Kurt Zouma fell victim to the British press after some unguarded comments the other day
Welcome, Kurt Zouma, to the United Kingdom. No great footballer can play in the Premier League without falling foul of the British press’ policy of taking any quote and refusing to consider its meaning in context. The footballing world erupted yesterday after Zouma called Diego Costa a ‘cheat’ during an interview with a foreign TV station.
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On the back of Chelsea’s massive 2-0 victory over Arsenal, Zouma answered questions field from a beIN Sports reporter and failed to choose his words sensibly.
"We’re not surprised because we know Diego. Everyone knows Diego and this guy likes to cheat a lot and put the opponent out of his game. He is a really nice guy."
Inevitably journalists across Fleet Street picked up on it and blew the story into some tale of infighting and nonsense. Zouma has since apologised on Twitter.
Sorry for any confusion, English is not my first language & I did not mean to accuse anyone of cheating. Simply to say ....
— Kurt Zouma (@KurtZouma) September 21, 2015
....Diego is a player who puts pressure on his opponents & who I have huge respect for.
— Kurt Zouma (@KurtZouma) September 21, 2015
English is a second language for Zouma and thus it should not be surprising that he struggles to get his point across in an appropriate manner. But that doesn’t matter in the UK. When you say something, it will be taken at face value and out of context. The British press are notoriously hungry for views at the expense of integrity. As scandals have broken out regarding the papers’ methods in obtaining huge political and celebrity scoops, the attitude carries over into sports journalism and is exemplified here.
There is no doubt that Zouma did not mean to use the word ‘cheat’ in its literal sense of the word, but was victim to the fact that he is not a native English speaker. No-one cared to consider that, though, as they rushed to put together their short articles with CAPITAL LETTER-FILLED HEADLINES.
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However, you can almost always draw positives out of a bad situation and this is no different. Zouma showed the same youth and naivety in this interview that he shows on the field through the odd rash challenge. This is a significant learning step for the Frenchman and has woken him up to the perils of speaking to the press.
Yes, this interview was not given to a British-based station but there is no doubt that the papers will find anything said anywhere and plaster it across their front pages.
Frankly, this incident just illustrates the poisonous nature of modern British society, one in which there are always many people looking to cause a stir or shoot you down. It must be said, though, that not all journalists are constantly gunning for the massive controversial story, but a far too large proportion of them are.
I guess that’s a lesson learnt there Kurt, isn’t it?
All quotes taken from the Mirror.
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