I'm sorry, but the press aren't there to encourage FIFA World Cup 2018 Players have been critical of Spanish media

There have been two, and it can't be a coincidence, players of Spain's team who have came out in criticism of the travelling press in Russia.

Jordi Alba opened fire with an initial barrage against the Spanish media.

"Nobody needs to tell us anything, we are old enough to know when we play well or badly," he said on El Transistor de Onda Cero, before Thiago did likewise in a press conference on Friday.

"You [the media], being Spanish, should do some self-criticism too as we all have to be in this together," he said.

"There's no other team and if you are doing the opposite all the time, then it is more difficult for us to do this alone."

Players have every right in the world to criticise whoever they want to, including the press.

The difference, and this is something that many people forget, is that the same press has not only the right but the duty to judge the performances of our players.

They also have a duty to be honest so opinions should never respond to any spurious interests.

If all Spanish journalists respect this elementary code of conduct, then there will be no need to worry.

Journalists, in general, may not have 'no f***ing idea' about football, like the 46 million Spaniards who discuss with more or less vehemence David De Gea's mistake or the 'necessary' replacement of David Silva.

But the difference is that we are also paid to write or talk about these issues so we have the obligation to be honest about things because our readers, listeners or viewers expect it.

Therefore, if the players want a group of friends to sing their praises and silence the critics, they will be asking the press not to do their jobs properly, which is to inform.

Another thing is that the Spanish journalists accredited in the World Cup take a beer with a player or celebrate the goals of La Roja as if their lives depended on it.

Obligation and devotion can coexist as long as it is clear what the roles are.

I regret that there are players who still do not understand this, mainly because they focus their discomfort on the exacerbated and harsh criticism and ignore the constructive things, which is always based more or less on solid facts.

Stardom and glory have endless advantages but you also have to pay a certain toll and it is best to accept with all of that harshness without rallying against a group who already have enough to endure with certain characters and self-proclaimed 'journalists' flying the flag of this blessed and battered profession.