Chelsea fans aren’t booing players – they’re booing those who bought them, picked them, or used them badly
Matt Law’s interesting piece in the Telegraph today is all about the booing of Raheem Sterling yesterday, plus the negative fan sentiment towards multiple players over the course of the season.
He points out, citing various players and others inside the game, how counterproductive it is. That’s all fair.
However it does miss the point of a lot of this, which is that often the player being booed is actually just getting the transferred criticism which really should be aimed at the manager who picked them, chose not to sub them, played them out of position, or even those in charge of buying them.
When Raheem Sterling is getting booed, it’s not because fans hate him, it’s because they’re frustrated he keeps getting picked, and then left on the pitch when he’s playing badly. The same goes for someone like Marc Cucurella if he gets torn apart in a game – the boos are meant for the sporting directors really, but sadly they don’t go out on the pitch themselves.
