Footballers: A deep look into their lifestyle

Many would say that footballers are over-paid, under-educated baboons that simply kick a ball around a pitch and try to get it between two metal posts. However, most people understand the amount of hard work and dedication a footballer goes through in order to get to that high level of prestige, which is top-flight football. But are these players being pushed past their limit?

It is fair to say that footballers are paid far too much and that the game, for a lot of players, is less about the football and more about the money. However, that case isn’t the same for all players. Their wages range from £5000 to £300,000 a week, yes, a week, which exceeds the average income in Britain, which is £22,800 annually (roughly £500 a week).

Some say that money is an incentive for success, and I’d have to say that I agree. Tottenham Hotspur’s left-back Benoît Assou-Ekotto said in a conference:

‘I play for the money. Football’s not my passion.’

Opposite to this is the group of footballers who do in fact play football for the love of the sport, and not just the money. West Bromwich Albion‘s Scottish signing Scott Allan, fresh from Dundee stated:

‘I’m no money-grabber – I just want to play football.’

If it isn’t the money nor for the love of the game, which is the main inspiration to succeed in the sport, then what is? Well, for overachieving national team Montenegro, they were inspired by the fact that they were representing their country and were also inspired by their proud footballing past.

In England, there are thousands of young footballers who would give their left-arm to represent their nation. However, as the fans can’t represent their country, they constantly criticise the players, hurling abuse and threats whenever the player under-performs but act like they’re their number one fans when they play a match winning performance.

For Arsenal, Aaron Ramsey has become the recent victim of abuse and death threats as fans of the North London club have become irritated by his recent poor performances. For poor Aaron, a player who’s only just come back this season after suffering a leg break, he was over-played at the beginning of the 2011/2012 season, but was playing well.

Suddenly after the amount of appearances he made for the club shortened, the lower his performances slumped. One of the worst things a footballer can lose is his confidence, and a lot of the fans aren’t helping with messages styled like: “Aaron, can you please f**k off and die, you’re s**t” and “Aaron you’re a piece of s**t”.

Sending abuse is one thing, but death threats are completely unacceptable, and are something the police do look into.

The health and safety of footballers health has also been a big issue recently with the ever-increasing number of cardiac arrests. First of all, there was Fabrice Muamba from Bolton, the 24-year old Englishman who suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch and was immediately rushed to hospital. Fortunately, Fabrice was able to be evacuated quickly and safely to the hospital but was pronounced dead for 78 minutes. Thankfully, the doctors were able to help bring the Bolton player back to a safe, stable condition and has now been released from the hospital after just under a month. Since the incident, Fabrice is now on his feet and in good condition. Players and football fans sent in their prayers during the ex-Arsenal’s toughest times through social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

The next case of cardiac arrest on a pitch is Serie B player, Piermario Morosini, the Livorno player who was on-loan from Udinese who had a bright future. The Italian had featured for every part of the youth national sides.

Unfortunately, after the incident on the pitch, paramedics at the stadium weren’t able to evacuate the player to a nearby hospital in time. The world of football has been continually mourning the death of the 25-year old again through Twitter and Facebook and sports stars alike are showing their consolidations.

Udinese star, Antonio Di Natale, who is possibly the most heart-hurt from the death, has shown his gratitude for his former teammate by stating that the club will make sure his sister is looked after.

Are these two players victim of being over-worked, over-tired and stretched further than their ability? It seems that players will push their bodies beyond their limit in order to be ‘the best they can be’. Since these two incidents, FIFA have introduced heart checks amongst clubs to make sure that this occurrence isn’t repeated any time soon.

It’s never nice to see players being over-worked, and as the team pool is getting bigger and bigger, players are starting to feel the sense of competition and the stress that they’re never going make it as a professional.

Thank you for reading.

Written by Felix ForemanFollow me on Twitter @FelixAFCCheck out his excellent blog, FeFaFo

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