‘Leave the kid alone’
Mason Greenwood has liked an Instagram post which has called on fans and the media to stop abusing him.
After rising through the youth ranks at Manchester United, the forward made an impressive transition to first team football last season, scoring 17 times for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
His form helped secure a first call-up to England’s senior team in September, but the 19-year-old was sent home from the squad after he and Manchester City’s Phil Foden broke Covid-19 protocol while in Iceland.
Since then, Solskjaer has explicitly denied reports that Greenwood has been warned by United over his discipline and time-keeping, claiming the media have chosen to “go after” him after the incident in Iceland. Despite the United manager’s explanation that he had missed last weekend’s victory over Everton because of illness, a fresh report from The Times claimed there are ‘growing concerns’ over the youngster’s application during training sessions.
In response, an Instagram post by Wonderkids called for fans and the media to stop their criticism of the teenager.
”Greenwood looks tired’ ‘Greenwood isn’t trying hard enough’ ‘Greenwood needs to fix up’,’ the post reads.
‘Mason Greenwood just lost a close friend to suicide and has been endlessly attacked and abused by football fans and the media for months now, leave the kid alone.’
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHa1pC8HIcV/
Shortly after it appeared, it was noticed that the United number 11 had liked the post, with former club captain Gary Neville soon sharing a tweet which highlighted this fact.
👇👇👇👇😡 https://t.co/u9k3T9g6i2
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) November 11, 2020
In September, Neville himself had spoken of his concern at the way the media had covered the forward since he was sent home from the England camp.
🗣"At what point do we feel uncomfortable with things where you feel like someone is being victimised, I feel like this mornings story off the back of last week, what's that going to do this morning to help that boy, it was a step too far for me!" @GNev2 on Mason Greenwood pic.twitter.com/454Qv2wACS
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 13, 2020
Greenwood has scored twice for United this season. His most recent goal came in the Champions League win against RB Leipzig. He later revealed he had dedicated the goal to former Manchester City youngster Jeremy Wisten, who tragically died last month.
