The Warm-Up: Just hand Real Madrid the Champions League trophy now
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Updated 14/11/2018 at 08:26 GMT
Plus, Kylian Mbappe’s indecent revelation, the end of Wayne Rooney and the banter era is here.
Gareth Bale of Real Madrid kisses the UEFA Champions League Trophy following his sides victory in the UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Liverpool at NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium on May 26, 2018 in Kiev, Ukraine.
Image credit: Getty Images
WEDNESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Florentino Perez is a genius
Perhaps there is a method to Florentino Perez's madness.
Perhaps he has been implementing some sort of carrot and stick master plan. Perhaps, he knew Rafa Benitez and Julen Lopetegui were going to be busts.
Perhaps he knew that their humble playing careers would rub a toxic dressing room up the wrong way, and perhaps Perez always had Zinedine Zidane and Santiago Solari waiting in the wings, ready to come in and massage the egos that turn up when they fancy it.
To the Warm-Up's mind the dressing room didn't respect Benitez or Lopetegui, and basically didn't turn up for either. However, when they turn up, they turn up and, well, win the Champions League.
And don't bet against them doing it again under Solari. Why? Well, why not? Yes, they lost Ronaldo but make no bones about it, this is a squad brimming with talent and able to beat anyone on their day - and their day usually comes when they respect their manager.
Obviously Solari does not have the gravitas of Zidane but he won La Liga, the Supercopa de Espana, the Champions League and the European Super Cup as a player with Real Madrid. And that in itself will afford him respect.
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Zinedine Zidane, Manager of Real Madrid celebrates with Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid.
Image credit: Getty Images
So let’s get it over with and hand them the Champions League trophy now.
See, Perez is a genius.
Mbappe’s indecent revelation
Anyone who knows anything about football knows the game is awash with money. There is so much sloshing about that the wages on offer to the elite-level players are pretty mind-boggling.
Some would say indecent. And by some, the Warm-Up means, Kylian Mbappe.
Yup, when PSG's best player (chin up Neymar) was asked about the money in football, he said it was indecent.
"It's truly indecent for me, who comes from a fairly modest family," he said.
It's true that it's indecent but the market is like that. The world of football works like that.
"I'm not going to revolutionise football. I'm in a system. You have to know how to respect it and to stay in place."
Many media outlets picked out the word indecent. Fair enough. But, the key phrase here is market. The market values Mbappe at the indecent amount he gets. However, there was a fair bit of financial virtue signalling knocking about on social media after the quotes emerged. Not his problem.
Look at it this way, if the Warm-Up bopped into their appraisal and their boss was offering indecent money, the Warm-Up would take them there indecent funds. It is the same for football players.
The problem is the market is indecent. Again, not Mbappe’s problem. And what inflates the market is indecent. In the Warm-Up's humble opinion, it is indecent that Financial Fair Play has been completely and utterly circumvented by clubs funded by the sovereign wealth of actual countries. Indecent indeed.
Implement FFP.
This is the last we will see of Wayne Rooney on these shores…
…as a footballer that is. Yes, England’s fixture against USA on Thursday will likely represent Wayne Rooney’s last endeavours as a professional footballer on these shores.
When asked about a potential Premier League return, Wayne Rooney was adamant. Nope.
“I’ve seen talk of a loan back here," Rooney said.
I’m not prepared to do that
"With my family, it wouldn’t be fair to come back and forward.
"I made the decision to obviously go to the States. When I make a decision, I tend to stick to it. It's important that I give my full commitment to DC.”
Not going to happen. In fact, his tone was almost dismissive – there was almost an air of ‘why would I put myself through that?’ And who can blame him really – he is Manchester United’s leading scorer, and England’s leading scorer; yet does he get the respect he deserves? Absolutely not.
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Wayne Rooney celebrates with teammate Cristiano Ronaldo
Image credit: Reuters
Truth be told, it is a shame that a career that promised – and delivered so much – ended in England with a bit of a whimper. Perhaps Thursday’s fixture can address that.
IN THE CHANNELS
The Banter Era is upon us
Harry Redknapp is one of the campmates for this year's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Yes, people, we truly have entered the era of banter. There may have been doubts before but this has now confirmed it.
To mark said occasion, Rafael van der Vaart has decided to - well, erm, how to put this? - banter off Redknapp.
This is good bantering off to mark the start of the Banter Era. Well done banterers. Bantz.
HEROES AND ZEROES
Hero - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The man talks all matter of complete and utter gibberish, but, but, but, he is still delivering moments like this.
Congratulations on winning MLS Goal of the Year.
Zero - anyone crying about Wayne Rooney playing for England
Just wind your neck and tears in please.
HAT-TIP
Der Spiegel's focus on Manchester City continues. This time they have broken down the transfer of Carlos Tevez to Manchester City, featuring Kia Joorabchian, off-shore companies and a handsome profit.
RETRO CORNER
Look, let's be honest, who knew Joe Cole had not retired? The Warm-Up thought that it happened about eight years ago.
For those who didn't know, Cole, he of 56 England caps, was tearing things up these last two years in the United Soccer League (a league below MLS) for the Tampa Bay Rowdies after leaving Coventry City in 2016.
The 37-year-old once tore up the Premier League, as evidenced below.
Happy retirement Joe Cole.
COMING UP
There are a raft of FIFA U17 Women's World Cup matches, the pick of the bunch being South Korea against Spain, kicking off at 19:00. However, before that, it is the big one, Switzerland against Qatar, live from 18:00. This is the first meeting between these two side, so it is a historical moment of sorts.
It is Jack Lang doing the do tomorrow, a modest man fully worth the indecent shilling that has quite rightly been bestowed upon him by a market he respects.
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