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."
Bayern Munich 3-0 Union Berlin: Kane nets twice in easy Bundesliga win
Harry Kane scored twice to propel Bayern Munich to a 3-0 win over Union Berlin on Saturday.
Vincent Kompany's team moved, temporarily at least, to the top of the Bundesliga standings with the minimum of fuss at the Allianz Arena.
The Bavarians, who host Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday, opened the scoring with a 15th-minute penalty from England captain Kane before Kingsley Coman curled a shot past keeper Frederik Ronnow to make it 2-0 two minutes before the break.
Union were constantly on the back foot and could do nothing to stop Kane from stabbing in his second goal from close range six minutes after the restart.
Kane, who also scored a hat-trick against Stuttgart two weeks ago, now has 11 league goals this season.
Undefeated in the league and eager to reclaim domestic dominance after last season's double by Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern have now scored 32 goals and conceded seven in nine Bundesliga games.
Data Debrief: Goals, goals, goals
Bayern just cannot stop scoring. While they may be struggling in the Champions League, they are flying domestically, and they have now netted 50 times under Kompany in all competitions this season.
They are the first club from Europe's five major leagues to reach the 50-goal mark in this competitive season.
Meanwhile, since detailed data collection in 2004-05, only one player has collected more direct goal contributions in the first nine matchdays of a Bundesliga season than Kane this season (16), and that was the former Tottenham captain himself last year.
Man Utd decision was 'now or never' for Amorim
Ruben Amorim says the decision to move to Manchester United during the season was made for him, after he was told it was "now or never".
The 39-year-old Sporting Lisbon coach is set to make the move to Manchester on November 11, despite wanting to wait until the end of the season to make the switch.
The move was announced on Friday, with Amorim agreeing on a contract that will keep him at the club until 2027.
He becomes the sixth permanent manager at United since Alex Ferguson's departure 11 years ago.
Sporting have made a flying start to the season with 10 wins from 10 putting them top of the Primeira Liga table, but Amorim was keen to attest he would have preferred to continue his victorious streak.
"The season started, we started very well, and then Manchester United came, they pay above the compensation clause and the president defends the club's interests," he explained.
"I never discussed anything with the president. For three days, I said I wanted to stay until the end of the season, but then I was told it was not possible.
"It was now or never, or Manchester would go for another option. So, I had three days to make my mind up, to make a decision that radically changes my life."
Amorim brought substantial success to the Portuguese capital, winning two league titles in the space of four seasons after the club had failed to do so in the 19 years prior.
Despite being one of the most promising coaches in the game, the Lisbon-born manager asserted that only a call from Manchester would persuade him to leave his home club.
"I've had other opportunities - the president and [director of football] Hugo Viana can confirm this," he added. "It's not the first or the second time that I have been requested by another team, and I don't want another team.
"After Sporting I wanted that one, Manchester, and I want that context because that context allows me to do things my way, and the club believes me that way.
"There's a time when I have to take a step forward in my career. That's what happened. It was harder for me than any Sporting fan, believe me, but I had to do this."
'Exceptional' Fernandes can thrive under Amorim, says former Man Utd coach Meulensteen
Ruben Amorim's impending appointment as Manchester United boss will benefit skipper Bruno Fernandes, former Red Devils coach Rene Meulensteen believes.
United confirmed on Friday, four days after they sacked Ten Hag, that Amorim would be coming in as their new head coach.
The 39-year-old, who has won the Portuguese title twice in the space of three years, will join the Red Devils officially from November 11, after serving a notice period with Sporting CP.
United have agreed to pay Sporting around £9.2million (€11m) in compensation, with Amorim signing a contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until June 2027.
He will link up with compatriot Fernandes, who also swapped the Portuguese capital for Manchester back in January 2020.
The skipper has been directly involved in 151 goals since his debut, the most of any midfielder across Europe's top five leagues during that time.
And Meulensteen, who spent 12 years on the coaching staff at Old Trafford, thinks Fernandes will thrive under Amorim, and hopefully cut out some bad habits.
"It's always important, but all managers expect certain things, have certain expectations from Bruno," he told Stats Perform.
"I do think Bruno is an exceptional player. He's been so important in so many goals, in terms of his assists and contributing goals himself.
"Although, there's also another side that we've seen in Bruno - which you don't like to see as a club captain - a little bit of petulant behaviour, like throwing the toys out of the pram if things are not going well.
"Obviously, they're both Portuguese, so that helps them in terms of speaking in their native language.
"It's going to be interesting. The way that he sets up his teams, he doesn't play with out-and-out wingers. He plays far more with people in between the pockets, which [the likes of Bruno] are suited to.
"As soon as he steps over that line and steps through the door, we will see very, very quickly how he's going to shape up the team."
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