It's a self-feeding problem with these clubs that throw a ton of money at the chase of glory: you can only attract players that are really motivated by money, and if the money is guaranteed and not tied to performance, how do you motivate them? And if you are using money as the first and foremost means to attract players, what sort of players are you going to get?

What does Alex or Bosingwa or Taraabat care about winning when they are cashing $200k a week checks, regardless of performance? And if they have no shot, as they clearly don't, of winning something or competing in Europe, why not just go through the paces? They need a hard reset but have signed all those guys to horrible contracts that nobody wants to take and, apparently, most of them don't give a shit about their careers or legacies anymore.