Business magnate and investor Warren Buffet once said: “Change, before you have to.”
Now, an overdue scenario has been placed upon us. Not in a manner we’ve chosen voluntarily, which we should have. Instead, it has been placed upon us with the full force of Mother Nature: the coronavirus.
That quote from a money-driven American philanthropist leads me into the money-driven result-related industry of football.
The inflation we’ve seen financially, not only in English and Chinese football, but also in intercontinental football, has in my opinion taken a spark away from the game each year since. Is the El Classico between Real Madrid and Barcelona still El Classico? Are the derbies between Tottenham and Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City still derbies? Does it still mean as much as it did in the 80s or 90s? Of course it does, but there’s no denying that things have changed.
In some countries, football lacks identity. Yes, it still brings people together and we feel connected to each other. But the massive increase of transfer fees, and unjustified salaries for players and managers has shifted our human values towards the abyss.
First things first, let me state that I don’t have any problems with financial investments.
Some owners in the modern game call their players assets, rather than by their names. Buy low and sell high, I don’t have any issues with that approach too. As long as we don’t forget that we play and deal with human beings. Yes, I accept the free markets and the free will in democratic countries. But we need to get away from complacency and transfer ourselves to form more unselfish communities. We need to be more responsible for what we say and what we do, in the interest not only for ourselves but for our next generation.
I am a father, a husband and the child of my mother. Without being a politician or an economics professor, I learned to appreciate the small things with an open heart and joy.
As a coach and a manager, I am a leader. To overcome this crisis, I won’t lose myself in structures, plans or concepts, as I am used to doing around and throughout a football game each week. I now need to be sharp to make decisions with spontaneity and belief. Always for the greater good. I also need to appreciate the fact that I am employed in a well-led club with strong human values during this moment. Now we can see who works as a unit, shows great spirit and cohesion.
The unforgettable moment of Leicester City becoming Premier League champions in 2016, 1. FC Kaiserslautern winning the title in the 1. Bundesliga in 1998 after gaining promotion the season before, Greece winning the European Championship in 2004 or Atalanta Bergamo surprising every pundit in the current and much overrated Champions League keeps my football romance alive.
“We fight for survival.”
“The scissors will widen up between the rich and the poor.”
These are the words of our owners in Swiss football while the ball doesn’t role. In comparison to England or Germany, we don’t receive huge amounts of TV money. In my opinion, that’s more of a blessing that a curse. I certainly support a more equitable distribution in modern football.
Not being a seer, I am convinced and fortunately so, that monetary and material values will finally drop and human values will restore. People with unrighteous behavior will be brought to justice much quicker than ever before. How can we justify a footballer’s salary of £300,000-a-week, while nurses and helpers risk their own life by trying to save others?
Regardless of the industry, the best will always earn more. But there is a massive overrated quality in football with vastly superior incomes, while others suffer in their survival battles.
Football clubs have a vast social responsibility. Many clubs want to have a front seat as close as possible in order to anticipate a bigger share of the pie. Even annually, deliberate increasing debts can’t hold them back. Why would it? The show must go on, always. I might lose a bit of taste, but my appetite for more never stops.
Well, the lights are off for a certain period and economically as well as psychologically we are heading towards uncertainty. Rightly so.
As a human being, I get a unique chance to switch from a trapped non-functional, overdosed capitalist, living in a complacent society, to a wonderful community fighter.
For our next generation of footballers, maybe.
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