EPL Talk - Latest Comments in Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

Michael — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:05:36 -0000

Ivan, I'm fully capable of reading this interview and figuring out what he said without you decoding it for me, thanks.

The reason he didn't have any reason to say these things is because it was completely unnecessary. No party involved had anything to gain from Bianchi talking to the media and he made his current club and manager look bad. The only thing Bianchi did was bring unnecessary controversy to his team and what's worse is the fact that he doesn't enough on the field to back his ambitions.

I have no problem with a player, any player, thinking these things. But there was no reason for him to voice them publicly to the media; as I said, it just made Bianchi look like a whiner, City look like a team full of alcoholics, and referees look incompetent.

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

Ivan — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:00:23 -0000

I hope someone is reading this:
Firstly, if you read the interview word for word you would probably understand it properly. The english happen to have a way of saying he said he didn't imply. 1. His stated his ambition to play for atletico madrid, this is no different to drogba, cronaldo (incidentally has said he wanted to play for real madrid) or many players before them. 2. He doesnt drink, he said his finding it harder for him to feel part of the team because he hasn't existed in a culture which includes drinking. 3. He said that referees allow more than they do in italy, that is true. 4. And he said he doesn't like the food, which is fair enough.

He was talking to italian media in an interview he was asked questions and that is what he said... why people are pissed at him i have no idea.

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

Michael — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 14:10:35 -0000

Tracey,

Actually, yes, I would rather him lie. As I said, I don't have a problem wih him having ambition and wanting to be successful wherever he goes; I would expect that much out of a professional athlete.

What I do have a problem with is Bianchi voicing this in public the way he did. When you're a part of a team, you stick to the team-before-self, team-first mantra. Whether you don't really want to be there or not, you don't become a distraction for the team by saying you'd like to move on. If you want to leave, keep that desire within the organization and don't let the media get hold of it.

As you said, most players are arrogant and self-serving. That's no excuse for being immature, especially when you're 24 years old. What can anyone gain out of him saying he doesn't like England? It makes Manchester City look bad because he says the players drink, it makes Sven look bad for bringing in a player who doesn't really want to be there, and it makes Bianchi look incredibly selfish.

You're English, so you may not understand this comparison. The prototypical way to avoid controversy in the media and in interviews is to go about the way the New England Patriots and their coach, Bill Belichick, do. There's no real reason to ever give anything away to the media; so be as brief and succinct as possible and everything will be OK.

You mentioned Didier Drogba, and you're right. He'll be leaving Chelsea in the summer.

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

The Gaffer — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 09:14:05 -0000

Tracey,

I made the fix so all of the articles are now signed by the author who wrote them (immediately underneath the headline).

Cheers,
The Gaffer

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

tracey — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 07:14:25 -0000

Mercenary reveals he's a mercenary shock!
Grow up, he didn't say anything that terrible , and would you rather he lied? Most players are self-serving, and a few naive or arrogant ones admit it in interviews like this. Drogba's comments were far worse, but he's been a rock for Chelsea this season, so your suggestions to put him on a plane are idiotic.

Ps. Can you please sign your articles so we know who's writing.

PPS. English food is rubbish! (I'm English and live in England).

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

motionsuggests — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:05:02 -0000

Manchester City website says this is a fraudelent interview. Wouldn't be suprised if it was made up.

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

Michael — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 13:13:52 -0000

Kartik, I know that the issue of cuisine is important, obviously eating the food you're accustomed to makes you feel more comfortable. I understand all that.

My point was that this is something he either knew about prior to coming to England or should have known about. He couldn't have expected to have the same diet he had when he was playing for Reggina in Italy. If you're living and playing in England and you're foreign, you're not going to be able to eat Italian food or whatever food you've grown up eating because that's just now how it works.

You're right about his desire to play for Italy; they are notorious for selecting players who play their domestic soccer in Italy and really are almost biased against players who play overseas unless they are simply too good to be held out of the squad. Bianchi is a fringe player though and probably will have to go back to Italy if he wants to remain in the national scene. That's why I was surprised that he wants to move to Spain next; a move like that wouldn't really help his chances either.

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

kkfla737 — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 12:51:26 -0000

The criticisms of both American and English cuisines are fair game. This is why so many southern European players and Latins also have had a hard time in PL among other reasons. Bianchi isn't the first to mouth off in this manner. The issue of cuisine is important because if you go to any standard restaurant in England (outside London) as I have as someone who lives on spicy food I had a very hard time finding anything in the midlands or Lancashire worth eating if it wasn't Indian food which I was trying to avoid having just come from India en route back to Florida. (This was ten years ago on a trip back from India where I went for 3 weeks- I then spent a week in England). If you are on a limited schedule like a footballer it isn't easy in a place like Manchester to get the food southern Europeans are used to. Trust me on this one, unless things have changed radically in ten years.

As for wanting to score goals in Spain also, he has ambition and will NEVER play for Italy if he is in England or probably Spain either, but definetly not in England. As much as we love the PL my Italian acquaintances think it is rubbish and their coaches and national federation have the same bias. One Italian I know even said he'd rather choose a guy in MLS than the PL for the national team because the MLS is more latin in style and thus more reflective in international football than the presumed style in England. I don't agree with him but just understand that bias exists. He'll never get picked in England even if he scores 30 goals.

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

The Gaffer — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 04:24:46 -0000

Wanderer Abroad,

Naah, Michael (MJ) wrote the article, not me - but I do agree that Bianchi is an idiot. My biggest pet peeve about the quotes is Bianchi's distaste for English food, which is a common stereotype but false one.

It's the same in America. If you judged fast food as American cuisine, you'd say that Italian food was superior, but there are tons of great restaurants in America that don't serve Italian food if you know where to look.

That's a whole other debate for another time. : )

Cheers,
The Gaffer

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

Ryan — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:42:16 -0000

'I hope to score at least 10 goals" not if you keep missing chances like that one against Rovers Rolando!!

Re: Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

wanderer_abroad — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:06:29 -0000

I think you may be being a bit too harsh on Bianchi Gaff. Sure it was an idiotic and disrespectful thing to say but these tabloids rarely display the full nature of the interview. It would be unfair to judge Bianchi purely on the basis of this article. However, it is his form, rather than his ambition, that will probably result in his exit from City, and I suspect that exit will be fairly soon.