For players, money trumps glory.. and it’s bosses who pay the price
THERE’S a reason Chelsea were so poor as defending champions last season.
There’s a reason the same can be said of Leicester and why Arsenal, year after year, are happy enough to finish in the top four. It’s because players aren’t worried about creating legacies anymore. They’re just happy to move from club to club knowing another hefty pay cheque is just around the corner come what may. Managers of old would demand players didn’t win the title just once, but numerous times to stamp their greatness on the game. A bit like Usain Bolt and Mo Farah have done over the years. They weren’t content to reach the top of the sport, they wanted to climb the mountain again and again. These days footballers aren’t bothered about that, because the money outweighs the glory.
And since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement I haven’t seen one manager who looks like reinstalling those old values.
Take Eden Hazard. He was going to be the next Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo two years ago, but got a bit of criticism from Jose Mourinho so chucked it in.
No loyalty to Mourinho for helping make him a champion, or to Chelsea’s fans – he was happy to go missing and to hell with the consequences.
He’s not alone. It’s the way of the modern game and I don’t think there are many players in the Premier League, save for a few who play for the clubs they grew up supporting, or who have been with their clubs for five or six years, who would know anything about loyalty.
Look at Wayne Rooney. He would have been a Manchester City player a few years ago had he not been concerned about a group of hoodie-wearing United supporters turning up outside his house. Now he’s taking the accolade as United’s record goalscorer.
There isn’t enough pressure put on players by fans, managers and coaches, and that’s largely because they can’t do it.
Dig into a player and they rarely respond by saying, ‘You’re right and I’m going to show everyone I really am a club legend and deserve to be seen as one’.
They just get their agent to say, “If you’re having a go at my player we’ll be off to Real Madrid, AC Milan or Juventus, thank you very much.”
Dimitri Payet had one good season then decided he owed West Ham’s fans, owners and boss Slaven Bilic absolutely nothing.
And look at Riyad Mahrez (above with boss Claudio Ranieri). He knows he can have a stinker of a season and still be offered a big-bucks escape route after helping Leicester win the title.
Player loyalty is almost zero these days and invariably it’s their managers who suffer because of it. Sign up to listen to Call Collymore through Stan’s new app at www.collymore.com