Former Arsenal footballer Fabrice Muamba has blamed social media and technology for the numerous problems being faced by the current crop of young footballers.
The former Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers midfielder retired from the game permanently after suffering a cardiac arrest in 2012 from which he recovered although his heart stopped for more than an hour.
According to the Daily Express, Muamba said that fewer young players break through into first teams partly because managers of elite clubs are under so much pressure to get results that they overlook the youth system to buy more established players, although he added that that does not stop the youngsters from becoming arrogant, selfish and egoistic.
Muamba further said that the moment a player starts to feel that he is better than the game, he falls towards his downfall, adding that young players nowadays are quick to get out of the training ground so they can hang around with their mates instead of undergoing extra training or analysing they own game to try to improve it.
Stating that social media and technology have played a massive part in this degradation, Muamba however, backed the loan system to help improve a player mentally by helping him deal with defeats as a first-team player and the physical demands of playing regular first-team football.
Muamba called for more discipline from the player to achieve his future goals as it will take him further than a player who is more talented but who lacks the discipline required at a high level.
