The growing trend of treating players in what would be considered an unreasonable way, by consigning them to the 'bomb squad', appears to be growing again in the Premier League. Manchester United finally got rid of Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho, but in the end that was mostly done when it suited the players themselves and they found clubs they wanted to be playing for. Axel Disasi and Raheem Sterling are getting the same treatment at Chelsea now.
The growing trend of treating players in what would be considered an unreasonable way, by consigning them to the 'bomb squad', appears to be growing again in the Premier League.
Manchester United finally got rid of Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho, but in the end that was mostly done when it suited the players themselves and they found clubs they wanted to be playing for.
Axel Disasi and Raheem Sterling are getting the same treatment at Chelsea now. Sympathy will be limited, even if Sterling is being forced to train in the evenings to keep him from contaminating the main squad. For £350,000 each week, most of us would put up with a light training session after dinner. I get that.
When players feel badly treated, however, they can dig their heels in and cite the age-old adage, "pay up every penny I am owed in my contract and I will happily leave".
Transferring millions of pounds into his account and telling him to go away is understandably not what Chelsea want to do, but they might have to.
This is one of the reasons clubs have historically been unwilling to hand out seven, eight and nine-year contracts. You never know when the form is going to crash.
And there's the rub - every player now knows how they will be treated, they will be dealt with just like their mate Raheem is right now.
That isn't good for team spirit. Even though players are selfish, it can still negatively affect team spirit and any sense of true belonging.
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Category: General Sports