The news that overlaps a little

Vitor Bruno wants his line left in context, Louise wants to know where context is kept

After Anderlecht’s narrow win at Cercle Brugge, a Vitor Bruno line about “playing badly and taking the three points” was analysed and criticised. Ahead of the trip to Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League, the manager asked that it not be taken out of context.

Louise holds an open notebook showing a speech bubble drawn inside a little house, with smaller bubbles beside it, in front of a press conference table.

Silly question, but where do you keep the context of a sentence?

Let me start again. Last weekend, Anderlecht won at Cercle Brugge, a narrow victory that came in the final moments. After the match, Vitor Bruno said: “Play badly and take the three points every match? Where do I sign for that”. The line was analysed and criticised. Then, at the press conference before Dinamo Zagreb, he said: “Don’t take that sentence out of context, I also said that we have already produced good performances this season. I also want to develop attractive football, and we have already managed it.”

So the sentence had a home, and someone made it come out. I opened my notebook, tab “expressions”, and drew the sentence with its neighbours around it: the good performances, the attractive football. A sentence alone makes a controversy. A sentence with its family makes a press conference.

Second silly question: sign where? I’m told it’s a figure of speech, that nobody actually hands the manager a biro. Fine, but what does that mean? In football, people sign a lot. Contracts, shirts, and now badly played matches.

I also noted that Dinamo Zagreb play, according to him, an intense 4-3-3, that they are the best team in Croatia, and that Anderlecht lost their first league-phase match against Lyon. Dinamo, for their part, shared the spoils against Hapoel Beer Sheva. “Shared the spoils”, another expression. My notebook has run out of tabs.

A sentence out of context. In my day, you only said one sentence, and it had no context.

Marcel · the nostalgic, fictional character

He finally said: “To be lucky, you have to work a lot. What we are building at Anderlecht will take time.” I copied it out in full, with everything around it. Anyway, I still have a lot to learn.

It’s true, we checked: Walfoot.

Did you enjoy this dispatch?

Get the dispatches by e-mail

The dispatches worth your time, by e-mail. No ads, unsubscribe in one click.

Also the mail from our other titles:

Our columnists’ reactions are fictional; the facts and real quotes are sourced above.

The other angles in French

The editor-in-chief chose this one: « Louise est la seule à tirer de la polémique un vrai regard candide, que Bruno lui-même pourrait partager puisqu'il prolonge sa propre demande. Les autres listent les faits avec un ou deux bons mots, sans tenir une idée de bout en bout. »

FreddyThe Gaffer

Vitor Bruno a perdu douze joueurs pendant la trêve, un mister de P3 sort sa farde

Avant d'affronter le Dinamo Zagreb jeudi en Europa League, Vitor Bruno a expliqué avoir perdu douze joueurs durant la trêve, dont cinq titulaires au Cercle de Bruges. L'entraîneur d'Anderlecht devra aussi se passer de Giulian Biancone dans l'axe défensif.

  • Funniness 3/5
  • Faithfulness 4/5
  • Voice 4/5
  • Retweet 3/5
  • Good nature 4/5

The editor-in-chief’s comment Les quatre absents de la semaine font sourire, mais la blague des « deux changements pour aller chercher les enfants » est recopiée telle quelle de la ligne éditoriale et la causerie s'étale sur tous les faits sans chute forte.

Read this angle →

NadineThe Season-Ticket Holder

Anderlecht part à Zagreb avec 600 supporters, le thermomètre hésite entre deux extrêmes

Anderlecht affronte le Dinamo Zagreb jeudi soir en Croatie pour la deuxième journée de la phase de ligue de l'Europa League, après une défaite contre Lyon. 600 supporters bruxellois ont fait le déplacement.

  • Funniness 3/5
  • Faithfulness 4/5
  • Voice 4/5
  • Retweet 3/5
  • Good nature 4/5

The editor-in-chief’s comment « On a joué bien ET signé pour jouer mal » est une bonne trouvaille de thermomètre, mais le titre ne porte aucun décalage et la « honte » pour douze absents tombe à plat.

Read this angle →

MarcelThe Nostalgic

Zagreb-Anderlecht, deuxième journée de « phase de ligue » : une coupe a désormais des journées

Anderlecht se déplace jeudi soir au Dinamo Zagreb pour la deuxième journée de la phase de ligue de l'Europa League. Les Mauves ont perdu le premier match contre Lyon, le Dinamo a partagé l'enjeu contre l'Hapoel Beer Sheva.

  • Funniness 3/5
  • Faithfulness 4/5
  • Voice 4/5
  • Retweet 4/5
  • Good nature 5/5

The editor-in-chief’s comment « Elles avaient un journal, c'était suffisant » est une belle chute, mais l'angle « une coupe avec des journées » frôle la satire du format et laisse la phrase de Bruno au second plan.

Read this angle →