25 | Manuel Akanji - 2024/25

[supercity88]

Why should I?


I choose not to put my money into it anymore, and watch what I want for free, without lining the pocket of corporate bastards.

You're right. Just come on here and waste your time whinging about the state of football whilst you sit at home watching it for free. Makes complete sense.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

nah mate,its a little more complex. First of all Akanji has every right to give his opinion. Another thing is to put out the effort during tournament and nothing i seen from Akanji so far tells me he would not.

Its not comparable what You are doing sir and how much earns to the issue. Earnings of top footballers are high because of many factors. The competition is crazy for young people. They need to mature and put the hard work at training for years. They need to choose work and training over pleasures, friends, etc. The regime becomes increasingly strict from a younger and younger age. On top of that, around the age of 12–15, you have to significantly limit other activities, including education. At that point, it becomes a black-and-white choice — either I pursue the path of becoming a high-earning footballer, or I continue my education at a serious level. And what if, 3 to 6 years later, the footballer gets injured and can’t return to the sport? It’s not anyone’s fault, but the person ends up unable to be a footballer and also not particularly well-educated. It’s a difficult situation.

In short - maybe you working hard now because you were rather easy going when young and Manuel do not? Etc. There are many possibilities, but the point is the football players are right to earn their money and it’s not an argument to limit their freedom of speech in any way.

Choosing work over seeing friends and family is life, I have to do that as does most people. I’ve got no doubt footballers work hard, but so they should for the millions they make a year!

I got proper bored of people feeling sorry for millionaires.

 

[super_city_si]

Players have to work just as hard when they’re recuperating from injures.

Not quite sure how being injured is equivalent to having a holiday.

He probably would have been wiser to not make these comments, but players are getting fatigue injuries more frequently now and the timing of this competition means all the players of the teams involved will not get much of a break this year.

Yes no break last year, this year or next year for our players.

 

[Lavinda Past]

You're right. Just come on here and waste your time whinging about the state of football whilst you sit at home watching it for free. Makes complete sense.

I'm not whinging about the state of football. I'm commenting on the reaction of some thickos like you on here who have absolutely no idea about (and don't care about) the mental and physical pressures of 'elite' football, particularly on injured players.

You really are porly informed. Players are treated like racehorses. Too much is expected of them at elite level, by owners and so called 'supporters'.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

If your running started impacting your job, you’d think about doing something different.

Elite sport is not the same as working a 12 hour shift.

Ahhh poor them, I really feel sorry for footballers who have the best physios and sports scientists looking after them. I wish I got a massage at the end of my 12 hour shifts. Imagine that!

 

[bluemoon32]

If the hours are too much Mr Akanji, go do something else & get your five weeks off a year.
You'll have to cut your wages though

 

[Lavinda Past]

Choosing work over seeing friends and family is life, I have to do that as does most people. I’ve got no doubt footballers work hard, but so they should for the millions they make a year!

I got proper bored of people feeling sorry for millionaires.

Hypocrite. You'll probably be crying like a mardarse as soon as one of your favourite millionaires gets injured / decides to leave.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

If the hours are too much Mr Akanji, go do something else & get your five weeks off a year.
You'll have to cut your wages though

Exactly. He’s only got a few years left before he retires, yet he’s moaning about not being able to go on holiday. There’s millions of people that can’t afford to go on holiday for years while having to work their arses off to pay the bills. Sick of footballers crying about playing football.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

Hypocrite. You'll probably be crying like a mardarse as soon as one of your favourite millionaires gets injured / decides to leave.

Ahhh I’m a hypocrite. Makes total sense doesn’t it.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Ahhh poor them, I really feel sorry for footballers who have the best physios and sports scientists looking after them. I wish I got a massage at the end of my 12 hour shifts. Imagine that!

They have to put up with the great unwashed telling them how shit and weak they are on social media millions of times a day too.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

They have to put up with the great unwashed telling them how shit and weak they are on social media millions of times a day too.

Ohhh those poor bastards. If I were making £5m a year I couldn’t give a fuck what people called me.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Ohhh those poor bastards. If I were making £5m a year I couldn’t give a fuck what people called me.

Perhaps you should have concentrated on football as a kid and you’d then experience what it is really like, rather than moaning about how long your shifts are.

People get tired however much they earn. Mental and physical burn out don’t look at your wage slips each month.

 

[MCFC1993]

Got no issue with what he said. It's a tournament that was created for the money, not the prestige. I do think it could be prestigious one day but right now it isn't.

Barring Barcelona and PSG, I don't think any team played good football this season and I think being knackered and being injured are big reasons behind that.

50 game season are becoming 60 game seasons are becoming 70 game seasons.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

Perhaps you should have concentrated on football as a kid and you’d then experience what it is really like, rather than moaning about how long your shifts are.

People get tired however much they earn. Mental and physical burn out don’t look at your wage slips each month.

My point is most people suffer from mental and physical burn out. That’s life. Footballers have a very short career and are paid more in a week that the average person earns in years.

 

[Middedon]

I agree in principle with what he said, but I think there was a better way to say it.

Especially because I generally think he is a thoughtful speaker. Why I think he has gotten more criticism than Rodri is he kind of starts out with the vacation mention, whereas Rodri was more focused on the toll on their bodies.

Also, he hasn’t played as much as a lot of other players this season, so I do think it would have hit differently if he were one of the top guys in minutes.

 

[jimharri]

Perhaps you should have concentrated on football as a kid and you’d then experience what it is really like, rather than moaning about how long your shifts are.

People get tired however much they earn. Mental and physical burn out don’t look at your wage slips each month.

Yes; rich people can get tired along with us plebs. 100% agreed. But footballers at the sort of elite level that Akanji is playing at are in an unbelievably privileged position. And are ridiculously well rewarded for their efforts. 1 week of Haaland's salary would set me up for life (what's left of it). Akanji comes across as a reasonably intelligent fella; he always comes across well in interviews etc. If he looks back at the quotes that have been attributed to him, he must surely realise that they don't read well. You've got a life most of us can only dream of Manuel.

 

[Macca77macca]

I don’t understand the criticism.

Ultimately its bad for good football for players at the top to have to play so much.

Football is eating itself.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

Yes; rich people can get tired along with us plebs. 100% agreed. But footballers at the sort of elite level that Akanji is playing at are in an unbelievably privileged position. And are ridiculously well rewarded for their efforts. 1 week of Haaland's salary would set me up for life (what's left of it). Akanji comes across as a reasonably intelligent fella; he always comes across well in interviews etc. If he looks back at the quotes that have been attributed to him, he must surely realise that they don't read well. You've got a life most of us can only dream of Manuel.

Yep.

I’ve got mates that compete regularly in marathons and triathlons. They’ve got full time jobs. They absolutely love it.

I find people sympathising with millionaire footballers quite pathetic.

 

[berniethebusman]

Yep.

I’ve got mates that compete regularly in marathons and triathlons. They’ve got full time jobs. They absolutely love it.

I find people sympathising with millionaire footballers quite pathetic.

I'm just not a shallow ****! People loving their hobbies, who would have guessed that be a thing?

 

[WNRH]

Yep.

I’ve got mates that compete regularly in marathons and triathlons. They’ve got full time jobs. They absolutely love it.

I find people sympathising with millionaire footballers quite pathetic.

What would you rather spend £1000 a year on (TV subscriptions and attending games)

Seeing elite players play at 100% 35 times a year?

or

Seeing elite players play at 60% 70 times a year?

When footballers moan about the schedule, they aren’t moaning because they cannot do it. They could all clock 90 mins every day of the year if asked.

They moan because they are asked to be elite and at 100% in every game, the companies paying billions, the sponsors paying millions and the fans paying thousands are all demanding top performances more than their bodies can cope with physically and mentally.

It always makes me laugh when fans say things like “awww poor millionaires” and “they should try working a 40 hour week on site for a quarter of their weekly wage as their annual wage” as if a few extra 0’s on their pay packet automatically makes them gather attributes that is beyond what a human being can do.

If you were to swap jobs with Akanji, you too would be saying the same things unless you think an extra Range Rover snd two unused bedrooms in your house gives you some kind of extra special human powers?