- Eric Cantona stormed off a live panel of experts ahead of Man United’s win on Friday
- He faced the camera to give a long speech, but there’s a reason for that
- LISTEN NOW: It’s all about to begin!available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday
Eric Cantona caused chaos again when he quit a panel of experts, but the football legend had a good reason for doing so.
The former Manchester United star looked bored and restless as he dragged himself through Showmax’s Premier League preview ahead of Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Fulham.
Former football star and philosopher Owen Hargreaves sat next to him and growled and snapped when asked to answer, but offered little insight.
When asked who the title contenders are, Cantona simply replied ‘no’, and when asked what fans watching at home can expect from Manchester United this season, he replied: ‘Television? Yes, television.’
That was just the prelude to the madness, as Cantona ripped off his microphone, took off his jacket, threw away his tie and walked towards the camera.
Eric Cantona stormed away from a pundit ahead of Manchester United’s win over Fulham
The football legend gave a speech about the need for the beautiful game to be ‘everywhere’ – not just on television and in the stands
We call this “the beautiful game,” but how many people in this world don’t even have a television? What about them?
“How do we serve this to them? To be really beautiful, the game has to be everywhere! It can’t be stuck on the wall or just in a bar, no!”
“It has to fly,” he said, flapping his arms — an apparent reference to his infamous seagull speech.
‘And, my friends, no one – no one! – should believe that the Premier League is beyond their reach.
‘This marks the beginning. The revolution… has begun.’
At that point, Cantona stormed off, leaving presenter Julia Stuart standing next to Hargreaves, bewildered, wondering: ‘What do I do?’
Viewers might have thought the football legend had lost his temper, but it turns out he had a perfectly legitimate excuse for his behaviour.
That’s because the entire episode was a sketch, in which the profound Cantona was deemed the perfect candidate to give the philosophical lecture.
He also began with a flying movement, reminiscent of the theme of his infamous lecture on seagulls
Fans were confused, but it was actually all a stunt to promote Showmax’s livestreams
It was all to promote Showmax’s live streamed Premier League content, as they claimed their ‘revolution would not be televised’.
Many viewers seemed fooled by the stunt and given Cantona’s history of theatrical behaviour, that’s not surprising.