Great striker Robert Lewandowski, a 35-year-old veteran, showed his ‘real adult’ side. He spoke out for young teenage players. He gave adults a wake-up call.
Lewandowski is a Polish scoring machine who became one of the best strikers at Bayern Munich. Now, he plays for Barcelona. Barcelona has one of the best youth programs in the world, La Masia. Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, and other superstars of the century have come from La Masia.
There are some former La Masia players who are now looking forward to the future at Barcelona. Especially the younger ones. Gabi, 19, and Ramin Yamal, 16, are two of them.
These players are showing great talent at a young age, but Lewandowski believes that many adults are not giving them the responsibility they deserve. Barcelona, which is in the midst of a financial crisis that it hopes to turn around with La Masia, is relying too much on young players and expecting too much from them. This, he argued, was a way to ruin young players.
“The players from La Masia are very good,” Lewandowski told Poland’s TVP Sport, “very good. They are very good players. It’s obviously positive for Barcelona. But you can’t take the pressure of young players lightly. When you put the responsibility on 16- and 17-year-olds, you create a lot of problems. Barcelona must reflect on this behavior of relying on young players,” he said.
“Adults need to prepare young players for what can happen if things don’t go well. The pressure they are under is immense, and few players can handle it at such a young age. Do you think these young players are mentally prepared to last 10 years or 토토 more?” he added.
Young athletes today have it tougher than young athletes in the past. The key is social media. Everything is publicized and spread through social media. It’s an environment where the pressure is even greater.
“Young athletes live in an environment where they can’t escape social media,” says Lewandowski. The exposure on social media is going to be the enemy of this generation of young athletes. This environment can make it more difficult for young athletes.”