An Unbroken Circle

In the lead-up to his game against Newcastle, Robert Lewandowski noted the weight of expectations thrust upon players in the Prem. Connecting the large fees paid by Premier League clubs to the need for immediate gratification.

Florian Wirtz, who joined Liverpool in a blockbuster deal, finds himself a victim of this cycle.

PHOTO: Fabrizio Romano/Facebook

Wirtz spent the past few years as the darling of the Bundesliga. Dominating the league while helping Bayer Leverkusen win the league pushed him to the top of every transfer list in Europe.

Liverpool broke the transfer record to bring in the exciting German youngster. Yes, the fee felt way too high, but it was less about the quality of the player and more about the fee. With that baggage, all eyes focused on Wirtz as Slot’s Liverpool side started play.

Every aspect of Wirtz’s game now finds itself under the microscope. Given his rather mediocre start, the label of bust is being thrown around for a player less than ten games into his next chapter. Even his performances with a struggling German side come under immense scrutiny.

While Wirtz remains the most high-profile example, the Premier League is full of players like him.

Those who, for no fault of their own, fail to satiate fans’ need for instant gratification.

As the Prem began to pull away from the rest of Europe in terms of finances, the clubs ruled the market. This domination announced itself with the signing of Paul Pogba by Manchester United in 2016.

Pogba’s transfer saga in the summer of 2016 captured the attention of every football fan. With his time at Juve reaching its end, most felt that Real Madrid would add the superstar. Instead, United swooped in to bring him back to the club he started at.

The French international’s arrival in Manchester promised to rejuvenate a dying club. Arriving with more exciting players, United fans felt that they would rejoin the league’s elite. 

Nothing really went to plan for United during Pogba’s tenure, despite winning the Europa League. While the player never fully showed the Pogba who lit the World on fire with Juve, Pogba still had elite seasons. No single player could have revived United; even so, the former United product became the scapegoat.

Fans expected, with that price tag, immediate results. When those didn’t come, it became easier to pin the blame on the star player. Rather than shifting blame towards those who ran the club, Pogba could have had everything attributed to him.

By the end of his time in Manchester, the former most expensive transfer essentially got run out of town. The situation became so toxic that no new manager or player could keep Pogba around. Despite his departure, to no one’s surprise, United’s problems multiplied, and they found themselves as the laughingstocks of global football.

Reaction to Pogba’s return to the Premier League in 2016 became the canary in the coal mine.

With the transfer fees now thrown around by Prem clubs, the hysteria surrounding players only grew.

Other players who made big moves this summer are falling victim to the same cycle impacting Wirtz. Benjamin Šeško seems to be the next target of this tornado, tearing apart the careers of young players.

Any sort of grace period can’t be awarded. There needs to be immediate gratification to validate the fee thrown around. Even though fans never pay the fees themselves, it becomes a matter of avoiding embarrassment for spending so much money on misses.

In this age of instant reaction, be it in short-form content or the constant stream of transfer rumors, there must be confirmation. No longer could a player, like Cristiano Ronaldo, be allowed to adapt over a few seasons. The large transfer fee necessitates that the preconceived notions are met. 

Social media further creates this cauldron that warps expectations. Watch any parody football account, and you can pick out the easy-to-target players; often, they are large transfers.

To say that this overreaction didn’t occur before would be disingenuous. Part of sports and fan culture revolves around poking fun at what may seem like dumb moves. However, expecting the World of players, in one way or another, diminishes their ability to break past those barriers.

Even when players start to perform to their expectations, such as Moises Caicedo, they are forgotten. Hugo Ekitke became a prime target of those wanting to see him fail, and when he met their expectations, he too left the spotlight. It’s a vicious cycle where no one ever wins.

Ronaldo took time to develop into the player he became at United, a time that was afforded to him by the fans. If the same expectations placed on a player like Wirtz were placed on Ronaldo, he, too, may have been seen as a flop.

Lewandowski’s pertinent warning to players lies in the disparity caused by the Prem’s financial domination. Only that league possesses the finances to throw the sums of money that provoke this reaction.

For Wirtz’s sake, and his colleagues, cooler heads must prevail.