When football players are at the top of their game it isn’t just their physical health that they need to be in the best condition, and as one former Man United star noted, the consistent trolling he was subjected to by faceless internet keyboard warriors took a real toll on his mental health.
Though arguably never the most popular player at Old Trafford, Man United supporters always knew that they were going to get 100 percent effort and commitment from Phil Jones when he was fit.
Ex-Man United ace speaks out on the serious effects of trolling
Unfortunately, injuries all but wrecked his United career, and coupled with trolls taking pot shots when they felt like it, it’s no wonder that it eventually took its toll.
“Anybody who tells you that it doesn’t [affect them] is lying. And as footballers you have to put this mask on,” Jones was quoted as saying by Mundo Deportivo.
“You get paid a lot of money so you are not allowed to have feelings or emotions. The physical injuries made me mentally weak at times.
“Obviously people will ask, ‘he is always injured?’ as though they think that I wake up one day and think, ‘oh, yeah, I fancy being injured today.’
“But my coping mechanism was to be silent, put my guard up, my shield up around with my really close family. I wouldn’t even really communicate with my friends that well.”
It throws more light on the human side of the game, and brings into sharper focus why there should be more done by social media organisations when it comes to online abuse.
Jones’ testimony will arguably help players who are, perhaps, suffering in silence as he once did.
Having good mental health is as important, if not more so, than having good physical health, as the associated confidence that being in the right headspace would bring, could be the difference between getting that extra few percent needed to decide games in the big moments.
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