Play Me Or I Quit, Warns Davids
Wednesday 5th December 2001
Juventus midfielder Edgar Davids has warned coach Marcello Lippi that he will quit if he is left out of the first team again.
"If Lippi puts me on the bench one more time I will ask the club to let me go," the Holland star said.
"I have had offers and I am ready to leave. The team is playing well, but I can't stand just playing a little bit."
Davids came on as a first-half substitute for the injured Igor Tudor on Tuesday, immediately after Freddie Ljungberg had opened the scoring for Arsenal in the London side's 3-1 Champions' League win.
Tudor has been preferred in recent matches to Davids, who has failed to cement a place in the side since his return from a doping suspension. The big Croatian has been pushed into the centre of midfield after Lippi reverted to 4-4-2.
Davids, who has been sent off twice since his return, missed the first three games of the season, when Juve stormed to the top of Serie A with three straight wins.
The side's form dipped soon after, however, and they won just one of their next seven Serie A matches, culminating in a 1-0 defeat to Lazio - after which Lippi dropped Davids to the bench.
With Davids out of the side, Juve thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 before registering a 2-0 win over Perugia at the weekend.
The Dutchman has been criticised for a string of below-par performances and in October Juve were reportedly ready to use him as a makeweight to sign Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira.
