João Pedro calls on Chelsea teammates to start taking responsibility

-Calum McFarlane; source: Football.London We can certainly blame the ownership, the sporting directors, and the multitude of coaches who have stopped by in recent months for this malaise, but on some level, responsibility must also fall on the players. Perhaps they don’t owe us anything — playing for the badge is a rather romantic, maybe even outdated notion in modern football, as Mauricio Pochettino recently claimed — but they certainly owe themselves more than what they’re currently giving. They may not be satisfied with the way the club’s run (who is?), but they absolutely cannot be satisfied by what they’re giving back in return either. There’s a level of personal and professional pride that is badly missing right now; that won’t ever be restored unless they themselves want it restored as well. Football (and any other professional sport) as a career isn’t like most other professions in other walks of life. Your performance, your level of impact at your own dayjob depends far less on your own internal motivation than it does for professional athletes. It’s what separates the best from the merely talented, the ones who talk a good game from those who actually play a good game, the ones who go through the motions from those who make an impact. The latter are in very short supply at the moment. João Pedro’s a rare exception; and he wants the others to be more like him. “From the beginning, we concede too early and against Nottingham, it is difficult to change the game. We should do better. We need to find a way to undo these mistakes every game, and start to win games because this is the Premier League. If you concede too early it is very difficult to come back.”

“I think everyone needs to look to themselves, me also included. We need to find a way to do better. I feel sorry for the fans, and we need to see where we can improve. I don’t think it is about the coach. It is about us players to improve. Everyone needs to step up. Me included. It is difficult to say something in this moment.”

“The motivation is always there. If we won, we would have been able to be in the Champions League. Now it is more difficult. But we still need to fight for every point and every game.”

-João Pedro; source: Sky Sports via The Standard JP’s not the first to speak in such terms, nor the first player to acknowledge that the players must take responsibility as well. We always hear such quotes in such situations — the vocabularies and narratives of football are very limited. Without a response, they will always ring hollow. JP’s at least trying; can’t say I see the same in too many others.