Home > Football > Manchester United, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea - and the silly season of stars with itchy feet
by Ciaran Mc Cormack on 28 June 2008
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It's suprising to see the lack of loyalty football stars have for their clubs these days.
With Cristiano Ronaldo dreaming of a move from Manchester United to Real Madrid, Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor apparently on the hit list of both Milan clubs and Barcelona, Dimitar Berbatov's continuous want-away antics at Spurs, and over at Chelsea, Frank Lampard's high wage demands and Didier Drogba seemingly missing the company of "The Special One", surely this silly season will be one to remember.
It seems to me that football players have forgotten all about the fun bit. Forgotten their roots. Forgotten to look back to where they came from and to recognise how lucky they are to be where they are today.
It's a shame, though, because youngsters these days look up to these stars. Kids see how they act. They watch their petty diving acts with no thoughts of remorse. They watch them roll around and not get up to take the quick free-kick that has been given in their favour.
Questions need to be asked. Do these players really care about anything or anybody other than themselves? Do they feel they are being paid to entertain, even if it means diving, feigning injury or scoring the occasional sensational goal?
Perhaps they see it as a job and therefore treat it as one. They go into what they see as work most days, train for a couple of hours, have a laugh with the lads (and possibly a massage), before going back to there luxurious mansions to have dinner cooked (by their WAG or not!). Sounds like the best job in the world to me.
I have noticed over the past couple of years (since the infamous Ronaldo wink, to be exact) that players never seem to smile. They look pessimistic even. When was the last time you heard one say something good and uplifting? If you have seen some fair play I must be looking in all the wrong places (Sky Sports not doing me any favours, then!) Club loyalty has been brought into question and more often than not the player chooses self-interest.
But surely players don't see themselves as stars who are bigger than the club? Imagine how hard it must be to get the most out of egotistical footballers. Who do these people really think they are?
Football is no more a job than a hobby and should be treated as such. If a club agrees to pay you for taking up your hobby full-time (regardless of how good you are), surely you should be appreciative and show some support or loyalty for the club regardless of all other circumstances.
In short, some players see themselves as wonders who need to be loved and adored. People who buy their shirts are just adding fuel to their egos.
Comments (6)
by michael foran on June 28, 2008
i hope ronaldo goes to real mardrid because he is so good he is like reli good lol so spurs,chelsea,arsenal and liverpool will be harder to lose against man u.im a spurs fan.i dont care reli if berba goes because tottenham could get milito and podolski.also david villa.god i hope he comes.and i dnt care if lampard goes but arshavin probs will come in that is the gay thing.i reli didnt read any of this.i read all of it but i was scannin it but i saw some bits about like all those players goin and stuff.
by Diego Forlan on June 28, 2008
Nice bit of trolling. Surprised you haven't had more replies yet It is not a hobby......it is their job. If an electrician on a 2 year contract to a firm of house builders wiring up a set of new houses gets offered a 4 year contract on double the money for a rival firm, what do you think will happen? Why is it different if it is a football player?. Your favourite team is just another contractor to them. If they have a loss of form they get sacked. If they perform well they will ask for a pay rise They have not been 'lucky' to get where they are. If all it took was luck they would be found out 10 minutes into a game. Ronaldo does not earn his money because he is lucky. He is paid his wages because of what he can do on a football pitch. As soon as he stops doing it then he gets dropped. As for the diving, well the Corinthian spirit, baggy shorts brylcreem hair and all that old b*ll*cks went out the window when the money came in. The game today is about winning. Fancy telling Sir Angry Ferguson you decided to stay on your feet in the penalty box after being chopped down as 'it was the noble thing to do'. Welcome to 2008, the game is not that bad. The players are more skilful, better athletes and technically far in advance of those from 1956. Even better............you can watch them on the telly in colour instead of black and white
by Dukey on June 28, 2008
forlans right! it's a job and not a hobby, but what also needs to be taking in to account is the players ambitions, imagine your at hull (no offence) who will have a difficult time of staying in the prem this season so will look to concentrate on that rather than trophys, but you know that Portsmouth or man city want you and will play you regular and you'll get your chance, to fill one of your boyhood dreams like walking out at wembley for an fa cup final, now who honestly would not be interested in that! also not all players want to jump ship for a bigger pay slip, players like nick barnby who left playing regular in the premier league to help out the city that spawned him Hull, and he's done that helping them into the prem, not all footballers act negatively, and ronaldo has said prob since he was at sporting Lisbon that his dream is to play in la liga, now who are you to say that hes egotistical, a man should always follow his dreams
by gettingthereslowly on June 28, 2008
only one player not saying any thing and its berba good on him i do hope he stays if he see ramos bringing in quality players then there's a chance he might just stay till jan to see how it pans out why go to teams who are loosing their best players normally you would like to play with them ?
by jon kenworthy on June 30, 2008
With the recent news that frank lampard has demanded a wage increase. I cannot see his future at Chelsea being secure there are plenty of players younger than him and as talented just waiting to fill his position. Wakey wakey frank just be grateful for what you have.
by Zac Shouton on July 01, 2008
Fergie ronaldo is causing more trouble then he is worth. Get rid of him but be smart about it. I would swap ronaldo for sneijer, sergio ramos and 20m, real madrid seem desperate make them pay. ronaldo will never have another season any where near as good as the last one, he goes to real madrid he will score less then 15-20 goals garenteed, then we have sergio ramos who is the best rb in the world and we need one and wesley sniejer who is so smart and good. he can find sneaky passes and also score! we also have money to bu ymore players maybe ribery? a few more young gunz? and i also think nani will step up like ronaldo did soon aswell maybe not as good as ronaldo did but close fergie get rid of ronaldo please he is not worth it!
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