Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving Liverpool this summer, but hearing him receive boos from the Anfield crowd when he came on as a substitute against Arsenal on Sunday was a surprise to many.
The rights and wrongs of when and why supporters jeer their own team’s players are discussed here and Liverpool fans are certainly not alone in having done this.
The Athletic writers picked out some other examples of footballers getting flak from their club’s followers and laid out the reasoning behind them doing it.
Arsenal: Granit Xhaka and Emmanuel Eboue
Granit Xhaka is the most obvious example of this from an Arsenal perspective, but not the only one — in December 2008, defender Emmanuel Eboue was brought on as a 32nd-minute substitute in a game against Wigan Athletic and was brought off again, to boos from the stands at the Emirates Stadium, in the 89th.
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While the jeers towards Xhaka followed the midfielder, Arsenal’s captain at the time, retaliating to sarcastic cheers from the crowd at him being replaced in an October 2019 home match against Crystal Palace, those directed at Eboue were due to his performance. His mistake-laden display during Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Wigan saw fan frustration build, and resulted in the Ivory Coast international leaving the pitch in tears.
Eboue recently said some supporters responded by sending him apologetic letters asking him to return to the club, as he did not turn up for training the following day.
Thankfully, both his and Xhaka’s respective relationships with Arsenal fans were repaired.
Art de Roché
Tottenham Hotspur: Hossam Ghaly
Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly spent much of the 2006-07 season on the fringes of the Spurs squad, until an upturn in form saw him push closer to the starting XI. But that all changed after a bout of petulance during a Premier League game against Blackburn Rovers in the final midweek of that season.
Having come on for an injured Steed Malbranque midway through the first half, Ghaly was himself replaced by striker Robbie Keane on the hour mark, with Spurs chasing an equaliser. He reacted with indignation, ripping off his jersey and hurling it in the vague direction of manager Martin Jol as he stormed off down the tunnel at White Hart Lane.
Jol looks on as Ghaly heads off (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Jol’s popularity among Spurs fans ensured Ghaly’s show of disrespect was met with audible rage from the terraces. He didn’t play again for the Dutchman and spent the second half of the following season on loan with the Derby County side who infamously amassed a record-low 11 points from their 38 Premier League matches.
There was almost an unlikely comeback in January 2009, with Harry Redknapp naming Ghaly on the bench for an FA Cup third-round tie at home to Wigan, but the booing from the crowd when he went out to warm up perhaps convinced the manager it wasn’t worth the grief to play him. That Blackburn game was Ghaly’s final appearance for the club.
James Maw
Fulham: Andreas Pereira
The grumbles had been building steadily, so perhaps it was no surprise when they escalated to full-blown jeers. Andreas Pereira had fallen into a classic trap, explaining to a media outlet back in his homeland of Brazil how he had set his heart on a move away from Fulham, only for the mooted deal to fall through.
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“An offer came from Marseille,” the midfielder told football website PL Brasil last November. “But unfortunately, it didn’t work. It would have been very cool.”
It did not matter that Pereira criticised the “malicious” and “inaccurate” article. The interview, combined with a drop in form, led to boos from a vocal minority of fans at Craven Cottage when he was brought on from the bench against Brighton & Hove Albion a week later.
His redemption began in that game, putting in hard yards as Marco Silva’s side scored two late goals to win 3-1. The stick from the crowd has died down now but his contract expires in just over 12 months and with the 29-year-old unlikely to extend, Fulham could cash in this summer if Marseille are still interested.
Justin Guthrie
Leicester City: James Maddison (and the entire 2022-23 squad)
It would have been unfathomable to think, after Leicester lifted the FA Cup on May 15, 2021, that two years later they would be blundering out of the Premier League. But with the seventh-highest wage bill in the division and a squad containing 11 players who were involved against Chelsea that day at Wembley, they indeed confirmed one of the worst relegations since the Premier League’s inception.
Some fans applauded their team after the final game against West Ham for the achievements of seasons past, but the more hardcore section of the fanbase was seething at the ownership, the board and the players.
Though the entire squad were culpable for the end of Leicester’s nine-year stay in the domestic elite, the ire of most was aimed at James Maddison, who was at fault for Bournemouth’s winner at the King Power Stadium in the April and missed a penalty a few weeks later in a crucial home draw with fellow strugglers Everton. He then jumped ship to Tottenham Hotspur, following a trivial apology on social media after relegation.
Maddison was relegated with Leicester in 2023 then quickly signed for Spurs (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
The polarity of opinion led to infighting in the stands on that final Sunday and a fractured support existing between apathy and rage ever since.
The effects are still being felt, with Leicester’s second relegation in three seasons having been confirmed with five games to spare during one of the most miserable campaigns in the club’s 141-year history.
Jordan Halford
Manchester United: Joshua Zirkzee, Harry Maguire, Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba
Joshua Zirkzee is the most recent Manchester United player to feel the vocal ire of their fanbase.
The Netherlands international was substituted off in just the 33rd minute of December’s 2-0 home defeat by Newcastle, leading one section of the Old Trafford crowd to cheer his removal and another to boo him for his performance, followed by booing of those who had initially had a go at Zirkzee.
It was a complicated situation, with many believing the 23-year-old was made the scapegoat for a wider collective failure, as explained here.
Zirkzee, hood up, after being taken off before half-time against Newcastle in December (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
United fans, wanting to make amends for the incident, sang his name during the following home fixture against Southampton, where he came on as a second-half substitute. Zirkzee has responded to the show of support with improved performances, which in turn have led him to be recast as a minor fan favourite in a dour 2024-25 season, one appreciated for his hard work in the air and other defensive contributions.
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Harry Maguire, Wayne Rooney have also been booed by United fans but a word too on Paul Pogba, who was targeted towards the end of his second spell at the club. The midfielder received jeers and whistles after he was subbed off in the 74th minute during an April 2022 home game against Norwich City. He responded to the noise by cupping his hands by his ears and only played for United once more.
Carl Anka
Chelsea: Raheem Sterling
What Raheem Sterling experienced at home to Leicester City in March last year was an example of how hard the once-mighty can fall.
England’s best player as they came within a penalty shootout of winning the European Championship final in 2021 and a winner of 10 major trophies with previous club Manchester City soon became persona non grata with some Chelsea fans following his summer 2022 signing.
Sterling had been on the receiving end of some abuse from Chelsea fans in his first season at the club, but this was another level.
Having seen a tame penalty saved easily by Jakub Stolarczyk, Sterling got ‘the treatment’ after taking one of the worst free kicks ever seen at Stamford Bridge. It went so high and wide, planes heading to London’s nearby Heathrow airport might have considered taking evasive action.
Chelsea’s highest-paid player was jeered from all four stands, a sound that was uncomfortably even louder when he was substituted shortly afterwards.
Simon Johnson
Newcastle United: Kieron Dyer, Florian Thauvin, Joelinton
The booing of their own players has been a rare occurrence for Newcastle fans, certainly in recent seasons.
Joelinton was on the receiving end of their ire as a flop £40million ($53m at the current exchange rate) centre-forward during an FA Cup tie at third-tier Rochdale in January 2020, before he transformed his Tyneside career by becoming a top-class marauding midfielder, and defender Florian Thauvin got heckled as a second-half substitute in an FA Cup defeat away to Watford four years earlier.
More significant, however, was the reception Kieron Dyer received at St James’ Park in August 2004 — even though he was wearing a red England shirt during their friendly against Ukraine, the midfielder was booed because of his actions in the black-and-white of Newcastle.
Dyer playing for England at St James’ Park in 2004 (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
After reports emerged that he had refused to play on the right of Newcastle’s midfield the previous weekend during a 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough, Dyer was brought on during the second half of England’s 3-0 victory. And every time he touched the ball, a primarily Geordie crowd roundly jeered him.
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Within two weeks, local hero Sir Bobby Robson had been sacked as Newcastle’s manager, amid suggestions he had lost control of the dressing room. Dyer has repeatedly admitted since that he felt he let Sir Bobby down, describing it as “my biggest regret”. Some Newcastle fans never forgave him for it.
Chris Waugh
Ipswich Town: Jonathan Douglas
Ipswich fans were losing patience during the 2016-17 season as Mick McCarthy’s underfunded squad languished in mid-table in the Championship. The atmosphere grew gradually more toxic and experienced midfielder Jonathan Douglas was often scapegoated, his Ipswich career never taking off as he failed to replicate his Brentford form.
Douglas’ introduction as a second-half substitute at Queens Park Rangers in the January was greeted with boos from the away end. The fans frequently took issue with what were perceived to be negative substitutions from McCarthy, and with Ipswich chasing a win against a side five places below them at kick-off, Douglas bore the brunt of supporter frustration that day.
Ali Rampling
(Top photos of Granit Xhaka, left, and Joshua Zirkzee: Getty Images)
