Have we reached the point where players don't care?

[supercity88]

I think there are as many as ever. Depending what happens for City this season we will look back on it potentially being Pep's greatest ever. A squad with back-to-back titles (for some the second time they'd done that), a Euros in one summer and a World Cup during the season. Lots wanting more game time, lots suffering from a lack of form/mental fight/desire, if he gets them firing for the final push and we manage to win the league, and perhaps the CL, it's a ridiculous achievement and he will deserve monumental credit for managing the squad and overcoming those issues.

Just look at the decline of the dippers, having competed for all 4 last season. We have done that for almost 6 years.

 

[Innsbruckblue]

Just as the headline suggests, are players now getting to the point of being too wealthy to even bother to do as they are told? I can't remember so many players having huge squabbles with managers or whole squads under-performing and not seeming that bothered about it.

Nope. Look at Real, Barca and Bayern. Clubs with passionate managers who get everything out of players they can over many years

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Hasn't it always been like this? Just more coverage now because of social media

I think so. What Kyle has been in the papers for would just have been a fairly normal lunchtime for George best.

 

[FightLikeAGirl]

Oh definitely, George Best was football’s answer to the Whore of Babylon. He made Giggs look like Milner.

 

[give it to gordon]

I would say to a point yes they certainly dont care about the fans or doing a fair days (90 minutes) work.

When at work they dont rush to play, they take fucking ages to take a goal kick, if I took that long at work I would be on a warding.

So yes some players roll around like they have a broke leg or to have a rest after doing 20 minutes work.

These players who dont want to do 90 minutes work are ripping us fans off. We pay 70 odd quid to only see 45 minutes of football. If I only did 4 hrs work out of my 8 hrs day I would be sacked and not in half a million a week.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Pep has always wanted a 16 player squad of players he could trust. Doesn’t work when you play in the PL, because there are too many games and they usually come every 3 days!

You look at Potter at Chelsea and he’s complaining he has 37 pros and he simply can’t train them all, or even play them all, in training, so how’s he supposed to know who is performing?!

That said, I think players at top clubs are lorded over in ways players from even just 10 yrs ago might be surprised. EVERYTHING is laid on for them and they’re treated like royalty, because the money sloshing around the game is simply outrageous!

In what other line of work do halfwits make 6 figures PER YEAR, let alone PER WEEK?! Yet, every Top 6 club has a shed load of them!

I think there is a point at which some players lose the plot and start to believe their own fantasy, while there are others for whom the money and adulation is far easier to cope with.

Even within our own team, we can all name players who would be successful at almost anything anywhere, yet can probably name quite a few who would struggle to hold down a white collar job anywhere doing anything!

Success is a mindset, just as ambition is a personal trait that can drive on some people while destroying others.

 

[stan bowles]

I read Micah Richard's book over Christmas and he said that when he became a first team player at City his contract meant his pay increased significantly and then rose massively again when he was first capped for England. He said he would buy an expensive watch - not because he needed one - but because he felt he had to cement his status within the City dressing room as proof of his arrival at that level. Same with cars - he'd turn up in a much more expensive car because that's what England players were perceived as expected to drive. He knew he didn't need a Ferrari or whatever but that's the bubble that high earning players exist in. Same with many other players he said.

Easy to see how the player's focus isn't always on their game.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Pep has always wanted a 16 player squad of players he could trust. Doesn’t work when you play in the PL, because there are too many games and they usually come every 3 days!

You look at Potter at Chelsea and he’s complaining he has 37 pros and he simply can’t train them all, or even play them all, in training, so how’s he supposed to know who is performing?!

That said, I think players at top clubs are lorded over in ways players from even just 10 yrs ago might be surprised. EVERYTHING is laid on for them and they’re treated like royalty, because the money sloshing around the game is simply outrageous!

In what other line of work do halfwits make 6 figures PER YEAR, let alone PER WEEK?! Yet, every Top 6 club has a shed load of them!

I think there is a point at which some players lose the plot and start to believe their own fantasy, while there are others for whom the money and adulation is far easier to cope with.

Even within our own team, we can all name players who would be successful at almost anything anywhere, yet can probably name quite a few who would struggle to hold down a white collar job anywhere doing anything!

Success is a mindset, just as ambition is a personal trait that can drive on some people while destroying others.

You are Tony Robbins and I claim my $5 sir!

 

[blueju]

Possibly, I was listening to Richarlason this morning, and he's of the impression that he's performed well for Spurs of late and deserves more respect, when in reality, he's scored no goals and has two assists in 20 games. Too much self love and not enough graft.

To be fair some players are just twats and he’s near the top of the list.

 

[Pell]

Just as the headline suggests, are players now getting to the point of being too wealthy to even bother to do as they are told? I can't remember so many players having huge squabbles with managers or whole squads under-performing and not seeming that bothered about it.

With the money and trappings that come with it, then it's inevitable you're going to have players not bothering anymore. Look at Dele Alli. Bale was happy to sit on the bench, collect his pay cheque and play golf in the last years of his career.