There is a series of well conceived and well received scientific research that links reduction in effort with external rewards. In 1991, a scientific study demonstrated that if they are of great enough value, external rewards can supersede any pre-existing internal reward.
As a simple demonstration of this, imagine if you will this common scene; children start playing football in your street. It gets on your nerves a bit but instead of rushing out to remonstrate with them, inviting them in no uncertain terms to ‘clear off’, why not concentrate on the long game.
Pop out, all smiles and give them each a pound, tell them it’s their reward for playing football in the street. Repeat this process for a few days, it might cost you a few quid and could invite one or two suspicious glances from your neighbours but it’ll be worth it in the end.
After shelling out for a week or so, cease with no warning, and chances are their street footy sessions will soon follow suit. What's happened is that the financial reward has replaced the pure enjoyment that got them playing in the first place.
A similar phenomenon has been occurring in the world of professional football for years. At the risk of generalising, I think it’s fair to say that few children take up football as a means of one day becoming fabulously wealthy (not even little Carlito).
If they do get to that position as a result of football, so much the better, but based on scientific research, they cannot be totally to blame if ludicrous financial returns begin to outstrip the sheer joy of kicking a leather ball about. Look at the examples of Rooney, Tevez and Eto’o. Money has become the main incentive, not trophies, prestige or love of a club.
Talent and the state of top level football finances have unlocked a vast earning potential for a select few players. Is it a coincidence that Rooney and Tevez, reportedly two of the highest paid players in one of the richest leagues in the world both went about improving the terms of their already vast contracts by demanding a move away from their respective clubs?
Or, do they just happen to be morally bankrupt individuals, people who would act this way to gain more reddies in any walk of life? They are in a privileged position, able to use their inherent ability to make a comfortable living, shouldn’t that be enough? Whatever the answer, neither one will ever be short of cash in the remainder of their lives.
Could it be that their idea of reward is directly linked to how much money they receive? They aren’t looking at their wage packet thinking “Ooh, look at that, £250,000, that’s about a thousand times what many people receive for a week’s work. Aren’t I lucky!”
They’re not thinking that because in football, massive wages are the norm. They’re comparing wages with their peers and colleagues. If average squad members are earning around £25,000 per week in the Premier League, then Rooney, Tevez and co. can, to a certain extent, feel justified in demanding the staggering sums they do.
It’s their relative value to the club that they are interested in, not comparing wages with people with ‘real’ jobs; doctors, builders, factory workers, cleaners and so on.
So, ultimately, it isn’t the players themselves who should be seen as the bad guys. That football is now in a position to offer massive financial rewards sets the parameters for what players can demand. In the face of such possibilities, who would work for a measly 50k a year?