Football,criticism and overcoming doubters.

With the advent of social media footballers are open to criticism like never before. Given the very  low percentage that make it especially at premiership and even in league 2  in comparison to other jobs its worth thinking about what we write as fans as comments can affect younger players on the up whos confidence can be shattered and affect their play. I know this first hand as there are youth team players in academy's Ive known that whilst having ability can be affected by what others say (fans and friends,family  alike) and performances can be affected negatively  .  Iam all for constructive criticism though and there is always room for improvement even amongst the greats of years gone by eg Pele,Zico ,Maradona.

The comment below is from Aaron Ramsdale current Arsenal Goalkeeper.

"When I think back on joining Arsenal ,I dont have the same story's as the others lads.Ive seen players saying oh yeah Wenger rang me up .But my story ?. The only thing I remember is the entire world telling me I was absolute s***.I got a call from my agent that the transfer was happening.Unreal .Arsenal football club.One of the best days of my life.I come back from training and see about 100 notifications .Iam use to maybe 15-20 notifications a day back then.I go to my twitter and see the news has leaked and Iam getting roasted.Iam thinking ok ,this is just modern football.Social media is toxic.Just a few trolls right?.  I turn on the tv,the ex players are all sitting around shaking their heads,and they got a lads picture up ?.Well its my face up there.Its an interesting experience watching the legends you grew up idolising saying your rubbish in front of the entire country.That really affected me.It brought me back down to earth from cloud nine in a matter of hours.I turned off the tv .I turned off all my media notifications.

When we lift a trophy at the emirates stadium ,what can the trolls tell us then?. Nothing ".

Some people are more sensitive than others and from my perspective, I can see how this might badly affect many players.

Looking back I know I could have played at a higher level, but my self confidence to carry the ball and take on other players that I was well capable of doing, was ruined by the odd player in my teams, who could never bring themselves to encourage, or constructively criticise, only to negatively criticise.

This must also be the case when home crowds also do the same.

Quoted from Mallyner

Some people are more sensitive than others and from my perspective, I can see how this might badly affect many players.

Looking back I know I could have played at a higher level, but my self confidence to carry the ball and take on other players that I was well capable of doing, was ruined by the odd player in my teams, who could never bring themselves to encourage, or constructively criticise, only to negatively criticise.

This must also be the case when home crowds also do the same.

I read something similar on Martin O Neil when he was a player and Brian Clough affecting his confidence negatively  . Had to play within himself as Clough had favourites who thought could do more with the ball and wanted the likes of O Neil to just be" water carriers" for the more gifted types .

Can totally relate Mally, while I never had the ability to really do anything in the game but the overly negative players on teams I played with put me off to the point I thought why am I subjecting myself to this in my spare time and stopped playing altogether.  I didn’t start playing again until my mid to late 20’s when I found the right group of lads.

I think we sometimes forget when we're in the stands that at league 2 level a majority of the players are not playing for mega bucks, they're just trying to earn an honest wage like the rest of us. I'd be absolutely devastated if someone walked into my office telling me how sh*te I am and how I shouldn't bother turning up again.

It feels like a different story with other teams players though and players expect a level of abuse from opposing fans, it's part of what makes the game special.....but there's a line that shouldn't be crossed.

I regret not playing at a higher level, but then I remember that I was utter shït and couldn’t kick the ball with either foot.

This does mean, however, that I don’t criticise players, as I’d have killed to have a 1000th of the ability they have

At our level and definitely below, I’d say there’s always ‘supporters’ that expect players to be like haaland, messi, ronaldo etc and don’t appreciate the level that is being played. It’s so easy to become frustrated at a game and get on players backs, we’ve all done it and seen it and every player is different in how they react. Some players will improve because of the criticism and some won’t. They aren’t robots.

I suppose that there is so much premier league football on TV that the saturation coverage makes us expect our L2 players to perform like someone out of the Man City squad.

There is a gulf in ability levels between PL and L2. If our players had those skill levels they wouldn’t be playing for us. It would be like expecting a bloke in a covers band down the Spiders Web to play like Eric Clapton and sing like Paul Rodgers.

So we must temper our expectations and especially in respect of young players learning their craft. We must cut them some slack.

Most sensible fans recognise that they’re merely blokes plying their trade like the rest of us, although I’d argue the game should be doing even more to educate them and provide them strategies etc to deal with the nonsense they sometimes get from the crowd.

Sadly, for them, or not so sad depending how you look at it, they do a job which is essentially designed to entertain and win. When neither of those things happen, there has to be an understanding of where the frustration comes from.

I think social media has played a huge part in this seemingly ever growing personal attacks on players etc. I suspect the continued pouring of cash into the game and the idea that brings success is also a reason it happens.

That said, sometimes, and we’ve all seen it as town fans, players just don’t do their jobs yet very little happens. Of course, they may not get a contract etc but how often does that really happen? Think of those absolutely wage stealing illegitimates from 09/10; most got a job elsewhere and some are still involved in the game. Yes, the club was an embarrassment but so were they.

Quoted from Rick12

With the advent of social media footballers are open to criticism like never before. Given the very  low percentage that make it especially at premiership and even in league 2  in comparison to other jobs its worth thinking about what we write as fans as comments can affect younger players on the up whos confidence can be shattered and affect their play. I know this first hand as there are youth team players in academy's Ive known that whilst having ability can be affected by what others say (fans and friends,family  alike) and performances can be affected negatively  .  Iam all for constructive criticism though and there is always room for improvement even amongst the greats of years gone by eg Pele,Zico ,Maradona.

The comment below is from Aaron Ramsdale current Arsenal Goalkeeper.

"When I think back on joining Arsenal ,I dont have the same story's as the others lads.Ive seen players saying oh yeah Wenger rang me up .But my story ?. The only thing I remember is the entire world telling me I was absolute s***.I got a call from my agent that the transfer was happening.Unreal .Arsenal football club.One of the best days of my life.I come back from training and see about 100 notifications .Iam use to maybe 15-20 notifications a day back then.I go to my twitter and see the news has leaked and Iam getting roasted.Iam thinking ok ,this is just modern football.Social media is toxic.Just a few trolls right?.  I turn on the tv,the ex players are all sitting around shaking their heads,and they got a lads picture up ?.Well its my face up there.Its an interesting experience watching the legends you grew up idolising saying your rubbish in front of the entire country.That really affected me.It brought me back down to earth from cloud nine in a matter of hours.I turned off the tv .I turned off all my media notifications.

When we lift a trophy at the emirates stadium ,what can the trolls tell us then?. Nothing ".

An excellent post. I recall the late Edward Woodward (Callan & Equaliser ) saying something like that when he filmed in the USA people praised him for being at the top of his profession, yet when he filmed in the UK people wanted to knock him down.

Likewise, I believe Ian Botham said similar that we are told to make something of ourselves and when we do people want to kick us in the teeth.

Nobody has really explained why but envy and jealousy come to mind. Most people at the top of their chosen profession have worked hard, put in the hours and made sacrifices. All I can say is good luck to them and well done.