Manchester United are a club that makes headlines for all sorts of reasons, but one that has gone relatively unnoticed is that the club has hired social media experts to help their stars navigate the cesspools of the online world.
Clubs have started to become more concerned with social media usage, in particular the negative mental effects of being abused online that can lead to a player’s wellbeing and performance suffering.
Scientists have conducted case studies on how the lack of energy from long periods of cognitive activity on social media can be detrimental to a professional player.
A recent study published by the Journal of Sports Sciences proved just how negative social media is.
Their subjects were players from the Campeonato Brasileiro, the Brazilian first division.
Players that were found to have been on their smartphones 30 minutes prior to playing a match had significant difficulties in making a simple pass as well as decision making.
Now, once you factor in that the average person can spend up to 2.5 hours a day on all forms of social media, this can be particularly concerning for any coach.
Long gone are the days of managers like Bob Paisley and Sir Alex Ferguson ruling all aspects of their players’ lives with an iron fist.
This generation of players have more fragility, emotion and less mental toughness than the ones before them.
(Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
They cope better with a reassuring word and arm around the shoulder, rather than being shouted at.
Perhaps one of the greatest failings of the A-League Men was its lack of support for former Melbourne Victory player Josh Hope.
Hope was the star pupil of Tasmanian football’s national training centre several years ago, before joining the FFA’s centre of excellence in Canberra.
He was a crucial member of the midfield in a side that also featured James Delianov, Joel King, Kye Rowles, Daniel Arzani and Jacob Italiano.
Hope was the finest midfielder in that team. He had all the traits and technical skills to have a career in Europe, but he needed to get through the A-League Men first.
Melbourne Victory beat several other sides for his prized signature. Victory are a massive club and can be very daunting for a young, impressionable player.
In hindsight, moving to a side that is known to handle development well – like Adelaide United, Central Coast Mariners or the Brisbane Roar – would’ve been better to nurture his talent.
The then-18-year-old started life initially well for Victory, before the perils of social media destroyed his confidence.
Players are advised to never look at social media after a match. The comments can be extremely vicious over something as minor as a misplaced pass.
Hope was viciously trolled by his own club’s supporters not just for his on-field performances but for how he looked, how he spoke as well as his haircut.
At just 22, he made worldwide headlines by announcing he was walking away from football due to the online abuse he received.
Hope will be returning to football with Green Gully in the VNPL this upcoming season and it would be no surprise to see A-League Men clubs keeping a close eye on a player who had the potential to be one of the best of his generation.
The venom on social media seems to have dramatically increased in the past year alone, with two clubs being particular targets: Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers.
Josh Cavallo – who is the only openly homosexual male footballer in the world – has suffered sickening homophobic abuse, while teammate Kusini Yengi has seen his social media accounts fill up with racial abuse.
(Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)
Tomer Hemed caused quite a commotion on social media with his religious views, while some of his teammates have copped abuse for openly supporting known anti-vax propaganda groups.
Like anybody in the public eye, the best thing to do for any young, up-and-coming player would be to stay off social media.
It does more harm than good, especially when transitioning from being a teenager into an adult.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
BT - You should write a piece on best and worst in A League history. surely you would set a record in posts/responses although it might get dirty! You'd have to set some criteria to try and make it vaguely objective or maybe have a few different categories -maybe just position played! It could be/should be fun!
sportstar111
Roar Rookie
vianne is a baller
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
MV supporters are as dumb as some on here, they were bagging Barbarouses as well , even though Barbarouses was their best player in every season he played there, because of Barbarouses the midfield could shift across to cover for last shoulder Archie otherwise they would have been a goal leaking disaster. Their supporters have dissapeared so I dont know what they thought of Kamsoba but wooden spoon Brebner hardly played him. Ironic that Sydney replaced the best A-league player Brosque of all time with second best Barbarouses not that wanted. Kamsoba is not anywhere near those two but his workrate is very good, the potential is he could become the third best. I dont understand why they were criticising Hope, I actually put him as one of MV's few good players last year he played there. I also think it is actually the coaches fault, the coaches are so stupid in the A-league they dont even know who is performing for their side. The bias seems to be mainly against young players. I am certain if the coach at MV had half a brain and played him more he would have never given it up.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
off topic lol but ill be there to, should be an absolute cracker campbelltown have recruited well in the off season and i would expect them to run city and comets very close this season. i am expecting a big year from Kurikwimana, already being monitored by interstate a league sides (adelaide have yet to express any interest, but they will by seasons end)
josh
Guest
Actually it's pretty popular, very Bosnich like.
mrl
Roar Rookie
Some good points raised here. Anyway can’t wait for tonight Adelaide City v Campbelltown…should be a beauty!
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
tbh AA, not may players deliberately stir opposition fans. Sure, a few do. Not smart.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
im sure that alternate goalkeeper jersey the wanderers have, doesnt sit well with some of the supporters :laughing: yes 'pride round' will be interesting for victory and wanderers
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
un questionable talent, unfortunately susceptible to injuries. i like to see a player give it back to the crowd, would a caucasian player who scores against there arch rival and then celebrates by doing the 'connor mcgregor/vince mcmahon strut' be vilified the same way? - i dont think they would. even mo toure copped a bit of stick from melbourne city supporters during the most recent match(not racial though) he scored and put his finger to his lips and aimed it at the section of the crowd (who just continued to boo him even more)
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
his abuse was brutal, another clubs supporter base would've treated a young kid differently who was struggling to make the impact he had at youth level in a seniors mens competition. will be interesting to see how he goes with green gully this season, he'll have a lot of eyes on him and hopefully he does well and his performances will warrant another shot at the professional game
chris
Guest
Thanks for the article Andy. I didn't know that Josh Hope went through all of that. I hope he finds his way again.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Yeah, I tend to agree because it doesnt ween the Eurosnobs away from EPL and onto A-League
josh
Guest
If you think it's been bad just wait until WSW get mixed up in a pride round, the backlash will be vicious.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
you're thinking of milusenic (who's brother is also a well known bikie) however he is not the player my comment was about :)
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
I've been a fan of Yengi since I first saw him live, a much better player than the highly touted youngsters around him. The abuse he cops, we've seen it live so can only imagine what he cops on-line, is unacceptable. But I do have to say that Yengi does bait opposition fans when he scores, not what most strikers do as a routine celebration. My recommendation to him would be to stand firm and hold his head high despite the abuse, which he seems to be doing, and to stop baiting opposition fans when he scores.
Franko
Guest
I thought they sold him to Randers because he wanted a crack in Europe?
Franko
Guest
I think it does more harm than good also, but for balance you should probably mention how lucrative social media can be for these players.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
couldnt pay me enough to read keepup - who ever agreed to that rubbish, should be immediately sacked haha
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
i think everyone knows the 2 clubs that have had the most issues (victory and wanderers) they both have some amazing fans, but they also have some absolute cretins. not a shot at victory, but look at some of the situations: *trolled their own player to the point where he quit. * racially abused yengi in 2 matches - from the crowd as well as online * homophobic abused in person as well as online at josh cavallo wanderers have had plenty of incident over the years as well, like i said - not a shot at either club, but they do have a small minority of repeat offenders
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
heres the thing that a lot of people dont really know and it needs to be drummed into the heads of the real talented kids from 12 onwards. you need to be extremely careful of what you post online, inparticular when you are being scouted. i can 200% confirm that clubs are as concerned with your off field behaviour as well as onfield. the best example i can give (and have spoken about on here before) is a former adelaide united youth player that was let go because he was hanging around with a well known bikie gang in adelaide. his social media accounts were filled with photos of designer clothes, money and gang imagery. the player was warned to sever all ties, he did not and the the club cut him - it took several years off his career (hes back in the a league now) theres plenty of similar stories just like this involving young players. the cons of social media dramatically outweigh the pros for ayn aspiring footballer - if you want to be a professional, you need to act like one.