Ilkay Gündogan believes that top footballers are sometimes misjudged by the public.
“Many people believe that success and money act like a protective shield, that you no longer have any worries once you’ve ‘made it’,” the former DFB captain told the “FAZ” and emphasized: “But the biggest mistake is that as a professional you stop being a person with doubts.”
Footballers are “often just perceived as a ‘machine’ that has to function on match day,” complained Gündogan and explained: “You never really get off work from this pressure; it always resonates in the background, no matter where you are. You first have to learn to retain the core of your own personality so that you are not only defined by your performance.”
In general, the 35-year-old midfielder from Galatasaray sees the “increasing brutality of the whole business. From zero to hero and vice versa, it feels like it’s becoming more extreme every year. This means that the mental challenges are increasing, especially for young players and those around them.”
Gündogan recognizes a “good player” “by his first contact and his orientation in space, even before the ball reaches him. A good player doesn’t just play the ball, he plays with time and space.”
And the best is, of course: Lionel Messi. “He defies all tactical logic. You can control him for 80 minutes, and in the remaining ten he destroys the entire tactical construct.” Gündogan said that someone like Messi “will probably not exist again for decades.”
