We’ve been a little Beckham heavy in these parts over the last week. You can read about him here, here, here and here. Beckham–who wore the captain’s armband–probably played his last professional game today, as PSG defeated Brest 3-1 at the Parc Des Princes. Paris St.Germain have one more Ligue 1 game remaining, but Beckham’s teary exit after he was substituted with 10 minutes to play indicates this was probably it.
Wrongo Bongo!
Just what in the hell is going on in European football at the moment? WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN EUROPEAN FOOTBALL AT THE MOMENT?
Paris Saint-Germain have rejected an approach from Real Madrid for their coach Carlo Ancelotti, the club president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, said on Monday.
“They [Madrid] came and I discussed it with them,” Khelaifi said. “He’s got a contract with us for one more year … for me, he’s here next year. He’s a fantastic guy and I’m sure he’ll respect his contract.”
You know QSI and I used to be tight when we were all interested in exposing a certain Times-duping conman, who we will call Bob Real. Since then my polite inquiries on the Wayne Rooney saga have gone unanswered.
So I’m hurt a little here, guys. In any case, this is whack from Real Madrid. I suppose if it’s the bauble in Europe they’re obsessed with than Ancelotti makes it worth a punt, and no one should think this thing is anything more than a punt. But it does show Real Madrid is already flailing around for their Mourinho replacement. And…well. If you think Ancelotti—the guy who lost Ligue 1 to Montpellier last season—is going to knock Barcelona off their effing perch, I’ve got an HTC First to sell you (that’s tech humour of the kind you use when you get company-wide emails with news in the tech world. Tech is short for technology by the way).
The legend of Zlatan grows as French spending kings PSG captured the Ligue 1 title for the first time in 19 years. Jérémy Menez’s goal in the 53rd minute was enough against Lyon at Stade de Gerland. The title marks the 12th title in 13 years for Swedish superman Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Trophies for six clubs in four different countries–Ibra the best. The result also means we’ll be seeing Joey Barton and the folks from Marseille in the Champions League group stage. That will be fun.
David Beckham becomes the first English player to win a championship in four different countries (England, Spain, USA and France).
— Mohamed Moallim (@jouracule) May 12, 2013
Not only does money buy happiness, it wins titles as well.
Update: So about that happiness part. Ibra got into an argument with club director Leonardo in the dressing room.
According to Tancredi Palmeri Leonardo asked Ibra to undergo a drug test. The man wanted to party. Tancredi has more on the bizarre incident on his twitter feed.
When the issue of violence against referees is in the headlines, particularly in the US where a referee was killed after being punched by a player, Leonardo is at the centre of controversy as the PDG director was caught on film body-checking the referee after his team failed to secure the Ligue 1 title in a 1-1 draw with Valenciennes. Yahoo! Sports reports:
[PSG's] Thiago Silva was sent off two minutes before the break against Daniel Sanchez’s side, and video footage showed the former AC Milan boss shoving Alexandre Castro in the tunnel. Should Castro decide to report the incident, the French authorities could slap the capital club with a hefty punishment and the Brazilian with a suspension.
Philippe Auclair claimed on Twitter Leonardo could be banned up to a year, and PSG could face a points deduction. Not something that the club needs on the verge of a likely title win.
(HT Philippe Auclair).
#PSG director Leonardo after Reims loss: “We’re not built for this kind of match.” What a crazy statement for a team who hope to win #UCL
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) March 2, 2013
Yes, they were on the wrong side of a questionable offside call that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal early in the second half disallowed, but PSG have to win games like this. Stade de Reims–sitting 16th in Ligue 1–were reduced to 10 men when Christopher Glombard was shown a second yellow after hauling down Javier Pastore. It didn’t matter. In the 64th Grzegorz Krychowiak scored the only goal of the game, sending PSG home with no points after they failed to capitalize on numerous chances. Lyon can tie Les Rouge-et-Bleu at the top of Ligue 1 if they beat Brest tomorrow.
Leonardo’s postgame comments have to be concerning. If the French giants can’t be bothered to match their opponents intensity they will be in trouble on Wednesday night when they welcome Valencia to The Parc des Princes. PSG are unbeaten in their last 22 games in European competition and lead 2-1 with two away goals, but they’ll be without Ibrahimovic (suspension).
Are PSG legitimate contenders in the UCL? Performances like today indicate they’re anything but.
Love is basically a corporate construct these days so I’m okay with the title. Serena is playing in Qatar this week, the home of PSG’s owners. Williams is the oldest number one in women’s history. “I never thought I would be here again,” Williams said. “Oh my gosh, I’ve been through so much. I never thought I would be here.” This is the end of your tennis content today. My apologies.
Personally I don’t like to talk about my charity work. I mean, I do a helluva lot of charity work, but I don’t like to talk about it in public. If someone really insists I’ll tell them about the time I once donated so much money to charity that they tried to return my cheque—using some excuse about it bouncing—but only if they insist, or look like they might be about to insist, or if there has been a lull in any conversation ever. I’m a giver, frankly, just a modest one, in every sense of the word. David Beckham on the other hand is an enormous giver, donating all of his huge PSG wages to charity, and telling everyone about it in a press conference. I’ve some problems with that, though: it’s not a bad thing, it’s just not a good thing either; it’s about neutral. And the love-in which it’s provoked is a different story: that’s definitely a bad thing.
Becks is seemingly an alright guy, and anyone who says different is liable to get mauled on a social media platform of their choice by people who don’t see the essential contradiction in defending someone nice by being horrible. Becks didn’t need to give away any money, yet he did, which seems to make him alright. Becks also hasn’t been mean to anyone in public, as far as anyone cares to remember, which also suggests he might be fine, if a little boring. And Becks is a family man, people, which must make him a good guy too, because reproduction, as we all know, is an inherent good. But being an alright guy on at least three counts doesn’t have to mean that every gesture he pulls off his PR team’s spider diagram is worthy of sycophantic bleating.
There are plenty of aspects of his giving money to charity not to applaud. Beginning with announcing it. If you’re David Beckham, announcing that you’re donating a lot of money to charity isn’t just immodest—I don’t think there’s much wrong with being immodest if you’ve earned it, anyway—it’s also an exercise in brand management. When Becks announces that he’s done something nice to the public, it takes away from how nice it is, because the boost his public image gets will probably end up making him some more money in the long term. So, announcing that he’s passing up a lot of money doesn’t invalidate the gesture, but it does slightly taint it by introducing self-interest to an act which is being celebrated precisely for being selfless. Logic 101.
