This may seem like I am just venting however bear with me as it will serve as somewhat of a check in on reality for me too, if not others.

I saw a pre-match interview with a PL footballer earlier which threw up a scenario I am very familiar with and has never failed to irk me.

It may come as a shocking revelation to some but particularly in the PL, you often get players who are not English or from an English speaking nation and share several similar characteristics:

1. They have not been in this country very long.
2. They most likely did not speak English before coming to work here.
3. They have an abundance of wealth far removed from the vast majority of people and therefore do not have the day to day interactions, in English, as anybody else would.
4. They're not the most academic or intelligent types.

It therefore drives me nuts, as it did earlier, when interviewers choose to throw in anecdotes, deviate from the point, use colloquial words and generally fluff about when asking them that which could be communicated far more simply. A question as simple as 'How are you feeling before playing X Team' becomes:

'(Shortened name of team) have (long boring anecdote) and we often see (long, unnecessary footballing mythology tangent) therefore with your team (again historical or topical knowledge they're probably unaware of or unnecessarily verbose articulation of simple statement using English cliches) so how is the feeling in the dressing room right now and how are you preparing?

You can see the eyes stare hard into the floor or dance about in their head but often they grab the very last sentiment and manage to provide a broken English response which leaves me wondering why supposed professionals, who should be aware of their situation one way or another, would assess this as a reasonable, effective, even remotely necessary or indeed fair approach? 'Tis rhubarb!

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

Yes Becky, reminds me of a Mafia boss in a film who communicates solely through his consigliere!

To get their own back, I think anyone from England on holiday anywhere should have to oblige if called upon by a TV station to give an interview, on their holiday experience, entirely in the native language for wherever they are!

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

On the topic of making the level of speech fit the occasion, just wanted to share this with you -

When I first moved overseas I often found myself using far too many words to describe anything, ( foreign land, people who English wasn't their first or even second language) a situation highlighted to me in the local bar -

Me - Can I have a pint of Fosters please my good man ?
Barman looks at me, clearly unsure about what I had said -
My Mate - 2 Fosters.
Barman, Yes sir -
So all that was necessary was the word Fosters & how many, everything else was just unnecessary twaddle-

From then on every time I walked into that bar a pint of Fosters
was waiting - they took great pride in getting your drink ready, although there was no comprehension that perhaps you might decide to have something else other than your "usual"

This proved a bit awkward one day, my new boss arrived, we go to the bar for lunch as we were near that location, (& honestly we never drank during the working day, I worked for a Muslim family & it just wasn't the done thing) this day 12.15 walks into the bar, 2 Fosters in frozen glasses sitting on the bar & the barman smiling that he had seen us approaching across the hotel lobby & prepared our order in advance - the new boss looks at my & my mate with a wry smile and says something like, no need to ask where you 2 spend most of your time.