Deniz Undav on the criticism he has received this past season: “The fact that people think that way really bothered me.” | OneFootball

“If you’re not performing, it’s not a problem if you’re criticised. I’m someone who criticizes sometimes, so I can take it too. If I don’t score, it’s stupid, I know that. I do think it’s harsh when people talk about a crisis after a few goalless games, but I can deal with it. I’m a competitive athlete, I’ve cost a lot of money, and if someone says that Undav isn’t finding the net at the moment and that he was better last year: OK, I’ll have to live with that, I can do that. I understand all of that. But what bothered me was that things that weren’t a problem at all before suddenly became a problem.”

“Undav doesn’t run, Undav isn’t fast enough, all that. I wasn’t a different player during that time. I was just as fast or not as fast as always, I didn’t run any more or less than usual. Sometimes it was 10.7 kilometers per game, sometimes it was 11.5, but there were no major changes. People outside interpreted that as me not doing those things anymore. It was annoying.”

“From those who vent their anger online. They said my body language was off, that I was letting myself go. Honestly, that’s just nonsense. The accusation is truly nonsense. And it just kept getting worse; suddenly, eating kebabs was a problem.”

“I bought the car weeks before the Paris game. What does my car have to do with whether I score? I don’t understand that logic, nor do I understand why people aren’t ashamed to say things like that. And the kebab… hey, guys! I didn’t eat a kebab at all in the weeks I didn’t score. I gave up chocolate. And instead of four energy drinks a week, I only had one, the one right before the game. But the fact that people think that way really bothered me.”

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