Neville Bartos wrote: ↑Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:17 pmWell, I don't think he's much different from 80% of players in the modern game.
Football, at a certain point, is no longer a vocation or passion, it's an easy way to make vast sums of money.
To be fair, some players like a trophy and a bit of glory, others like a certain league or country, but for most it's the money. Phrases like 'he wants Champions League', or 'European football' are, for the most part, a way of saying a player requires a financial premium for not getting those things.
The problem with Arnautovic isn't so much his desire for more money, it's the utter contempt that went along with it. Players like Tevez understand a concept like respect, so when he pissed off after one season he did it the right way -- maximum effort on the pitch, trap shut, show the fans some respect on the way out AND when you come back.
Irrespective of anything it shows a bit of nous, a bit of character and a bit of soul. Arnautovic has none of that.
I dont have so much vitriol to be fair. He wanted to go for more money, we would not let him then he wanted to go again. Most on here would do the same if offered a lot more somewhere else.
He got injured early in the year which also did not help but it was clear he was still playing for us when he set up Antonio at Spurs.
If I blame him for anything it is having his brother as his agent who stirs up all kinds of shit and also signing the extension (though maybe I would do that as well).
Payet went on strike, Griezman has gone on strike apparently, Koscielny (sp ?) is refusing to go on a preseason tour. There is a lot of that happening at the moment. It is a different world nowadays. Not great to see all that but at least Arnautovic did not strike.
Trouble is that fans still dont see players as just employees at a company and expect loyalty for some reason. Ours are as bad as most in that they always seem to be outraged. Look at all the outrage on here that we missed out on Gomez
Outrage that we try and get players 'out of our league', outrage that we are not ambitious enough, outrage if a player does not want to play for us.
Man United have missed out on a couple already (ours for one) and I am sure they have fans the same. Arsenal fans are always outraged.
It all adds to the drama of the league though but it was always like this (other than the strikes) you just did not hear about it because there was no social media in the past.
