5 footballers no one hates
While most footballers are adored by their fans and scorned by others, these individuals have made it difficult for anyone to hate them.
Professional football is a tricky affair. You could be a hero in one week and the villain in the next. Heck, for all you know you could start a match off scoring a goal and then concede one on the other end due to your own mistake and go from hero to villain inside the ninety minutes.
In these times of intense social media scrutiny, it's easy to kickstart narratives or even buy into them. Agendas are aplenty as football fans try to dig up dirt on their adversaries just to get the last laugh on social media. Echo chambers are formed in a matter of seconds and being a footballer could be really stressful.
However, there are some individuals who have made it impossible to hate them by virtue of the way they conduct themselves both on the pitch and off it.
Today, we take a look at five footballers who are adored by one and all.
5 footballers who no one hates
#5 David Silva
The Manchester City legend, David Silva, is one of the most adored football players in the world and for good reason. Not only is he a serial winner and one of the finest midfielders of his generation, he has went about his business on the football field without cooking up any kind of controversies in his storied career.
El Mago, alongside Kevin De Bruyne, formed one of the deadliest midfield partnerships that the Premier League has ever seen. His passing range, creativity and quick thinking made him a player that's coveted by fans of all football clubs.
David Silva joined Manchester City when the new project was in its nascent stages and decided to stick on while most players would have wanted to move on to bigger clubs like Real Madrid or Barcelona.
The Manchester City that we see today has a lot to thank the Spaniard for as it is his contributions that laid the foundation for them to grow into one of the most intimidating forces in Europe.
David Silva was given a hero's farewell at Manchester City last summer as he finally moved back to his home country with Real Sociedad at the age of 34.
#4 Juan Mata
Juan Mata comes across as one of the nicest guys in football. Very similar in his style of play to David Silva, the Spanish veteran's career is not as trophy-laden but he will continue to be one of the most admired players in recent times at Manchester United.
Mata started winning over fans with his blog which he would update after every game and sign off by sending out virtual hugs to everyone. The soft-spoken Spaniard has given us plenty of reasons to not hate him.
Whether it be lauding rival club player Mesut Ozil up when he was going through a bad phase or helping the kit-man and his staff with the messy laundry or always being polite and gentlemanly towards his opposition players, teammates and academy players, it is hard to find a footballer nicer and more polite than Mata.