are footballers out of control?

a short rambling for media coursework

Gone are the days when our sporting icons were only mentioned on the back pages of a newspaper. Their scandalous private lives dominate the media but are we still intrigued by such goings on? Have we become disillusioned with these overpaid louts?
The English Premier League is full of quality players – many of whom are internationals and have represented club/country on the world stage but is football still the priority to these superstars? Members of our own national team cannot seem to escape the prying eyes of tabloid journalists and photographers, although it can be argued that frequently they do not even bother to hide their actions. Excessive drinking before a game, tales of adultery and sometimes the just plain bizarre incidents – an England left back with a rifle at his Surrey training ground springs to mind.

No one could begrudge them a night out after an important victory, many wouldn’t expect them to be tucked up in bed by half past nine but believe it or not, these men have responsibilities and are seen as role models by many of the younger generation – a couple of pints doesn’t need to turn into an all night drinking bender, exiting the nightclub at four in the morning with your trousers around your ankles.

Despite earning over a hundred thousand pounds a week and living the life many of us dream of; our heroes just can’ seem to stay out of trouble. Fans are now starting to resent certain footballers and their attitude to the beautiful game: these are the people who spend thousands of pounds following their team, usually with little reward. Yet they receive no thanks from the club or the players, in fact sometimes their loyalty is thrown back in their faces - players claiming they need a ‘fresh start’, when we can all see the dollar signs in their eyes.

We will never fall out of love with our national game but watch the divide between players and fans grow even more – who can now relate to our top footballers? Call it an old fashioned opinion but footballers should only be on the back pages, not the front.

Spanish slayed at Wembley - 'negative' England stun Spain.

written for my media coursework after my trip to Wembley on Saturday




With an under strength team and European and World Champions, Spain, the visitors – nobody gave England a chance. After a week of controversy surrounding FIFA and their reluctance to allow England players to wear a poppy on their shirts (claiming it to be a ‘political gesture’, the game itself had barely been spoken about. Something else that had dominated the headlines was the ongoing investigation into whether England and Chelsea captain racially abused QPR defender, Anton Ferdinand. Capello had confirmed a couple of days prior to the game that Terry would be unavailable for the clash with Spain for ‘footballing reasons’. England were missing several other key players too – Rooney, Gerrard and Wilshere to name a few. The Spanish however were at full strength and English fans would have been fully aware of the threat posed by Torres, Fabregas and Villa. The first half was relatively dull and lifeless: Spain were very comfortable on the ball, as to be expected but created very few genuine goal scoring opportunities and England created even less themselves. Shortly after half time, things got a lot better for England when Frank Lampard nodded in James Milner’s free kick. The virtually anonymous Bent played a key role, leaping higher than two Spanish defenders to set up stand-in captain Lampard but this proved to be the Aston Villa striker’s only significant contribution of the match. However the English supporters didn’t seem to care - they were ecstatic, hardly believing they were a goal up on Spain, who in recent times have rarely known defeat (although their record in friendlies against so called ‘bigger sides’ has been less than convincing). England knew they had to be resilient to sustain the lead and Spain had many chances to pull a goal back; Villa hit the side netting soon after Lampard’s goal and substitute Fabregas came close on two occasions. After an anxious and nervy end to the mach, Wembley collectively breathed a sigh of relief when the referee blew his whistle for full time. Parker and Lescott particularly impressed for England, with the former picking up the man of the match award.
It can be argued that this victory counts for very little due to it only being classed as a friendly but take nothing away from the three lions – a depleted England side defended brilliantly and managed to beat a team jam packed with Spanish superstars. If we are serious about winning Euro 2012, we’ve got a lot of improving to do but Saturday proved that England can compete with Europe’s elite and not get blown away. Despite a disastrous campaign at the World Cup campaign in South Africa, there is still belief in this side from supporters and the management alike.
England’s next challenge is against Sweden at the Home of Football, with an even younger and inexperienced team expected to start.