A cancer called Player Power by Lloyd Schatz
Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti. What made these managers so successful?
This is a question that most fans today, do not want to ask? But It is quite simple. They had full control of their teams. They were the bosses, and they were in charge.
Today we have a different culture in football. It is called player power. It is a cancer that is ruining our game. Today it is players who are in charge and the managers are at their mercy. It is the players who dictates whether a manager stays or goes.
How did they get this player power?
Social media is the answer. These players can amass millions of followers on social media. These followers are predominantly fans of the clubs they play for. This gives them the power to manipulate fans. And obviously these fans are the ones that the media is after. So the media in turn will always tell fans what they want to hear. Because it’s all about ratings and money. And players have found a way to take advantage of this situation.
Then there are players forming cliques in the team. These cliques run the dressing room. And when there is a negative narrative pushed in the dressing room, you can be sure the manager’s days are numbered.
Alex Ferguson never allowed any player to think that he is bigger than the team. Neither did Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola. The amount of influence that Lionel Messi has amassed in Barcelona is ludicrous. With all the talent and money spent, they are now struggling.
This is the problem we had with Mesut Ozil. He was able to manipulate fans as he pleased. Fortunately not everyone fell for his tricks. These players are part of the problem that we are facing today as a club, and they need to be held accountable.
Carlo Ancelotti, as great a manager as he is, has been a victim of player power. Jose Mourinho has been a victim of player power over the years. Arsene Wenger allowed it to happen to him. He should have taken a leaf out of Ferguson’s book and been more ruthless, instead it came back to bite him in the butt. He was the cause (or the start of) allowing underperforming players to get away with murder at Arsenal. These players can and will destabilize the dressing room and get a manager fired.
Let’s just look at what Mustafi tweeted when Mesut Ozil left?
Mustafi’s Tweet read: ‘Bro, you have been the most unselfish player on and off the pitch, I have ever shared the dressing room with. You will be always remembered as the #AssistKing. Unfortunately, we as a team haven’t been able to assist you when you needed us the most. All the best.’
What did he really mean by that? Was the whole team supposed to get involved and underperform until the manager gets fired again? What was he expecting the players to do?
We the fans are sitting there watching the team lose and underperforming because players have decided to do so. Not considering your hard-earned money you spend to come and watch them.
This cancer called player power will eat away at the core of a team until there’s nothing left.
Dressing room politics; that’s what we are watching week in and week out. Pep Guardiola has managed his dressing room very well. And you can see how he shipped out players as soon as they become a problem or under-performs. Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti has lost that influence. Because of the media catering to fans who are influenced by player power. The media will put the manager under pressure.
What we need at Arsenal is players not Politicians. Look at William Saliba, week in and week out he is taking a dig at the manager. Don’t we think it is going to eventually affect the team?
What is his intention? The Manager had to choose his best and experienced team. Somebody had to be left out. Somebody was going to be unhappy. Instead of acting like professionals, they start their politics. We must just allow players like Guendouzi to keep going on a rampage and expect everything to be okay?
Today it is no longer clubs that run the show. It is players and their greedy agents. Look at Balogun and his agent. They want to hold the club hostage. This is what these players do; demand big contracts and under perform. Run down their contracts so the club, who gave them the opportunity, and put their faith in them, won’t benefit. Transfer Window opens and the team is picking up points, transfer window closes, team starts dropping points.
We see players performing only when their contracts are coming to an end, but once they get that new contract, the performance is gone. And we the fans keep saying, sign them up and yet they let us down. Auba is a good example.
What happened to the days when players played for the badge and for the fans who sacrifice to come and watch them, so they earn their fat salaries? Our team is being ruined because we allowed these players to do it.
We are looking at Unai Emery now and we are saying: ‘Hey wait a minute this guy was not so bad after all’. Look at Real Madrid and Barcelona – they are struggling because of the politics within. They have had the best Managers in the world. But the social network Mafia is ruining everything.
When last did you see Jose Mourinho make a substitution in like the first 30 minutes of a game because he can see the player is not up to it? No he can’t – they throw their toys out the pram and cause havoc in the dressing room.
Alex Ferguson would never tolerate that. Ask David Beckham, Nani and many others that came before and after them.
Mikel Arteta is showing exactly what needs to be done to get Arsenal back to where it should be. We forget that he has all the inside information and knows exactly what to do to solve the problem. That is why the influence coming from these players are so strong. They want to get rid of the Manager before he gets rid of them.
But I guess this is the new social media generation that is just oblivious to everything that goes on around it.
“It is always good to look at history, you might just learn something from it” – Lloyd Schatz