It is not a great moment for the so-called flags of soccer. Maldini was kicked out by Cardinale, head of the American fund that owns AC Milan, moreover after winning a scudett; Totti, in an interview with Sky, complained for the umpteenth time that Roma, to which he has dedicated his sporting and other life, has never offered him a serious role in the club. Totti, who also cited Maldini and Del Piero, called himself unwieldy.
But I say: is a flag cumbersome? Isn’t the opposite rather true, that is, that it simplifies and therefore lightens the always fickle relations with the fans and the so-called public square? Is it not that the new rulers of soccer fear the narcissistic confrontation with talent? Of course, then former champions have to show themselves capable in their new roles: managers, coaches, etc… and talent does not always accompany people off the field. Come on, though, a little delicacy wouldn’t hurt.
To remain on the Giallorossi side of the Tiber, this morning out of the blue we learned of De Rossi’s dismissal after only 4 league games and after a fresh contract renewal in June. Another mistreated flag, which had moreover been very convenient politically for the club to have the fans gobble up the ouster of the godlike Mourinho, a genius now only of controversy and no longer of tactics. Here, too, the owners are Americans, the Friedkin family. Might it not be that these gentlemen bring to our soccer a cynical multinational mentality that befits little the habits of our national sport par excellence? Perhaps, indeed, they bring to our soccer indebted beyond decency, money. But money is not enough either for success-think of what the Arab princes have thrown into PSG-or for building governance that works.
Speaking of governance, even a demigod like Ibrahimovic is in bad shape. And then why only seeds: he himself compared his summer soccer to the creation of the world by saying that then God rests on Sunday. Too bad that often, on Sundays, we play, and even more often his Milan sucks even the most loyal of Rossoneri. Yesterday was played on Wednesday in the sparkling new Champions League and Milan beat them at home by Liverpool 3 to 1. Before the game, recklessly, our Viking Rom said that he is the lion and the others who criticize are kittens. Now, however, the kittens, that is, the fans, are pissed off at him. And it is known that a pissed-off cat can ruin a flag with his nails.
In reality, the blame always lies with the same Cardinal who kicks out the right flags (Maldini) and takes the wrong ones (Ibra). The truth, after all – and Fondi also it is – is just this: Modern soccer no longer has flags but only owners who, in turn, no longer need flags but only profit. Until next time.
The article The Fall of the Gods comes from TheNewyorker.
