da wazamba: Another unpleasant side of football has begun to make itself known in recent times, and the reports concerning Ravel Morrison’s contract dispute at Manchester United is just one of the many examples of young footballers who are unappreciative and maybe undeserving of the position they’re in.
da bwin: The idea of player-power has become more and more concerning for football clubs in recent years, but it starts to become particularly worrying when it filters down to youth players. Despite the huge sums of money that is involved in football and all the potential a footballer has financially, why is it that young players—especially those who have not graduated from the reserve sides—feel the need for agents? It opens up the door for them to be poorly advised, as we’ve seen in the past, and creates the illusion that they believe they’ve made it in life despite hardly kicking a ball for the respective clubs.
Ravel Morrison has continually been praised for being one of the most naturally gifted players at Manchester United, with some even likening him to Paul Scholes. And yet, along with his history of trouble with the law, he portrays himself as one who doesn’t have respect for the environment he’s in at Manchester United. The reported contract negotiations, if to be believed, only highlight Morrison as one of this generation’s young footballer—someone who believes they can demand, and are deserving of, huge contracts. These footballers comprise a small portion of all that is wrong in modern football. There appears to be little around him able to help him keep his feet on the ground, and in spite of his abilities with a football, he believes a ‘senior’ contract should be offered even before his 20th birthday.
It is certainly refreshing when you look to players of similar age playing abroad. Players such as Mario Gotze and Ander Herrera, who have been rewarded for hard work on the pitch and have a considerable amount of respect for both the senior players at their clubs and their managers. It highlights that even with all the praise these young players receive, they have enough about them to understand that not taking your position for granted brings justified rewards. Similarly, Jack Wilshere was given a considerable pay rise following his performances last season for Arsenal: the kind of rewards that few would have opposed, even though the player had yet to turn 20.
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Due to Ravel Morrison’s contract coming to an end in the summer, there have of course been other clubs looking to sign the youngster. But a player with such troubles does raise the question of whether there is any justifiable worth in signing him. Of course, there is the potential for the player to one day become one of the leading performers in the Premier League, but if Sir Alex Ferguson and those around him at United have seemingly failed to get the player under control then surely there are few that can. A small fee paid in compensation to United for the development of the player is only likely to increase in headache for those at his next club. Will he disrupt the harmony in another dressing room or even do what he’s doing now to another manager. There are enough factors in the case of Morrison to suggest he is a player that should be avoided; a conclusion that is upsetting for English football as much of this applies to a wider group than just the United midfielder.
In an age of Youtube videos and Twitter there are far too many young players believing their own hype. The ill-advised footballer is nothing new either; ask Nicolas Anelka whether moving from Arsenal well before he had reached his peak was a good idea. And what of similar situations where those who were once offered so much in the way of potential but ended their careers with one egotistical, ill-fated action. The fact is, some of these players are perhaps not destined to be the greats that their potential suggests, and sadly for Manchester United and England, Ravel Morrison may just find himself in that bracket.
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