After Inter Milan knocked out Barcelona last night. There have been shouts of bad referee calls from the game last night. Let's look at these supposed bad calls by the ref......
A THREAD.
🚨 Rio Ferdinand on Bruno Fernandes winning Premier League Player of the Matchweek:
“Kevin De Bruyne leaving Manchester City might genuinely have been the worst thing that happened to Bruno Fernandes’ PR.
Hear me out. When Kevin was here, Bruno could score two, assist one and before he’d even left the stadium everybody was arguing. Bruno or De Bruyne? You’d have United fans, City fans, everybody bringing numbers, trophies, chances created. It was a proper rivalry.
Kevin leaves and now Bruno does this stuff and everybody just goes, ‘Yeah, Bruno was brilliant again.’
That’s terrible for PR. You need an opponent.
Look at what’s happened. Bruno wins the PFA award, wins the Premier League Player of the Season, starts this season with a hat-trick and now Player of the Matchweek. Who are we supposed to argue with?
At one point people had to leave England completely. Suddenly we were bringing Pedri, Bellingham, Valverde into Premier League conversations because apparently somebody had to stand on the other side.
I actually miss Kevin. At least when Bruno had a great game, we had something to argue about afterwards.
Now he gets a hat-trick and everyone just goes home.”
I'm sorry we never got a chance to meet, but getting this note from Dolly really had a an impact on me. She definitely didn't have to take the time to do it. Even for a kid who mostly listened to rap music, she was an icon. A superstar in every sense. Rest easy Dolly. And thank you for the kind words.
The Ronaldo Rulebook: Heads He Loses, Tails He Loses
Football doesn’t hate Ronaldo. It hates consistency.
Because with Ronaldo, the rules change every 5 minutes.
The "Mentality" Rule
Team wins 2-0, Ronaldo doesn’t score _"Selfish. Bad attitude. Only cares about himself."
Barça wins 5-0, Yamal cries for not scoring "Mentality monster. Elite winner. That’s the standard."
So wanting goals is toxic when it’s CR7, but leadership when it’s anyone else?
The "Body" Rule
2003: _"Too skinny. Won’t survive the PL.
He hits the gym, eats clean, becomes a Greek statue.
2025: "Why is he always flexing? Thinks he’s a model."
Bro was told to get bigger. He did. Now he’s punished for listening.
3. The "Evolution" Rule
Ronaldo starts as a skillful winger. Dribbles, assists, showtime.
Team needs goals he drops the tricks, becomes a machine. 800+ goals.
Response: _"He’s not even technical. Just a poacher. Just penalties."
Messi adds goals to his game _"GOAT evolution."
Ronaldo does it "He sold out."
You can’t ask a player to adapt for the team and then erase his old game to discredit him.
The "Penalty" Rule
Ronaldo masters penalties _"Tap-in merchant. Stat-padding.
Messi wins World Cup with 6 penalties → "Carried Argentina. Clutch gene.
Messi then misses 3 pens in a row ..let’s not talk about that."
A goal is a goal until the wrong person scores it.
This was never about football.
It’s about a kid from Madeira who was told he wasn’t good enough, got good enough, then got too good.
And now people are rewriting history to cope.
You told him to get stronger. He did.
You told him to score more. He did.
You told him to win. He did.
Now you’re mad he did everything you asked.
You can’t eat your cake and have it.
Pick a lane.