Former Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic believes criticism of Harry Maguire has been over the top, likening it to a "disaster".
United made Maguire the most expensive defender of all time when they signed him from Leicester City in 2019 and he quickly established himself as a key player, even becoming captain.
But after a fairly promising first couple of years, Maguire's popularity among supporters has decreased significantly, with the England centre-back's performances routinely questioned last season.
The situation turned particularly ugly in April when Maguire received a bomb threat to his home.
Maguire was dropped by new manager Erik ten Hag after United lost their first two matches of the new Premier League season, but Matic – now at Roma – feels his former colleague has been treated dreadfully by the average fan on social media, suggesting the criticism comes from a place of jealousy.
"What people are doing to him, it is a disaster," Matic told The Times.
"Everything has to have limits and some of these people writing on social media, they don't have their own lives so they just have to write bad things about someone else."
Individual criticism of Maguire over the past year or so has also come against a backdrop of flak aimed at the United team in general, as they slumped to a sixth-placed finish last season with their worst points total (58) in the Premier League era.
Former United captain Roy Keane is among the most vocal television pundits when it comes to analysis of the Red Devils, and he also went on something of a rant about Matic towards the end of his time at Old Trafford.
Shortly after Matic confirmed he was to leave United, Keane took umbrage with the Serbian making such a decision before the end of the season and saying former club Chelsea also still had a place in his heart.
Matic provided a measured response, saying: "I have respect for what he has done but he needs to understand that football has changed.
"If I played for Chelsea, I cannot say I hate them. I cannot be angry when I'm talking to the press after the game.
"The way he behaved on pitch, 70 per cent of it is a red card today. You cannot throw a punch when all the cameras in the world are there.
"The real hero is when you go out on the street and say something, but he was always very nice with me, so what he says in public, to be honest, I don't really care.
"I know what I've done in my career and I'm very happy."
Ten Hag: 'Penalty was the turning point' in Southampton victory
Erik ten Hag believes Andre Onana's penalty save was the "turning point" as Manchester United got back to winning ways with a commanding 3-0 victory over 10-man Southampton.
The Red Devils arrived at St Mary's on a two-match losing streak and almost fell behind in the 33rd minute, but Onana guessed correctly to keep out Cameron Archer's tame spot-kick.
The visitors capitalised on their reprieve as goals from Matthijs de Ligt and Marcus Rashford put them 2-0 up at half-time, before Alejandro Garnacho wrapped up the points later on.
Ten Hag was pleased with his team's response and also saluted Rashford, who netted his first goal since March.
"The start was not easy," the United boss told BBC Match of the Day.
"I think the penalty was the turning point in the game and, not so far after, we scored and that was very important. From that moment on, the game was all ours."
On Rashford's goal, he added: "It's very important. We spoke before the game. It is huge for him, for every striker.
"When the season starts, you want to be on the scoring list. Now he has his first, I'm sure more will come."
Onana was also pleased to see Rashford back on the scoresheet.
"We had a tough season last year, and he was not at his best," he told TNT Sports. "But today, he showed he's a great player - one of the best in the world.
"That's football, that's life. It's now how you fall, it's about how many times you stand up again. I'm really happy for him. Hopefully, he will score many more for the team.
On bouncing back with a win, he added: "Every game when you lose is like it's the end of the world. You have to stay strong, stay together and keep fighting.
"It was very good to save that penalty. It was an important moment for us.
"The most important thing for us is victory. We had a great game and a clean sheet. Hopefully, we will continue playing like this."
Southampton 0-3 Manchester United: Red Devils halt losing run with emphatic win
Manchester United halted their two-game losing run with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Southampton at St Mary's, with Matthijs de Ligt, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho on target.
United emerged from the first international break of 2024-25 14th in the Premier League table following defeats to Brighton and Liverpool, but they got back to winning ways after surviving an early scare on the south coast.
Making his first Premier League start, Tyler Dibling won a penalty for Southampton in the first half, but Andre Onana kept out Cameron Archer's tame kick and the momentum shifted from there.
De Ligt headed in his first United goal just two minutes later, then an excellent Rashford strike, curled into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box, gave them breathing room.
Garnacho came off the bench to add to Southampton's woes in the second half, with Jack Stephens' wild lunge on the Argentine resulting in him being shown a straight red card with 11 minutes to play.
Garnacho then got himself on the scoresheet six minutes into stoppage time, lashing into the roof of the net after Diogo Dalot found him with a cutback from the byline.
Data Debrief: Rashford back in form
Rashford's dip in form in 2023-24 was a major contributing factor in United finishing a lowly eighth in the Premier League, the forward netting just seven league goals after plundering 17 the previous campaign.
However, he showed supreme confidence for his 41st-minute strike, which gave United a two-goal cushion at a crucial moment.
That effort ended a run of 12 games for United without a goal for Rashford, who had only previously endured two longer droughts for the club – 17-match runs that ended in January 2017 and August 2022.
Three of Rashford's last four Premier League goals have come from outside the penalty area, and since the start of 2022-23, only Eberechi Eze (eight), Phil Foden (seven) and Kevin De Bruyne (six) have scored more such goals in the competition than his five.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Ahli: Toney denied winning start by late own goal
A Bassam Al-Hurayji own goal in the 100th minute of the match handed Al-Nassr a 1-1 draw against Al-Ahli and denied Ivan Toney a winning start to life in Saudi Arabia.
Franck Kessie looked to have won all three points for Al-Ahli with a wonderful effort from the outside of the box after 57 minutes, but Al-Nassr's pressure was rewarded late on when Al-Hurayji diverted Sultan Alghannam's cross into his own net.
The home side started the match well, with Sadio Mane seeing an early effort cleared off the line and Marcelo Brozovic testing Edouard Mendy from distance, but they were unable to find a way through in the first half.
Kessie had gone close just after the break, dragging his shot wide of the far post, but he was not to be denied a second time. He met a pullback on the edge of the box, opening his foot to send a wonderful effort into the top-left corner.
But Cristiano Ronaldo's side kept probing, with Talisca deflecting a shot wide of the far post before they eventually got on the scoresheet thanks to Al-Hurayji's attempted block.
Data Debrief: Al-Nassr continue scoring streak - just
After scoring in the closing stages, with a bit of luck, Al-Nassr have now scored in their last 22 Saudi Pro League matches, a feat which has not been achieved since March-December 2017, with the final match in that sequence also being against Al-Ahli.
Furthermore, they are now unbeaten in their last six matches against Al-Ahli, which equals the longest unbeaten streak in the fixture - their opponents once went six games unbeaten between 2011 and 2013, winning three and drawing three.
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