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Criticism is part and parcel of the life of a professional footballer. Each game is analyzed and broken down to its bare bones, and while it gives us deep insights, it also tends to be misplaced at times. Sometimes players get blamed or criticized a bit too much.
This happens a lot with high-profile footballers. In recent times, clubs have not shied away from breaking the bank to sign players. There is a tendency among fans and pundits to demand excellence on a regular basis from players who get signed for a large sum of money.
Often when such players turn in a good performance, it's passed off as living up to the price tag. When they drop duds, they're immediately blown out of proportion.
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Without further ado, let's take a look at five players who get unnecessarily criticized by pundits.
#5 Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
Harry Maguire has not exactly covered himself in glory over the past couple of seasons. The English centre-back was at the center of the struggles faced by Manchester United last season. He made a number of mistakes and looked out of sorts as United suffered a horrendous outing in the 2021-22 season.
Having cost them €87 million in the summer of 2019, the former Leicester City man is Manchester United's third-most expensive signing of all time. Pundits constantly argue that United paid over the odds for the centre-back, who is not fit to wear the shirt.
While Maguire is not without his drawbacks, his situation has not been helped by the inadequacy of United's squad. He has been left exposed due to a lack of quality defensive midfielders and David de Gea, a goalkeeper who doesn't sweep or command his box well.
Maguire's strengths include carrying the ball out, playing line-breaking passes, dominating aerial duels and reading the game. However, at Manchester United, he is left to fend for himself against pacy attackers while the midfielders and other attackers struggle during defensive transitions.
The 29-year-old definitely needs to improve his game but he is not an abject failure like the pundits would have one believe.
#4 Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)
Raheem Sterling has performed consistently well for Manchester City and the England national team in recent times. Having burst onto the scene as a teenager, it's quite clear that Sterling is an early bloomer who peaked quite early on in his career.
Sterling, who is currently at Chelsea, is only 27 but his form has dropped a bit over the past year and a half. He was not an automatic starter for Manchester City last season and even went on a 12-game goal drought and this led to him being benched.
The Englishman was unfairly criticized by the press. Sterling has a history of being hounded by the press. Despite all the flak that he received, he scored 17 goals and provided nine assists in 47 appearances across all competitions for City last term.
He has got off to a decent start to life at Chelsea, scoring two goals and providing an assist in four Premier League appearances so far this season.
#3 Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur)
Former Everton forward Richarlison is a divisive character thanks to his fiery personality. He has offered flashes of brilliance but has received plenty of criticism for not entirely delivering on his promise.
But the worst of it happened last season when Jamie Carragher accused the Brazilian of faking an injury during a Merseyside derby. Carragher, who was on commentary duty for SkySports, told Richarlison to get up before claiming that the forward does it 'every week'. He said (via TalkSport):
“Honestly, get up, every week I watch him play like that! Get up, carry on. He’s been down three times already, [there’s] nothing wrong with him.”
Carragher did admit shortly afterwards that he was perhaps a bit too harsh on him after replays confirmed that the player had indeed gone over on his ankle as he fell.
Richarlison was once again heavily criticized by Carragher again on Monday after he juggled the ball mid-match against Nottingham Forest and did a bit of 'showboating'. Carragher wrote on Twitter:
"It doesn’t matter what we all think of the Richarlison showboating, it’s what the opposition think. They thought it was taking the p**s and tried to take him out. You can’t condone that but the worst that happens is a red card, for Spurs it’s a bad injury. That’s why it’s daft."
But Richarlison got his first assist for Tottenham Hotspur in the game and helped his side pick up a win.
#2 Neymar Jr. (Paris Saint-Germain)
Neymar Jr. is the most expensive footballer of all time, having cost Paris Saint-Germain €222 million in 2017. He is also one of the most skillful players of all time and possesses a great deal of footballing intelligence, creativity and flair.
But he also has a penchant for 'showboating' and theatrics. Neymar has also been called a 'diver' and has also been criticized for trying to make the most of every possible foul. As such, he is constantly in the firing line as he is an easy target due to his divisive nature.
During the early phases of last season, Neymar's form dropped and he scored just three goals and provided three assists in his first 10 Ligue 1 games of the campaign. Critics were quick to say that he was past his prime and that he had lost focus.
Not only did Neymar respond by finishing last season on a high, but he has got off to a flying start to the 2022-23 campaign. He has scored eight goals and provided six assists in just five appearances so far this season for PSG.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
A number of Manchester United players absorbed heat for the team's struggles in the 2021-22 season. Most of them deserved it or had it coming but one player who received an unreasonable amount of criticism was Cristiano Ronaldo.
At times, it even looked like the 37-year-old veteran was the only one gave two hoots about the side. He scored 24 goals and provided three assists in 38 appearances across all competitions for the Red Devils last term.
The Portuguese icon also produced multiple rescue acts in the group stages of the Champions League last season.
It was clear that more than half of the players in the United squad were underperforming last term. However, Ronaldo, who was named the 'Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year', was also slammed for apparently upsetting the attacking system that United had gotten used to.
He was even viewed as the root cause of United's problems in certain quarters. That's quite unfair on Ronaldo, who was simply miles ahead of the other United forwards in terms of productivity last term.
