Are Players getting too much for their own good?

The news nowadays is dominated by "star" players trying to squeeze every cent out of their current and prospective clubs. Are players getting too arrogant for their own good? Is this a tell tale sign that the wage and transfer system currently used is outdated?

Frank Lampard has an offer of £135,000 per week for the next 4 years. If I were him, I would be jumping for joy at being the highest paid individual in the BPL! Majority of the Earth’s population do not earn that figure in one year! However, what does he do? He bulked at the offer because he wants a 5 year deal. Although I can understand his need for security at the age of 30, but he would definitely retire a millionaire regardless of 4 or 5 years for his contract. How about a bit of loyalty for your club?

Emmanuel Adebayor is another want away player. After a season of 30+ goals (which was achieved with many misses in the process), he feels that he is the best striker in the world. No doubt that is good for his confidence and morale; however, the way that he is handling his new found confidence is certainly rubbing off in the wrong way with his flip flopping of comments to the media. One moment, he is declaring his love for Arsenal while the next moment, he is saying that he is open to offers. Some papers are stating that he said this, “I will play like Henry when I am paid like Henry!” while other papers waived off the rumors that the player himself wants to leave. The latest news is that AC Milan and Barcelona are scared off by Arsenal’s valuation while Arsenal may be forced to lower our asking price due to the player’s and his agent’s antics. In all these mess, the club supporters have labeled the player as Ade- “BYE”- yor.

The biggest punk of all is Cristiano Ronaldo. With the player of the year award in his bag as he travels to Euro 08, he thought he was the best player on Earth. He publicly declared that he loved to “wear white instead of red”. For the uninitiated, he implied that he prefer the White of Real Madrid to the Red of Manchester United. Well, he promptly went on to flop at Euro 08 while Real Madrid made overtures to sign him from Man U. Mind you, red nose was furious and launch a verbal attack on the Spanish club’s antics. As the clubs fight tooth and nail over the issue, Ronaldo conveniently gets himself injured and will be out for the next 12 weeks. I am no fan of Manchester United, but I do feel for them as they do their best to nurse their errant child back to health only to face the possibility of losing him to Madrid.

To rub salt into injury for the case of Ronaldo, Sepp Blatter publicly declared, “In football there’s too much modern slavery,” the FIFA president said on Sky News. “I’m always in favour of protecting the player. If he wants to leave, let him. If Ronaldo stays at a club where he does not feel comfortable to play then it’s not good for him or the club. The important thing is that we should also protect the player. And if they want to play somewhere else, then a solution should be found.” God knows what he was thinking………

Is there any player bigger than a club? Soccer is a game of 11 players on the pitch and many more on the bench. I dread to see the day while players dictate a club…. Or am I seeing it already?