The official Leeds United tweet has been described as 'vile', 'toxic', 'repellent' and 'disgusting'.
Football pundits are paid to have an opinion. As viewers we are free to agree or disagree. Indeed, if their statements were not opinionated or thought-provoking, we would complain about them 'sitting on the fence' and adding nothing to the coverage of the sport.
On Tuesday night, Leeds United won 5-0 playing the wonderful brand of football for which Marcelo Bielsa is rightfully celebrated. But the football club he represents somehow managed to ruin all the good will and praise coming their way by causing a huge controversy.
In a bizarre and rare example of a professional football club targeting a television pundit via official channels, the Leeds United twitter account shared a clip of former Chelsea and England player Karen Carney questioning whether a forced break in last season benefitted Leeds' promotion push.
It was part of a greater point she was making actually praising Bielsa's team for their hard running and committed style of play. That didn't stop Leeds causing a controversy with the following tweet:
https://twitter.com/LUFC/status/1344027568484343814
The tweet has been widely condemned by football fans, pundits and journalists from around the world. Some have claimed it to incite a 'pile-on' against Carney, others have pointed out that male peers are rarely if ever targeted for their comments in such a way. Here are just a selection of comments on the tweet:
https://twitter.com/GrantWahl/status/1344076829678850048
https://twitter.com/awinehouse1/status/1344052015467528197
https://twitter.com/HughWoozencroft/status/1344050912956993539
https://twitter.com/JamesMcManus1/status/1344059802473922561
https://twitter.com/AlexandraJonson/status/1344052415910338561
https://twitter.com/W_F_Magee/status/1344071842127085568
Rather than apologise and/or delete the tweet, Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani has doubled-down and taken responsibility for the post:
https://twitter.com/andrearadri/status/1344045201925541889
