Abusive messages towards footballers have been on the rise, and Manchester United’s stars are bearing the brunt of it.
As reported by Jacob Leeks of The Mirror, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire were the two most abused Premier League players across the first half of the 2021/22 season, as per an Ofcom study.
Manchester United suffered their worst ever Premier League campaign last season, and their players were not given any leeway by fans.
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The study consisted of 2.3 million tweets with nearly 60,000 of them being deemed abusive towards particular players.
Eight of the twelve most abused players were Old Trafford inhabitants.
The study showed that the most abused football player in the league was United wantaway Cristiano Ronaldo, with the number seven facing 12,500 abusive tweets between 13th August 2021 and 24th January 2022.
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The Portuguese superstar also faced the highest peak of abusive tweets, with 3,961 abusive tweets sent on the day his long-awaited return to the Theatre of Dreams was announced. 97% were aimed at him.
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The second highest peak came on the day Manchester United lost 2-0 in the Manchester derby, with Harry Maguire tweeting an apology after the game. 2,903 abusive messages were sent on this day.
Maguire as an individual fell victim to over 8,900 hateful tweets across the season, with the United captain becoming a perhaps unfair scapegoat for their issues.
To highlight the level of hate Maguire had to deal with, he even had a bomb threat sent to his house at one point later in the season, naturally causing great concern for his safety.
Marcus Rashford was the third most abused player having faced just over 2,500 abusive tweets, with the English forward having an extremely difficult season.
At times Rashford looked very distant mentally and with this new data being released, it does not come as a surprise.
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The rest of the United players on the list were Bruno Fernandes, Fred, Jesse Lingard, Paul Pogba and David de Gea. Tottenham's Harry Kane and Manchester City’s Jack Grealish completed the list of the top 10.
Whilst Pogba and Lingard have now departed the club, the others remain as Manchester United look to rebuild under Erik ten Hag. This includes rebuilding the culture of the club.
The fans are a part of this. United, for the most part, have one of the greatest fanbases in sport and the players consistently recognise this.
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But rebuilding requires great support from fans. There will be ups and downs, but these downs cannot be a trigger for immediate abuse.
It is not a response that will ever help players, and if they continue to face it they will likely just become disillusioned with life at Old Trafford and take their talents elsewhere, and they have talent to take.
Ofcom chief Kevin Bakhurst echoed this sentiment for football in general, stating “Supporters can also play a positive role in protecting the game they love.”
“Our research shows the vast majority of online fans behave responsibly and, as the new season kicks off, we're asking them to report unacceptable, abusive posts whenever they see them.”
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Football has an abuse problem, and as the biggest fanbase in the world Manchester United have a responsibility to set a standard.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Harry Maguire, Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba, Manchester United, Premier League, Harry Kane, Jack Grealish, David De Gea