The polarisation of fan discourse on social media

By Avitaj Mitra - published on 18/11/21

Harry Maguire, Manchester United captain, who has had an underwhelming start to the season, bordering on disastrous at times, scores a header against Albania and cups his fingers to his ears in a shushing motion.

And all hell breaks loose on social media.

In an alternate universe, a penalty save here and a penalty scored there, and Maguire is potentially looking at 2 European trophies for club and country. Such are the margins at the very top between the very good and the elite.

Would those 2 potential trophies have led to milder criticism? We will never know now.

There are two ways to look at this Harry Maguire situation. The first is that it was a momentary release of emotion and frustration at his own poor form and the media's response to it, which is something that he would have been acutely aware of.

The second is that goals against San Marino and Albania does not really serve to quieten down the concerns over his poor club form. (And rightly so). International football, especially in the qualifying rounds, is worlds apart from club football.

For Manchester United fans, the hope is that the confidence gained from these games can kickstart his season at club level.

What this incident did show however was that there is an increasing tendency among fans to look at the game in very black and white terms.

Players are either naturally talented or they are not. Players are either "good enough" to play for certain clubs or they are not. The list is long.

There is also the inclination to blame individual players for defeats in what is, at the end of the day, a team game.

While there are certain games where the result can be determined by a single, unfortunate error.. football games by their very nature are full of mistakes, but not all of them are punished or capitalized on.

For example, when an avoidable goal is conceded, the discourse is usually centered upon "X was solely at fault" or "Y made a schoolboy error", and these are usually traced down to pre-existing biases. Very rarely is the entire defensive unit held accountable.

The third topic I would like to talk about is that players are judged by their transfer value. (Which is something the players themselves have no real control over).

So when Maguire makes a mistake, the discussion isn't simply limited to "Maguire made a mistake", it's "Maguire, the most expensive defender in the game, made a mistake".

Now it stands to reason that the higher the price of the player, the more is the expectation attached. However, a more expensive player is just as likely to make a mistake in the moment as a player bought for one fourth his price. (Though it is far more likely that the more expensive defender makes lesser mistakes in the long term)

Players, irrespective of their ability and price tag go through periods of bad form. (Except for a very select few) It is close to impossible for them to perform to the best of their abilities week in week out especially with an increasingly congested fixture list.

However, fans seem to base their perception of the player over these short periods when they aren't performing. So a player who can be considered to be indispensable in March is suddenly considered not good enough and below the standards required in October.

While criticism is absolutely fair, and as Manchester United captain, Maguire deserves to be held to a higher standard than most other players, the problem arises when the criticism snowballs into flat out abuse and hate, and it always does seem to snowball into that.

While it is perfectly fine to hold very polarising opinions and view the game through a black and white prism, it is important to remember that top level football is rarely easy and simple, and almost never linear in terms of decisions taken and the consequences arising from those decisions.

Fans and pundits have the luxury of hindsight when discussing the game. Players and managers don't. They rely on a combination of preparation, split second instinct and luck. Sometimes luck falls in their favour, sometimes it doesn't.