Playing for your country is a privilege

[Merlin5]

Therefore it is not necessary to pay them. If a player doesn't want to play for england because he won't get paid then obviously he's in it for the wrong reasons. Without payment then, every england player who chooses to play when called upon does so for the glory. For glory to follow it means playing with passion and conviction and working hard. Only when this happens will we stand a chance of doing well.

 

[Merlin5]

I think a lot of them already donate the money to charity.

They'd be better off spending it on football lessons.

 

[Merlin5]

Aw bless. A commendable yet laughable and naive notion from fans. Footballers are people like us and will follow the ££ like we would given the chance. Playing for the national team comes second to playing for the club that pays their wages. It's just the way things are.

So you're honestly saying that none, or hardly any of them would play for england, in the biggest tournament in the world, which only comes round once every four years, if they weren't paid, even though they all earn millions a year? That's really ******* sad and precisely why we're so crap.

 

[Merlin5]

Surely the glory you would gain and hero worship you'd achieve by scoring for england and possibly even winning a world cup would be a far far higher accolade than scoring just for your league team? I mean the whole country would bow to you.

 

[Merlin5]

Not quite, read my second point, I'm just saying on the scale of importance, it doesn't come top. And mainly that the rose tinted fans' views of international football is very different to those that are truly passionate about it.

*shrugs* C'est la vie.

It's all about money, nothing more. If the players don't have enough pride to make their country their number one priority just once every 4 years, why are the fans wasting their time and money? Overpaid chavs like rooney insult fans, some of which spent thousands and even remortgaged supporting england this summer, the kind of money rooney earns in half a day. It's a disgrace.

 

[Merlin5]

If it's money the poor england players need to be lured to play for their country (because lord knows, they sure are eating hand to mouth) then how about making their earnings in the form of prize money? That way they only earn money if they deserve it. That would (should) inspire them to get motivated.

 

[Merlin5]

Well I WILL cite the money. For the money they get to play a handful of 90 minute games of footy, I, and most of the rest of the country EXPECT them to handle the pressure, that's why they get paid so much!

 

[Merlin5]

I wish the england players could defend as well as you guys defend them.

 

[Merlin5]

And they dont get paid all that much for playing for England.

And how much is not much? Even if it's a fraction of their club salaries, I'm willing to bet it's still more per week than most people get in a year.

 

[Merlin5]

well put it this way.

if im at risk of breaking a leg or being injured which could ruin my career, would you do it for free? im talking about any job not just football?

would you pressure wash the roof tiles on a large 5 bedroom house roof without any harnesses for free?

then why should a footballer (employee) be expected to do the same? players have had their legs broken and other injuries leading to developing further injuries in international matches.

for example, say you hurt your left knee (ACL), you then start to put more weight and pressure on your right knee, after a while something gives and usually ends up with you getting another completely different due to your first one. this is why some player are usually plagued by injury after injury, because 1 can lead to many more.

now would i put my £100,000 a week job at risk for nothing? or something im going to get hardly any benefit from? after weighing up all the pros and cons only then can you make an informed decision. i certainly wouldnt play for free if it meant putting my job at risk for nothing, the reason why i say this is because i injured my knee playing football and can no longer play because i risk my patella popping out. im going to get it fixed privately within the next year or two, nhs were a joke when i went to see them.

These footballers are all multimillionaires. They don't need the money anymore. The reason you become a pro footballer should be primarily because it's what you LOVE doing, and ask any kid on the street if they'd like to play for england, and I'd be very surprised if any would say no, or any would say " oh, but I might hurt myself "

 

[Merlin5]

U gotta drop this obsession with the money they are on.

Well I'm sorry to harp on about money, but when statements like this are made:

Footballers are people like us and will follow the ££ like we would given the chance. Playing for the national team comes second to playing for the club that pays their wages.

it's quite clear that money comes first, football comes second. England shouldn't even bother to enter for 2014.

 

[Merlin5]

I was referring to them following their wage, not anything about the quantity involved. Don't misquote me.

And I'm saying that money and greed is driving these players, because if they REALLY cared about the game, then england would become their first priority.
I don't even know why I'm arguing this so much, I barely care about football. But I just find it all so shallow I had to say something.

 

[Merlin5]

Why?

If I was Wayne Rooney and these were my two options for top priority:

1. Playing for United alongside team mates that I train and play with on a weekly basis under one of the best managers in the world, where I'm competing for the biggest competitions in Club football and am loved by the vast majority of fans.

or

2. Playing for England alongside team mates of wildly varying quality who I barely play alongside and having the media/fans heap ridiculous amounts of pressure on myself and the team every time we get to a major competition. Fans who will call for your head if you make a mistake and expect you to be able to win games by yourself.


Yeah I know which one would be my priority.

Yeah, god forbid these players should be challenged outside their comfort zone, eh? As far as I'm aware, the world cup is THE biggest competition in football.

You can play club football competitions every year. You only get a handful of shots at the world cup.