The last thing a fan wants to do after a crushing defeat is read PR-driven nonsense masquerading as a player's 'honest' reaction.
And yet, that's what Manchester United fans have been subjected to lately.
It's become customary for players to share their post-match thoughts on social media. And while one may argue that it's not shocking they have PR managers in a digital age, it does raise questions about the authenticity of these messages.
All of a sudden, you have Bruno Fernandes miraculously typing in perfect English when that's obviously not his first language. And I don't mean this as disrespect, it's just a fact.
But where do we draw the line then? To further understand the problem, let's analyse two recent incidents -
Take a look at 'exhibit A':
This tweet appeared on Bruno's account, where Arsenal players are seen with Gabriel Martinelli.
It was immediately deleted but our dear PR managers forget that once you put something out on the internet, it never really goes away.
A few minutes later, Martinelli posted the following:
We understand it can be exhausting to write a 1000-word essay on missing a penalty against Aston Villa but come on. At least post from the correct account!
Take a look at 'exhibit B':
In the second case, we have Marcus Rashford as the offender.
Since the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, Rashy's accounts have turned into a flag-bearer for fighting child food poverty in the UK. All that's well and good but the following incident raises questions as to whether any of it was genuine.
After an injury update, the 24-year-old retweeted his own tweet to correct a typo.
The problem is his management company, D N May Sports, posted the exact same message from their account just minutes before. They deleted it soon but again, does anything ever get deleted from the internet?
Fans angrily called him out for it at the time:
When they're not posting pictures from the wrong accounts, these PR and social media managers have a tendency to overdo literally everything.
For example, when Bruno missed the penalty against Aston Villa, there was a 1000-word essay on his own account. As if that wasn't cringe enough, the entire team (or rather those handling their accounts) shared positive messages of support.
They made it look like he missed a match-winning penalty in the Champions League final when in reality, it could have happened to anyone.
The Manchester United account took things up a notch when they shared a screenshot of those supportive messages, making it all seem like one big PR exercise.
That's not all - do you remember Harry Maguire's ridiculous message to fans after the 0-2 loss to Manchester City?
This is textbook PR nonsense when you know you don't have any more excuses to make. But perhaps what's the most infuriating is the 'thanks for your support' line.
Really? You're thanking US for the support? Fans have supported the club from day one and I'm sure there are some supporters who've followed United from before Maguire was born.
How about the players thank us with some proper performances on the field?
It seems most of our players would prefer to pay someone else to talk and apologise on social media instead of letting the results do the talking.
Looks like Ed Woodward wasn't all that off when he told Jurgen Klopp that Old Trafford is an 'adult Disneyland'. At least that's where we're headed.
It's not all gloom and doom though (thankfully). There are examples of players who still post their own thoughts now and then and Jesse Lingard is one of them.
Make no mistake - their accounts are still 'managed' by others but they do not hesitate to post something real.
After it was reported that a fan abused him while he was warming up, Jesse cleared the air with the following tweet:
Note how his language and grammar are far from perfect, which makes it all the more genuine. No one (not even myself) types on social media with perfect English all the time, do they?
Alexis Sanchez, yes THAT piano guy, hardly has much to write about his time at United but at least he typed his own messages as is evident below:
Jack Grealish's farewell message for Dean Smith on Sunday is a good example of a footballer writing their own stuff. It's far from perfect yet you know it's genuine:
Bruno himself used to be a great example of footballers posting their own tweets before the PR managers took over. Earlier this April, he took a dig at the European Super League:
'Dreams can't be buy' isn't the right form but no one - and that includes rival fans - cared if it wasn't proper grammar. The post was loved by fans on social media and Reddit simply because it was 100% genuine.
As fans, we understand it's not possible for footballers to do it all themselves. But at least don't let PR agents fool your fans.
