Messy Messi Money Madness & Mourinho on hold
* Pre-season, that no-man's land between the fireworks of last season and the clean slate of the new one.
I never know how to cope with it. September to May I am glued to the footy news every day, refuelling my mind's adventures, but in the close-season there is not any worth worrying about.
Yes there is transfer gossip as usual but none involve my club and none seem to be earth-shattering anymore, until the big one comes along and disproves my theory. If Philippe Coutinho comes to Arsenal that would be exciting I have to admit, though I cannot say I am that bothered where the increasingly disappointing Neymar is playing in September.
Kylian Mbappe markedly pushed him away from his PSG teammates today as they celebrated a pre-season victory.
Then there are the new kit releases, invariably depressingly hideous and making one long for their two-year lifespan to expire at once. And finally the pre-season friendlies, on unusually sunny and warm days.
For fans of the big European clubs living in Asia and North America, these pre-season clashes are their only chance to get to see their idols, but despite the self-aggrandising names like 'International Champions Trophy' the stars often do not even turn up and the games themselves are meaningless and forgettable.
* Lionel Messi has been banned from playing for Argentina for three months and fined $50,000 for calling CONMEBOL corrupt after this summer's Copa America.
He will miss the blancoceleste's autumn friendlies with Chile, Mexico, Germany and Portugal but can return for the start of World Cup qualifying in March 2020.
Messi's rant after being sent off against Chile following a handbags clash with Gary Medel, who was also red-carded, seemed an expulsion of frustration after another near-miss at an international trophy.
For years a quiet man on and off the field, the Barcelona legend is now increasingly outspoken, growing old disgracefully as it were. It should be remembered Messi is still only 32 and has another World Cup in him but he seems destined to go down as a world-class club performer but a struggler at international level, much like George Best.
He seems to be letting go of all that frustration he must feel playing for his country, without his Barcelona teammates to help him reach the same heights. Whether it will help him grab a big trophy for Argentina before he hangs up his boots is open to debate. Tennis legend Bjorn Borg kept a golden silence for years before becoming candid and vocal as his talent waned.
Messi has another chance to win the Copa America next summer when Argentina co-host with Colombia.
* Some of Britain's top football writers like Daniel Taylor of The Guardian and Oliver Kay from The Times have upped sticks for US website The Athletic, who lured them away with doubled salaries.
While their bank balances will rise, in direct proportion will their importance as writers fall. Like it or not, exposure via one of Fleet Street's paper goliaths or terrestrial television channels cannot be beaten.
It is the equivalent of English cricket selling its TV rights to Sky, which saw its revenues rise but its viewing figures and participation rates plummet, or if you like, Gareth Bale swapping Real Madrid for the fatter pay-packet and relative obscurity of the Chinese Super League.
Failing to distinguish between price and value is perennial. As Frank Underwood, the Machiavellian politician from 'House of Cards', opined in the series' first episode of a former staffer who had left him for more money,
"Such a waste of talent. He chose money over power. In this town, a mistake nearly everyone makes. Money is the Mc-mansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after ten years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who doesn't see the difference."
* Speaking of Bale, will Zinedine Zidane even play him this season if as it appears, the Chinese move falls through?
One imagines he will only be employed now and again in times of injury crisis or suspension, which is a terrific waste of the Welshman's talent. Of course this has happened recently at Real Madrid with Sami Khedira and James Rodriguez.
There is nothing new about outstanding talents being kept on the bench for most of a season because they do not see eye to eye with the manager or there are simply too many galacticos. This happened to Jean-Pierre Papin, who despite being European Footballer of the Year and the world's most expensive signing at the time, failed to become a first-team regular at Milan in the early 1990s and was sold on to Bayern Munich.
* Zidane is already "en crisis" according to the insatiable Spanish football press as Real Madrid have stumbled in pre-season.
Seemingly leading La Liga's sack race, the manager's position is already being questioned and the latest and somewhat earth-shattering rumour is that Jose Mourinho no less is being kept on notice should Real dispense with the Frenchman...
The story of the Special One still has a few more chapters to be written...
(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile