In the eyes of fans, penalties are commonplace, and any professional player in a long career is more or less likely to make mistakes. But even a great player like Messi, despite all his previous achievements, is still sneered at today when he fails to score a penalty in a crucial campaign. Especially after the two-legged Champions League match between Paris and Real Madrid, many fans of the "after-the-horse" have been shouting on social media: "If Messi did not lose the penalty in the first leg, that second leg could be dragged into extra time or even a penalty shootout, and Paris would not lose so embarrassingly." ”
Coincidentally, in arsenal's second leg of the League Cup semi-finals at the end of January, Thomas Parteuy came off the bench with arsenal left with just 10 men left, with only 15 minutes left. Already two goals behind the team, Thomas Partey was given two consecutive yellow cards in three minutes and was eventually sent off for a red card, a process that was even fast enough that he might not have sweated.
Thomas's disastrous performance was fun and laughable for neutral fans, but painful for Arsenal fans. Although it is unrealistic to expect a midfielder to change the fate of the club from the overall situation, his play can hardly change the final result. After the game, Thomas posted an apology on Instagram, saying he would be responsible for any consequences of the incident and would accept all criticism. He even expressed his love for the club and the country. Finally, I promised that I would actively adjust my mentality and go all out to play better.
In fact, professional players apologize to the public, no matter how interesting or small the incident, on and off the field, has become a common phenomenon at the moment. There are many reasons why players decide to publicly apologize, from red cards, oolong balls or not making enough effort for the team to win games, to serious violations outside of the game. Jack Grelish apologized for drunk driving, and Kyle Walker apologized for violating coronavirus restrictions (reportedly for leading a party). Apologies, as we usually understand them, are a form of remorse that is shown before asking for forgiveness. When individuals are seen as public figures and role models, this display of remorse must take place at a higher level. After all, many people already see footballers as wealthy, spoiled by fans and self-contained. In this case, the least they can do is pretend to regret their bad behavior. The public needs to know and see that what they are doing is wrong, whether or not they feel genuine remorse.
As professional footballers, their private lives often become the subject of popularity, so we will find that there are often rumors about them in the media, and any misconduct will soon become the front page headlines of various "toilet tabloids". In 2019, Manchester United star Anthony Martial apologized to his fiancée and the world, publicly admitted cheating on the woman in the relationship and using the phrase "for the evil things I have done in the past few months". A few years ago, also on the issue of private life, French star Olivier Giroud publicly apologized on social media, admitting that he was having an affair. In fact, except for some special cases involving off-court violations, players are not required to apologize to the public. However, it has become a culture in itself. This happens so often that the public is curious about what is driving these public confessions. I can't help but ask: what is the purpose of the players? Is this a public relations campaign or is it because players are more susceptible to public opinion?
The most apologies that have appeared in recent times are because a player did something wrong on the pitch or felt as if they had let their fans or team down. Thomas apologized for the red card, Bruno Fernandez for conceding a penalty and Marcus Rashford for his penalty mistake at the European Cup. From the most sympathetic point of view, the degree to which a player regrets these misses and whether they can be forgiven by fans seems to depend on how well the player performs on social media. With a large following across multiple platforms, they can speak directly to the public. So they decided to share with the world their disappointments about themselves and their performance on the field. It's hard to imagine that before social media went mainstream, they would usually only have to apologize to their teams and managers or keep those emotions in their hearts. Now, just as most people on social media overshare just because they're online, players often come to repent of unnecessary things because of it.
Another, however, is that a culture of public apologies can be seen as a means of addressing crisis PR problems. Neville once responded to Fernandez's apology on a social app: "If the apology culture comes from a real place, it's fine. But more often than not, it's a smoke bomb and pot-throwing strategy designed to mask the seriousness of the problem! "From this point of view, the subsequent apology to the incident, although not excluded as possibly sincere, has served as a protective effect for the individual players. By apologizing, the players pleaded to win the support of their fans and cast themselves as a sympathetic figure. It's not just that players want to keep the fame and fortune they currently have, so as not to lose everything because of a mistake.
Perhaps the line between sympathetic and black-bellied views cannot be drawn too clearly, after all, the two views seem to be the cause of the culture that together led to public apologies. The culture of public apologies is ridiculous, but it's just as ridiculous as online life. On social media, individuals exist in the public domain, and any interaction or expression can quickly become an event that their entire being condemned for. So-called, everything is being judged, and a person's complete fall on the altar only needs to slip once.