Something has changed regarding the way interviews are conducted with footballers.
Some will claim it happened long ago, but the last two seasons in particular have seen a noticeable shift in the attitudes of those conducting interviews with players to a point where they are clearly being disrespectful.
While Sky Sports News are certainly not the only culprits when it comes to this style of questioning, a recent example highlighted where focus of the media currently in France surrounding Sweden at Euro 2016 lies.
The most high-profile example of this is Geoff Shreeves' brutal wound salting put down on Branislav Ivanovic, and he pissed off a number of managers such as Alan Pardew in similar fashion but this past season saw that style of questioning - clearly trying to push their own narrative and put words in the mouth of whoever has the microphone in front of them - occur on an alarming basis. We saw an interviewer literally pull Willy Caballero down from the shoulders of his teammates after winning the League Cup final shootout for City earlier this season. Is that not a bit much?
So where do Sweden come into this? Well, Zlatan Ibrahimovic plays for Sweden. Is there any sort of story they would want to cover there?
Ibrahimovic's seemingly inevitable move to Manchester United is something many media outlets are anticipating with the excitement of a child on Christmas Eve. And it's understandable, but it's clear that some reporters are really starting to shove this narrative into the faces of Sweden's players, despite them clearly not wanting to discuss a teammate's employment prospects.
On Thursday night, interviews with Andreas Isaksson and Kim Kallstrom were used to discuss Zlatan's future, as both players had previously played in the Premier League. The irony that asking Kim Kellstrom about a player's suitability to the toughness of the Premier League considering he was injured for the overwhelming majority of his Arsenal career was presumably not lost on anyone watching.
Both players were asked about Zlatan in England as if the giant Swede had already been paraded around Old Trafford, and after both players said they didn't want to talk about that, they politely ended the discussion.
What's funny there is that they suggest the media pressure that they are contributing to may effect Zlatan, but they're not even asking him, they're doing it to the other players. And don't even get me started on the fact that they followed a postman. Ridiculous.
For Sweden, this can't be good.
You're talking about a player who is of a significantly higher profile than all of his teammates (put together?) and they are being reminded about that on a daily basis.
International tournaments are unique in that the media demands put on players is so much higher than they are used to. While the players share the burden so as not to disrupt the preparations too much, these players will be talking about their experiences with the media, and have a lot of time to talk. If they are all being asked the same thing, about one player on the team, it's bound to piss them off.
The Irish players don't have to deal with this. What are the boys in green being asked? Questions about how much it means to be playing at the tournament, and the odd one about Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane extending their contracts.
It's just a thought, and I haven't gone as far as suggesting that Ireland are gaining a tangible advantage from this just yet, but I just feel as though the media obligations for both sides are different, and I know which one I would rather participate in. If it is bothering them, then Irish fans will be hoping the Zlatan saga drags on a little longer.
Then again, maybe the Swedes don't give a shite.
