There is a misunderstanding that all footballers have an obligation to play well into their 30s.
The language used tends to be about making the most of their talent and wringing the last drop from a short career.
But what about the ones who are not made like that? What about those ones whose bodies are different and, more importantly today, whose minds are different? What about them?
Have they failed themselves if they are not still breaking new ground at 32 and 33 years of age? Have they somehow failed us, the watchers who somehow expect them to live out our greatest fantasies for us until they can run no more?