is someone who has been fair and brave in the coach’s worst moments, it has been me, who has always shown my face, and in this moment of downturn I was hoping that he would come up to me and ask me how my wife is.”

“The team is doing well, it is winning, the results are being coming… I am a fair person. I think it has snowballed, they didn’t stop it in time and in the end the only one hurt was me. As I saw that the team could continue perfectly without me, I spoke with the president, I thought I would never be coming here with him to announce I was leaving the club but that’s life, that’s football and you have to accept what comes at any given moment. And there’s nothing more to it.”

The loss of Viera will be felt in terms of both leadership and creativity, with two or three of their goals early in the season coming from his excellent work in the final third. Yet there is little arguing with the results since Pio Pio went in a different direction, shooting up the table. With that being the case, Garcia Pimienta was always likely to win the power struggle.