When Chelsea ran out at Stamford Bridge for their first game of the new Premier League season on Sunday, it looked as if a bit of tat from a pound shop had been stuck smack-bang in the middle of the players’ chests.
A gaudy circle of gold, almost the same size as the club crest next to it, had been affixed to their shirts. ‘World Champions Fifa’, the writing around the circle said. If it looked like a meretricious piece of trash, that’s because it was a meretricious piece of trash.