Social media abuse has hit two Manchester City players this season and it’s blight on the game | OneFootball

This season has seen the majority of Manchester City players fail to play at the level that is typically associated with Pep Guardiola’s side. That is the legacy of scaling the proverbial mountain time and time again and age and injuries hitting the Manchester City squad hard this season. Eventually, all eras must end, and that’s what we have seen with City this season.

But as City’s team and individual performances have dropped another side of the game has emerged. That is the criticism and abuse of players on social media. Kyle Walker and Phil Foden have suffered from this at times this season. It’s becoming a blight on the game at times but it is a sign of the times in 2025.

It has to be said that criticism of players and their performance is nothing new. That has gone on since the game was formed. It is part and parcel of football and any professional sport. With such high wages being paid that is to be expected. It will continue as long as the game continues. But there is a difference between criticism of a player’s performance and flat-out abuse.

Social media has its positive and negative sides, and we have seen that this season.

But what’s new is the level of vitriol seen on certain sections of social media this season. We saw it at its worst with what Kyle Walker was the victim of this earlier season. It got to a level that Walker called it out on social media himself. Too often, the line between abuse and criticism gets crossed, which we saw with what Kyle Walker received before he left Manchester City for AC Milan in January. Jack Gaughan also reported for the Daily Mail that Phil Foden reads social media criticism of his play. That can be a trap in itself for a player especially when you consider the mental toll it can have on an individual. It’s easy to say that Foden shouldn’t pay attention to it. But at 24 years of age, Phil Foden is part of the generation where social media is a big part of an individual’s daily life.

Social media has its positives and negatives. When you add the emotion that football creates to the equation it can be a hostile and volatile mix. But as we saw with Kyle Walker the line can get crossed too easily. That’s a blight on the game and it does need to be resolved somehow. However, it’s doubtful that a resolution to that issue will be found anytime soon. In the case of Phil Foden, you do wonder if the criticism on social media has added to his mental fatigue, which Jack Gaughan’s report mentioned.

Conclusion.

Abuse on social media isn’t a new problem. You see it every day in all walks of life. Football isn’t immune to this. But the plights of Kyle Walker and Phil Foden this season on social media do highlight this issue. Perhaps the solution is for someone to think before posting, as although the players are in a privileged position, they are human, and that does get forgotten at times.