Recently, there's a a lot of buzz surrounding Robin van Persie's future and almost all fans are talking only of one thing. Loyalty. I don't know where it comes in club football. The fans always say their player should be loyal (as long as he is amongst the best in the business but if he's not or he's fading, you know what they say). I haven't heard from a single manager about player's loyalty till date.
I think loyalty in club scene is overrated. I mean it shouldn't be talked about. Loyalty and club football should not be discussed together. Its not a big deal. Lets talk specifically. The best leagues in the world by far are English Premier League(BPL), Spanish La Liga(LigaBBVA) and Italian Serie A. So if an ambitious player wants to play in these leagues who is not from aforementioned country and its league, he has to leave his club. So, in order to move there, loyalty just goes out of context.
Let me elaborate by taking few instances of players commiting their entire careers to their respective clubs.
Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Barca clan, United clan, Francesco Totti, Alesandro Del Piero, Paolo Maldini, Tony Adams and many more.
And we all talk of them as being loyal servants to their clubs and appreciate it.
Before I analyse their loyalty more deeply, could you point out what all is common in them and why we only know them as one club man and not others?
Players Club Titles
Steven Gerrard 9
John Terry 13
Barca clan 10(or more)
United clan 14(or more)
Francesco Totti 3
Alesandro Del Piero 8
Paolo Maldini 13
Tony Adams 9
Note: Trophies with more than 2 games are considered.
Now the picture is clearer. They all play(ed) for the best clubs in the world. They earn(ed) multi millions. And you can see they have won numerous trophies.
Coming back to the point. So, if a player like Robin van Persie, who has stayed at Arsenal for 8 years with only an FA cup trophy to show for and who doesn't even belong to the country let alone city, wants to leave (for trophies and money), its perfectly logical. And there is no need to talk about the so called loyalty. And if you really want to talk about loyalty, name me one world class player, who played for a single club despite not winning a single trophy. I'll call that fucking loyalty.
Since most of us (non-EU) are supporters of big clubs, we take loyalty pretty seriously and completely ignore the ethos of fans and players of the not so big clubs. It's impossible for us to understand that.
The problem for such brouhaha amongst fans is money. For whatever reason the player wants to depart, we consider or are made to believe money is the only factor. And I blame this entirely on media which is run and influenced by billionaires. Their only aim is to misguide people and make money. And since, media is the only medium for us to collect the "facts", we are left with nothing else and are easily influenced.
I wrote this article becuase the other day, one of my friends told me that only loyal players are true legends to which I obviously disagreed. Probably, he missed Thierry Henry's statue outside The Emirates. Tony Adams once said "I would sign any contract Arsenal would put in front of me without even seeing it". I think any local player who has been a regular player for his local club and winning almost every competiton they play(multiple times) would echo his words (at least players from the top three leagues). Furthermore, he had a huge trophy cabinet. So, why would he complain?
I know my article is pretty unfair on players who joined big clubs right from the start. But, the real test comes when you are going downhill, having won nothing at your peak or nothing at all ever. Everyone leaves to win trophies and that's above money. Very few do not like Gigi Buffon and Del Piero. So, in my honest opinion, I think that we should appreciate a player's hunger for trophy more than earning money even though it might be heartbreaking for us to see our talisman leave our club.
Let me elaborate by taking few instances of players commiting their entire careers to their respective clubs.
Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Barca clan, United clan, Francesco Totti, Alesandro Del Piero, Paolo Maldini, Tony Adams and many more.
And we all talk of them as being loyal servants to their clubs and appreciate it.
Before I analyse their loyalty more deeply, could you point out what all is common in them and why we only know them as one club man and not others?
Players Club Titles
Steven Gerrard 9
John Terry 13
Barca clan 10(or more)
United clan 14(or more)
Francesco Totti 3
Alesandro Del Piero 8
Paolo Maldini 13
Tony Adams 9
Note: Trophies with more than 2 games are considered.
Now the picture is clearer. They all play(ed) for the best clubs in the world. They earn(ed) multi millions. And you can see they have won numerous trophies.
Coming back to the point. So, if a player like Robin van Persie, who has stayed at Arsenal for 8 years with only an FA cup trophy to show for and who doesn't even belong to the country let alone city, wants to leave (for trophies and money), its perfectly logical. And there is no need to talk about the so called loyalty. And if you really want to talk about loyalty, name me one world class player, who played for a single club despite not winning a single trophy. I'll call that fucking loyalty.
Since most of us (non-EU) are supporters of big clubs, we take loyalty pretty seriously and completely ignore the ethos of fans and players of the not so big clubs. It's impossible for us to understand that.
The problem for such brouhaha amongst fans is money. For whatever reason the player wants to depart, we consider or are made to believe money is the only factor. And I blame this entirely on media which is run and influenced by billionaires. Their only aim is to misguide people and make money. And since, media is the only medium for us to collect the "facts", we are left with nothing else and are easily influenced.
I wrote this article becuase the other day, one of my friends told me that only loyal players are true legends to which I obviously disagreed. Probably, he missed Thierry Henry's statue outside The Emirates. Tony Adams once said "I would sign any contract Arsenal would put in front of me without even seeing it". I think any local player who has been a regular player for his local club and winning almost every competiton they play(multiple times) would echo his words (at least players from the top three leagues). Furthermore, he had a huge trophy cabinet. So, why would he complain?
I know my article is pretty unfair on players who joined big clubs right from the start. But, the real test comes when you are going downhill, having won nothing at your peak or nothing at all ever. Everyone leaves to win trophies and that's above money. Very few do not like Gigi Buffon and Del Piero. So, in my honest opinion, I think that we should appreciate a player's hunger for trophy more than earning money even though it might be heartbreaking for us to see our talisman leave our club.
