Cantona says football ‘boring’ amid shameful ESL call

Will Ford
Cantona

Eric Cantona says it’s a “shame” fans had not been consulted over European Super League plans after a “boring” year in their absence.

Six Premier League sides – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham – are part of an initial group of 12 clubs seeking to establish a new 20-team continental competition “as soon as practicable”.

AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid have also signed up as founding clubs, with three more expected to follow before the inaugural season.


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But the plan has provoked widespread outrage, with Cantona now joining a large number of high-profile figures from football and politics uniting to condemn the proposals.

Speaking on a video on his Instagram, Cantona said: “Since one year we have seen games on TV with the best clubs in the world and the best players in the world, and it was so boring, and it’s still so boring, because the fans are not there – the fans singing, jumping, supporting their teams.

“The fans are the most important thing in football. They have to be respected.

“Did these big clubs ask the fans what they thought about this idea? No, unfortunately, and that’s a shame.”

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, who spoke passionately against the proposals before confirmation came late on Sunday, hit out at the club’s owners, the Glazer family.

“When I woke up and saw the statement and it had Joel Glazer’s name on it, I thought this was a big problem,” he said.

“He doesn’t put his name on anything, that man. He is intelligent, he knows what he wants and he has parked his weasels and he has come out and it made me think, ‘This is serious’.

“He is not backing down, he will try and push this through and, once he puts his name on it, he is going to try and force this through.

“They (the Glazers) have been through hell in the early years at Manchester United, they withstood it, stood it out and they don’t care, so when I saw his name on it I really worried.”