Spurs defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto in a very refreshing display of honesty, described football as a ‘job’ a couple of years ago, and fair play to him for being open about his thoughts, it would appear Bridge views the game in the same fashion, but without that honesty.
If he had been willing to be flexible he could have found a new club long ago, but it appears that he now has other priorities in his life. Winston Bogarde famously remained professional and continued to draw a wage from Chelsea even after numerous attempts from the club to move him along, he stated that no other club would offer him what he was receiving at Stamford Bridge, so why should he move? Clearly players like this aren’t playing for the love they are playing to earn money, and I have no problem with that if the players in question were honest about their mind set.
Bridge is happily ensconsed in leafy Alderley Edge with some pop starlet, they supposedly live happily and other than a few hours training each day he has no other responsibilities. He hasn’t been named in the City 25 man squad for the Premier League so he knows that his Saturdays will be free for him to spend as he see’s fit.
No football loving professional would be happy in this situation but for Bridge it seems perfect. He could have moved on, he could be playing football week in and week out, but he would prefer to spend his time doing other things and still be paid for it.
The concept makes sense to me in many ways, why would you leave a highly paid job to do the same thing for less somewhere else, but this isn’t a man who is short of money, he has earnt enough over his career to last him a life time, by this point it makes no difference whether he is earning his 90k a week at city or 20k a week at Leicester. Bridge in my eyes can no longer claim to be a ‘professional footballer’, he may do what is expected of him so he can continue to be paid, but his desire and love for the game died long ago.
For more of my thoughts on football follow me on twitter @thegoatfeeder and for all things Manchester City check out Thoughts From The Invisible Man…
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