The pressures of being a footballer

Steve McMahon ,  London   |  Fri, 11/20/2009 1:06 PM  |  Sports

Football's only a game, it's not life and death.

With this in mind, Hannover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke's passing was not really a footballing issue, it was a life issue. He had a young daughter who died in 2006 from a rare heart disease.

It's absolutely soul-destroying for anybody to lose a child.

Everything else could be a contributing factor, but that's life. I think it's a tragedy this happened and I also think he may have found it hard to come to terms with it.

Some have said his mixed footballing career contributed to this tragedy. I don't think this was caused solely by pressure from football, but I do think it puts the spotlight on the pitfalls of being a professional footballer.

When you talk about pressure in the game, I actually get a kick out of every minute of it. That's part and parcel of being a professional footballer.

Whether good results, bad results or playing in Cup finals - that's what it's all about. What I mean is good pressure, not bad pressure.

I used to look forward to the big games and the electrifying atmosphere that came along with them.

But there are players who don't handle it as well. I saw some of them during my playing career and it's probably caused by their lifestyle.

Paul Gascoigne got depressed for various reasons. He's like a circus at times and people like to put him down. He didn't have much privacy. But when you look at world-famous footballers now, like David Beckham especially, I think in contrast he handled all of it fantastically well.

I also think Wayne Rooney has matured really well. He used to portray himself in quite an awful way in the past. Now I see he is controlled and is thinking about how he deals with the press and what he says. I think he has enough knowledge now to conduct himself.

And one way to do it is to have a good management team you can learn from. I don't like the word "agents" - it's a management team that should be advising you on the dos and don'ts.

The players know the pitfalls and they have got to know the right people. You have to be aware it's a media circus out there and you have got to be careful when you're in the spotlight.

When I was a player, I wasn't taught how to handle the media, and there was no course in my time that taught you how to deal with the media or other distractions. I actually thrive on that really, to be honest.

Even when you are out and about on the street and getting recognized by fans, you have to keep your cool. That's part of being a footballer.

I will comply with a request for an autograph. You've got to accept that. It's all about people being polite. But when it comes to abuse, you just turn away and walk away from them. You can't react to these types of taunts - it'll look bad no matter what happens, no matter who's right or wrong.

These incidents will happen, as Steven Gerrard found out not too long ago. That's not his nature, you know, but there's only so much you can tolerate.

You've got to make sure you're with the right, that you go out at the right times. Don't go out before games and don't go to the wrong places with the wrong company.

I'm not saying don't do whatever you like, but make sure you don't get caught. More than often, you will get caught and you'll be in deep trouble. So you shouldn't be putting yourself in that situation in the first place.

If you're told not to go out and you're told not to do this, well, rules are rules. Abide by them. If you get caught, you get into trouble, you deserve what you get.

With all the footballers in the world, you get two or three cases where the paparrazzi are out to catch players letting their hair or their pants down - that's stupidity from the players. You're encouraging people to take pictures of you.

You have to be responsible for yourself. The only way to do that is to be with the right people who are good friends, who will make sure you don't get into any trouble.

Steve McMahon, former Liverpool midfielder and England international, is a resident football analyst on ESPN's Football Focus and Football Forecast. Read his predictions on www.espnstar.com.

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