The early retirement of Andre Schurrle should force the media to rethink the expectations they force onto certain players, according to former Bayern Munich and Sunderland midfielder Jan Kirchhoff.
Schurrle surprised the world of football last week by stepping away from the professional game at the age of 29, following a successful career with Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea, Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund, among others.
The high point of Schurrle's career came when he assisted Mario Gotze's winning goal for Germany in the 2014 World Cup final, but both men were released from their contracts at Dortmund following the end of the 2019-20 season amid injuries and losses of form.
Despite Schurrle's career ending on a low note, Kirchhoff thinks the ex-winger can be proud of his achievements, and that media hype following the World Cup has ultimately led to him being assessed unfairly and too much pressure being placed on his shoulders.
In his exclusive column for Goal and SPOX, Kirchhoff said: "I can understand why he has now ended his career. Andre had an incredibly good time from a sporting and finally from a financial point of view, became world champion, English champion, DFB-Pokal winner.
"When you have played at a certain level for so long, you have to ask yourself at some point whether you really still want to attack at another level at the expense of your family. I know these lines of thought only too well.
"Looking back, winning the 2014 World Cup was definitely a sticking point. It is the curse of the good deed. Andre and Mario Gotze are sitting in the same boat. The goal against Argentina has raised expectations that the two will decide each game.
"This resulting pressure, the constant headlines, this eternal 'again not good enough' is an incredibly great burden, especially for intelligent, sensitive and self-reflective people. When I read interviews with Andre or Mario, I came to the conclusion more and more that many things went wrong on a media level regarding Andre and Mario, which certainly caused frustration."
Kirchhoff, who was a team-mate of Schurrle at Mainz between 2007 and 2011, with both men coming through the Bundesliga club's youth system, believes pundits and fans expected the forward to be more like fellow Germany international Leroy Sane, with a big book of skills and tricks and the ability to beat the defender with ease.
According to Kirchhoff, now with German third-tier side KFC Uerdingen, this was never Schurrle's game, and the expectation for him to be something he wasn't led to a player who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012 somehow being viewed as a disappointment.
He said: "The claims about Andre were simply wrong. Andre is an outstanding team player who works hard, runs incredibly well, is good at counter-pressing, conquers balls and has a good goal record. It is no coincidence that he was valued by so many coaches and he had been on the national team for so long.
"Andre is not a one-on-one difference-making player like Leroy Sane. If you lump these two types of players together and expect Andre to do what Jadon Sancho does, for example, you will be disappointed. In this respect, Andre's decision to end his career should also prompt us to think about how such expectations arise and how to deal with people in public."