The worst thing in soccer media is interviews with former players who either don’t watch soccer or feel the need to say something controversial. The worst is Pele, whose scorching hot takes get printed all the time because he’s Pele. Tuesday’s is Eric Cantona, who says Javier Pastore is the real best player in the world. Also, Spain didn’t win the World Cup, Catalonia did.
Backheel Breakfast: What if we stopped listening to badly informed former players?
No, Eric Cantona, Javier Pastore is not the best player in the world.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
I have an idea: what if we stopped paying attention to this stuff? If we never clicked on these stories, outlets would stop running them. We have the power to make soccer discourse smarter by ignoring interviews with people who have no reason to be talking about the game. This will be the last time an interview like that gets linked here.
In the news
However, here’s an awesome thing Cantona said: the French art film he made was not porn. (Telegraph)
Carlo Ancelotti admitted that facing Diego Simeone is a huge problem. (AS)
Even though he’s been out for nearly two months, Andrea Pirlo is expected to start against Monaco. (Football Italia)
Don’t expect Daniel Sturridge to play in the FA Cup semifinal this weekend. (BBC)
Bundesliga leading scorer Alex Meier is out for the season. (Bundesliga)
Sporting KC defender Ike Opara ruptured his Achilles and will be out for a while. (MLS)
Some Manchester City fans were caught mocking the Munich air disaster. (Daily Mail)
Liverpool are going to get to the bottom of this whole Raheem Sterling smoking thing. (ESPN FC)
You should be reading
Alex Netherton on 20 years of the Glazers. (The Set Pieces)
Swiss Rambler on Tottenham Hotspur’s finances. (Swiss Ramble)
Rory Smith on Manuel Pellegrini, who is still a decent manager. (ESPN FC)
Fun with transfer rumors
The section in which nothing should be taken seriously.
Manchester United are emerging as favorites to sign Danny Ings. (Daily Mail)
The latest names linked to Manchester City post-clearout: Kevin De Bruyne and Paul Pogba. (Telegraph)
Juventus are going to spend some of that Pogba cash on Axel Witsel. (Football Italia)
Monday’s games
Here’s what we learned from Liverpool’s win over Newcastle.
Valencia kept Spain’s top four race close with a win over Levante. (ESPN FC)
What to watch on Monday (click for listings, all times ET)
Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid (2:45 p.m.) - Carlo Ancelotti fights to save his job.
Juventus vs. Monaco (2:45 p.m.) - The Old Lady are favorites, but Pogba and Pirlo aren’t fully fit.
Four Copa Libertadores games (from 6 p.m.) - Huracan vs. Cruzeiro is the best of the bunch.
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