Players on the beach? Why lack of motivation is difficult to deal with
Clubs generally pay players bonus money for staying up, yet I have been at places where reaching 40 points has guaranteed us safety and, having received the extra payments, results have dropped off afterwards. It's never like that for a manager, though. The Premier League has always had positional prize money with a difference of several million between, say, eighth and 12th.
So the club itself is always motivated to finish as high as possible, even if you know that is going to be in mid-table. It could add a couple of million to your transfer budget for the following season but, even if you don't get to spend it yourself, you know it will pay a bill somewhere. The players don't think like that though, and as a manager it is really tough to maintain that relentless focus you have demanded from the group for the previous nine months - but now without the cutting edge you only get from having a target to reach.
Giving them a financial incentive is probably the only way to solve the issue. Premier League players are paid enormous basic wages, but at times like this you'd prefer to cut that figure and replace it with winning, appearance and league-position bonuses that run right up to the last game of every season. Another bone of contention at the moment, especially for fans of teams who are desperate for other results to go their way, is seeing managers prioritise certain games over others.
By making seven changes for his side's Premier League game against Tottenham, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was accused of focusing on his side's Europa League tie with Nottingham Forest, rather than selecting his strongest side against Spurs. Whatever Emery was thinking, this kind of thing has always happened. Look at Manchester United and Tottenham last season, for example, when they were both focused on trying to win the Europa League and had nothing to play for domestically.
I definitely prioritised some games myself, for different reasons, with Stoke in our early Premier League years when I put our top-flight status ahead of cup games. It certainly wasn't popular with a certain section of our crowd, but as the seasons went by in our journey to establish ourselves, the more confident I became in all-out risk taking when it came to my team selections. One example was when we played Valencia in the Europa League knockout stages and I got heavily criticised for the team I selected in the away leg, having made a lot of changes from the home leg which we'd lost 1-0.