Do Manchester United support their players enough in their personal lives

[Zlatattack]

I was listening to a podcast with Zaha today, One of things he mentioned was that he was alone at Manchester United and not eating properly. I wonder if anyone at the club knew? I wonder if it occured to them that a 21 year old boy from a deprived background who only knew football might struggle to live away from home for the first time? Plenty of people do fine at 18 when they move out to uni, but some don't. Considering the club had spent so much money on him you'd think they'd spend some to make sure he'd settle in. Finding a private chef for him to hire would have solved the issue.

Another example i came across recently was Jesse Lingard looking after his siblings because his mum had a mental health problem she was being treated for. I wonder if the club knew and I wonder if they helped him hire a nanny or a cleaner/chef - people to run the household. Again it sounds wierd but footballers come across as man-babies, maybe they need the extra help?

I imagine SAF would have been on top of this sort of stuff.

 

[48 hours]

I was listening to a podcast with Zaha today, One of things he mentioned was that he was alone at Manchester United and not eating properly. I wonder if anyone at the club knew? I wonder if it occured to them that a 21 year old boy from a deprived background who only knew football might struggle to live away from home for the first time? Plenty of people do fine at 18 when they move out to uni, but some don't. Considering the club had spent so much money on him you'd think they'd spend some to make sure he'd settle in. Finding a private chef for him to hire would have solved the issue.

Another example i came across recently was Jesse Lingard looking after his siblings because his mum had a mental health problem she was being treated for. I wonder if the club knew and I wonder if they helped him hire a nanny or a cleaner/chef - people to run the household. Again it sounds wierd but footballers come across as man-babies, maybe they need the extra help?

I imagine SAF would have been on top of this sort of stuff.

would hiring a nanny, cleaner etc not fall under the role of the players agents?

edit - from looking there’s an article on ESPN.

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/clu...nd-other-clubs-settling-in-process-is-crucial

United have a player liaison officer and provide help for families on match days, but the club likes players to feel independent and, for example, to have a choice about the car they drive, rather than being told to use a sponsored one as happens at some clubs. Agents also employ people to help their clients settle, which often leads to jobs for a player's relative or friend.

 

[Zlatattack]

would hiring a nanny, cleaner etc not fall under the role of the players agents?

i don't know - maybe that's how football works, but I think some clubs are more involved than others. I remember reading southampton had custom made mattresses for each player so they could get the best sleep.

If i had spent £50 million on a player from the other side of the world, i'd want to make sure he's settled right?

 

[Eire Red United]

I’d say the 100k or whatever they’re getting a week is plenty for them to hire their own chefs or whatever they need...

 

[Zlatattack]

I’d say the 100k or whatever they’re getting a week is plenty for them to hire their own chefs or whatever they need...

Yeah i'm not saying hire anyone for them - i just think they probably ought to be guiding them, especially younger players. As daft as this sounds - if Zaha is saying he wasn't eating properly at Manchester United because he was living alone, then it's possible it didn't occur to him he could hire a chef and a nutritionist for less money than he spent on his watch. It's surreal but i think it's a possibility.

 

[Bojan11]

Didn't Pique say the diet at the club was terrible when he was there? He said everyone was eating what they want and was surprised the scale didn't break.

 

[stevoc]

I was listening to a podcast with Zaha today, One of things he mentioned was that he was alone at Manchester United and not eating properly. I wonder if anyone at the club knew? I wonder if it occured to them that a 21 year old boy from a deprived background who only knew football might struggle to live away from home for the first time? Plenty of people do fine at 18 when they move out to uni, but some don't. Considering the club had spent so much money on him you'd think they'd spend some to make sure he'd settle in. Finding a private chef for him to hire would have solved the issue.

Another example i came across recently was Jesse Lingard looking after his siblings because his mum had a mental health problem she was being treated for. I wonder if the club knew and I wonder if they helped him hire a nanny or a cleaner/chef - people to run the household. Again it sounds wierd but footballers come across as man-babies, maybe they need the extra help?

I imagine SAF would have been on top of this sort of stuff.

May well have been the case circa 2013 that the club didn't do enough for players. But that might have been down to the change of power from Sir Alex retiring and Moyes taking over, Moyes who is infamously not a people person or a combination of both.

 

[romufc]

These are grown men on very good money, I am sure they can manage to eat properly.

There is actually a documentary on BBC with Lineker and Rashford. He goes through how Manutd help their youngsters through the ranks and in education too.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I’d say the 100k or whatever they’re getting a week is plenty for them to hire their own chefs or whatever they need...

This.

Top 2% problems.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

If a player is suffering from Mental Health Issues, and that in turn is causing them to not eat properly/affecting their lives in other negative ways, then you'd hope the club is doing something to help... obviously the issue their is identifying if/when someone is suffering of course - but I would hope in this day and age the club has things in place to offer support.

Otherwise, I imagine (well hope!) the club tell the players what sort of diet they expect them to have... and if someone new arrives to the club/area I'm sure they'll do certain things to help them settle (as will Harry Maguire the captain and other players) but how far can you go with that?

 

[Zlatattack]

This.

Top 2% problems.

No doubt about it, but as a business, surely they've got to be interested in managing the wellbeing of a player? You've sunk a lot of money buying them and in some cases just as much paying them over the length of a contract?

 

[flappyjay]

Yeah i'm not saying hire anyone for them - i just think they probably ought to be guiding them, especially younger players. As daft as this sounds - if Zaha is saying he wasn't eating properly at Manchester United because he was living alone, then it's possible it didn't occur to him he could hire a chef and a nutritionist for less money than he spent on his watch. It's surreal but i think it's a possibility.

He came to us at a weird time unfortunately, Moyes and his staff were probably more concerned with making a good impression on the field. That being said his agent was also doing a horrible job or maybe they didn't communicate well.

 

[Zlatattack]

May well have been the case circa 2013 that the club didn't do enough for players. But that might have been down to the change of power from Sir Alex retiring and Moyes taking over, Moyes who is infamously not a people person or a combination of both.

Yeah, might have been a Moyes specific problem.

 

[Ryan_]

Most top clubs have a dedicated department to help players at all stages from Onboarding (relocating families, finding schools for kids) all the way through to offboarding (transfers out / loans). United has a well established Player Care team & has continued to invest in this area in the last couple of years.

Clubs do their best to help players settle...hindsight is a wonderful thing, though. Aside from this Zaha case, Cavani's ban for the IG post strikes me as an example of something that could've been avoided.

 

[SalfordRed18]

I was listening to a podcast with Zaha today, One of things he mentioned was that he was alone at Manchester United and not eating properly. I wonder if anyone at the club knew? I wonder if it occured to them that a 21 year old boy from a deprived background who only knew football might struggle to live away from home for the first time? Plenty of people do fine at 18 when they move out to uni, but some don't. Considering the club had spent so much money on him you'd think they'd spend some to make sure he'd settle in. Finding a private chef for him to hire would have solved the issue.

Another example i came across recently was Jesse Lingard looking after his siblings because his mum had a mental health problem she was being treated for. I wonder if the club knew and I wonder if they helped him hire a nanny or a cleaner/chef - people to run the household. Again it sounds wierd but footballers come across as man-babies, maybe they need the extra help?

I imagine SAF would have been on top of this sort of stuff.

I mean, I'm not saying he was or wasn't deprived, but he lived in London and went to school. You're making out like he lived in some favela and football was his out.

 

[Oranges038]

These are grown men on very good money, I am sure they can manage to eat properly.

There is actually a documentary on BBC with Lineker and Rashford. He goes through how Manutd help their youngsters through the ranks and in education too.

Don't Utd and City mostly pay for their academy players to go to fee paying schools, even if they are released before finishing school? I remember reading a piece about how it's one of the tools City in particular used to sway the parents decisions about which club to join.

For young players I can see why the club would be paying extra attention to their needs. For grown men, your getting paid to play football at one of the biggest clubs in the world. If you still need baby sitting and extra support while getting paid obscene amounts of money, your in the wrong place.

 

[Red_toad]

Yeah i'm not saying hire anyone for them - i just think they probably ought to be guiding them, especially younger players. As daft as this sounds - if Zaha is saying he wasn't eating properly at Manchester United because he was living alone, then it's possible it didn't occur to him he could hire a chef and a nutritionist for less money than he spent on his watch. It's surreal but i think it's a possibility.

How he chooses to eat in his own time isn’t a fault of United’s, club employs nutritionists, if he doesn’t follow advice, then that’s on him. Rooney had a tendency to pile on the pounds during the summer.

As for Jesse his agent and the club could advise him. But in his mid 20’s he should have enough intelligence to work out he should employ someone to take care of his siblings when he’s busy with other commitments. At the end of the day, they’re pretty much all pampered and can make poor life choices. The club can’t control them 24/7. They all have agents who should take an active role in their lives as they earn a fortune off the back of them.

 

[Foxbatt]

SAF did it brilliantly.Saha came at the wrong time. Changes at the top with the departure of Gill and SAF. Moyes couldn't take care of anything.

 

[romufc]

Don't Utd and City mostly pay for their academy players to go to fee paying schools, even if they are released before finishing school? I remember reading a piece about how it's one of the tools City in particular used to sway the parents decisions about which club to join.

For young players I can see why the club would be paying extra attention to their needs. For grown men, your getting paid to play football at one of the biggest clubs in the world. If you still need baby sitting and extra support while getting paid obscene amounts of money, your in the wrong place.

They do help the ones that don't make it to the U23 or the first team, which is good of them. They also make sure all youngsters are in education and doing well.

If Manutd pay a £20m fee for you, you shouldn't need baby sitting, I agree. Zaha just seems to be a baby tbh, to this day I dont like his attitude on the pitch.

 

[Zlatattack]

I mean, I'm not saying he was or wasn't deprived, but he lived in London and went to school. You're making out like he lived in some favela and football was his out.

If you listen to the podcast his life wasn't too far from that actually. His brother was involved in gangs, he's been nearly shot and stabbed, someone shot at his parents house whilst they were inside... both is parents worked to make ends meet, probably didn't have that much time to spend with the kids.

Think about how many kids go to uni and what they live off when they get there. Nobody dies of starvation, but as a club, i'd want to micro-manage my multi million pound asset.

 

[RedDevilzFox]

You would think people that get paid astronomical sums would know how to hire help and not rely on clubs anymore than clubs already do for them. But what do I know?

 

[united_99]

SAF did it brilliantly.Saha came at the wrong time. Changes at the top with the departure of Gill and SAF. Moyes couldn't take care of anything.

No crisps, no crisps, no crisps!

 

[Adam-Utd]

Zaha joined the club at the worst time possible, feel bad for him.

The guy had genuine top class talent with a poor mentality, SAF could have guided him to greatness if he stuck around another 2-3 years.

The whole thing with Moyes just stunk and was a bit of a power trip, he never gave him a proper chance. He played what 9 matches?

 

[stevoc]

No crisps, no crisps, no crisps!

It was no low fat Chips under Moyes. Those chips weren't low fat enough for Dave.

And to be fair he was right that team would never win a league title eating low fat chips once a week...oh wait.

 

[duffer]

I mean, I'm not saying he was or wasn't deprived, but he lived in London and went to school. You're making out like he lived in some favela and football was his out.

I just googled him and he grew up in Thornton Heath. A few miles from where I grew up and it was as rough an area as you were going to get in London at the time. Very easy to believe he didn't have an easy time there.

That being said, he was a man in his 20s and had been a professional athlete for a few years. At some point you need to take responsibility for what you have for dinner. There's no way he didn't know that MacDonalds or whatever was bad for him.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Who was our captain at that time ?

 

[Chairman Steve]

I always thought that it was the role of their agents to do that thing rather than the club. I’d say the club would look out for the academy kids more than the first team players.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I remember Rio saying that the club did do loads for them, if they needed an electrician or something the club would sort it.

 

[SalfordRed18]

If you listen to the podcast his life wasn't too far from that actually. His brother was involved in gangs, he's been nearly shot and stabbed, someone shot at his parents house whilst they were inside... both is parents worked to make ends meet, probably didn't have that much time to spend with the kids.

Think about how many kids go to uni and what they live off when they get there. Nobody dies of starvation, but as a club, i'd want to micro-manage my multi million pound asset.

Again, not to downplay his struggles at all. But that's the same stuggle of thousands of kids from the working class in the UK. When you say football is the only thing he knew, it makes out that he didn't go to school, barely had a home, and was outside playing football all day cus that's all he knew. That's not true. He had a home, his parents worked (which completely normal thing I dunno why you've listed that), and he went to school. Quick Google search tells me his school had a 6th form so offered a levels, the most clear pathway to university.

In what way is that similar to someone who grew up in an actual favela? He lived in a rough neighborhood with gangs, there's thousands of those across Britain.

Don't really know what point youre making with your 2nd paragraph?

I just googled him and he grew up in Thornton Heath. A few miles from where I grew up and it was as rough an area as you were going to get in London at the time. Very easy to believe he didn't have an easy time there.

That being said, he was a man in his 20s and had been a professional athlete for a few years. At some point you need to take responsibility for what you have for dinner. There's no way he didn't know that MacDonalds or whatever was bad for him.

I'm almost inclined to believe he certainly knew how cook for himself just from his background alone. Whether he could be arsed or not is a different story.

 

[11101]

SAF was famously great at it. We looked after players well but at the same time he was careful to make sure we only bought players with the right mentality to stand on their own two feet.

It wouldn't be surprising to find out that approach was another thing Moyes destroyed but it looks like a lot of those traits are finally coming back under Ole.

 

[Zlatattack]

Zaha joined the club at the worst time possible, feel bad for him.

The guy had genuine top class talent with a poor mentality, SAF could have guided him to greatness if he stuck around another 2-3 years.

The whole thing with Moyes just stunk and was a bit of a power trip, he never gave him a proper chance. He played what 9 matches?

you should listen to what he said about LvG. felt really screwed by him.

 

[Gordon S]

SAF did it brilliantly.Saha came at the wrong time. Changes at the top with the departure of Gill and SAF. Moyes couldn't take care of anything.

Nah, it was injuries that stopped him. Was really good when fit!

 

[Ali Dia]

I think that’s part of the reason we need a steady hand for a few years. It sounds like money and brand status ruled here more than team chemistry and winning football matches. the family vibe and siege mentality Fergie fostered was lost. Without Fergie we were just another big organisation stupidly throwing money about thinking we’d hit it lucky eventually

 

[Adam-Utd]

you should listen to what he said about LvG. felt really screwed by him.

Yeah I can't imagine he showed him much love, he seemed like the most anti LVG type player going.

It's a shame really as Zaha/Di Maria/Memphis flanking Rooney could have been a very good attack

 

[James Peril]

Oh cry me a river, the buck stops with the player, the insanely rich player. You portrait Zaha like he just arrived from poverty in Africa, he came to England as a 4 year old and played over a 100 games for Crystal Palace before joining United at 20, there is zero sympathy here. Poverty and obesity is a big problem in the US and the UK, nothing new here. Him not being able to properly nutrition himself at home is down to lazyness and character, the exact same reasons he never made it at United. As for Lingard, what happens at home is incredibly sad, but again this is something that concerns most of us. Every other family is seemingly struggling with this or that in terms of depression, poverty, divorce, economical problems, abuse etc, would your employer hire someone for you or on your behalf? Hell no they wouldn’t, why should they - why should the club help this rich individual’s family? The difference is that none of us can quit working or hire someone to do the job, we have to stand in it as best as we can. Lingard could potentially quit his job, stay rich forever and deal with whatever he must deal with, hence no sympathy from me whatsoever - speaking purely in terms of football of course.

Saying that; the club (now) surely monitors the fitness of every player and put them on programs if they’re too fat or too weak, like every other professional club. As for mental health, that’s what medical services are for - Man Utd is a football club.

 

[mu4c_20le]

LVG doesn't use wingers, so it's not really a surprise as Januzaj was also left out for a year. But we definitely mishandled Fergie's last gift, I'm still confused as to why Moyes froze him out as he was at least a decent, tricky winger.

 

[Deery]

Am sure they all have PA’s that could sort that kind of thing for them.

 

[horsechoker]

Didn't Pique say the diet at the club was terrible when he was there? He said everyone was eating what they want and was surprised the scale didn't break.

And then Moyes banned chips and that was the end of him.

 

[macheda14]

Oh cry me a river, the buck stops with the player, the insanely rich player. You portrait Zaha like he just arrived from poverty in Africa, he came to England as a 4 year old and played over a 100 games for Crystal Palace before joining United at 20, there is zero sympathy here. Poverty and obesity is a big problem in the US and the UK, nothing new here. Him not being able to properly nutrition himself at home is down to lazyness and character, the exact same reasons he never made it at United. As for Lingard, what happens at home is incredibly sad, but again this is something that concerns most of us. Every other family is seemingly struggling with this or that in terms of depression, poverty, divorce, economical problems, abuse etc, would your employer hire someone for you or on your behalf? Hell no they wouldn’t, why should they - why should the club help this rich individual’s family? The difference is that none of us can quit working or hire someone to do the job, we have to stand in it as best as we can. Lingard could potentially quit his job, stay rich forever and deal with whatever he must deal with, hence no sympathy from me whatsoever - speaking purely in terms of football of course.

Saying that; the club (now) surely monitors the fitness of every player and put them on programs if they’re too fat or too weak, like every other professional club. As for mental health, that’s what medical services are for - Man Utd is a football club.

This is an incredibly cynical look at things. More and more employers are aware that employee welfare is something they should look at. Football clubs more than any other employer are aware that their key employees well being and success is inextricably linked. To be fair I wouldn't be surprised if most big clubs now have a mental health professional on their books seeing as how pervasive it is throughout society. What is lacking is education, although that is turning for the better. A lot of these young players will not be aware that how they are feeling is entirely fixable and so wouldn't even think to reach out to mental health professionals. Clubs will have to be on the look out for that.

Him not being able to manage his nutrition nowadays starts with the club. Just look at Lukaku, he left went to Inter (where in Italy they lead the way in club nutritionists) they clocked he had an intolerance to something in his diet and he pretty much immediately dropped a good few kilos.

 

[Heardy]

Clubs / players employ PAs as lifestyle consultants.

I know someone that works in the industry. She had to spend a full working day sourcing a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses for a current United player because he’d sat on them and broken them on holiday and his mrs had gone spare about it.