Tell it like it is...

The Roy Keane quote below articulates perfectly the growing absurdity of the supposed top players in English football.
The England national team is peppered with players whose celebrity profile in Britain takes precedence over their worldwide status as footballers.
From Keane’s comments, I presume much of his disgust is aimed at Beckham, Rooney and Gerrard, whose partners lead the odious tribe that is the WAGs. Any suggestions on the fourth person he indicates?
Worryingly, this is a development not restricted to England. The money in the game – a weary point, I know, but still inescapable – allows average players to live the lives of playboys from a very early age. This removes the hunger, focus and grip on reality and, as a result, standards fall.
In England, this may explain the drop in ticket sales for a league hyped as the best in the world. To people watching in, say, Japan or China, this may be the case, but try telling that to fans of Tottenham Hostspur and Newcastle for example, who have witnessed ticket prices being hiked as players’ wages skyrocket. And all for a return of mediocrity.

Over to you, Keano:

'These so-called big stars are people we are supposed to be looking up to. Well they are weak and soft.
'Priorities have changed for footballers and they are being dictated to by their wives and girlfriends.
'We had a player this summer who didn't even ring us back because his wife wanted to move to London; he didn't even have the courtesy to pick the phone up to us and shopping was mentioned.
'I can understand the attraction of London if you go to Arsenal, Chelsea, maybe Spurs, but there are players just going there because it's London and to me that's wrong, clubs with half the crowds and less attention.
'It's not a football move, it's a lifestyle move, and they're the type you don't want at your club anyway. It tells me the player is weak and his wife runs his life.'
'You have to sign for a club for football reasons. A couple of years ago I nearly went to Juventus and people spoke to me about Turin saying it's this and it's that and that Milan would be nicer, and I said I'm not going for the bloody shops, I'm going because it's Juventus.
'Football must be your priority. You don't need to live in London or Manchester to be happy; you don't need to be surrounded by expensive shops or fancy cafes. What's your priority - your wife and her shopping or your football? Or money?
'Retire at 35 or 36, you can live wherever you bloody well like - London, Monaco, wherever - and any half-decent footballer will be a multi-millionaire anyway. Why is there such a big attraction with London?
'If a player doesn't want to come to Sunderland because his wife wants to go shopping in London it's a sad state of affairs.'