Diego Forlan: Napoli’s Higuain, overweight? Who cares, goals speak louder than critics in football

In his weekly column, Diego Forlan examines what it is like to be a footballer on the receiving end of criticism, from fans and media alike, and growing ever louder in the age of social media.

Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain shown during his team's Serie A match against Fiorentina last weekend. Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / February 29, 2016

Diego Forlan writes a weekly column for The National, appearing each Friday. The former Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid striker has been the top scorer in Europe twice and won the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup. Forlan’s column will be written with the assistance of European football correspondent Andy Mitten.

I was surprised when Napoli's president publicly described Gonzalo Higuain, his best player, as overweight.

It's strange because Higuain is doing great. He's the top scorer in Serie A, on target to score to score 30 league goals in a season since Luca Toni ten years ago. And Toni was the first to break 30 since 1955 when another great Argentinian striker, Antonio Angelillo did it with Inter Milan.

If he is a little overweight, who cares? He’s having the best season he has ever had; he is a hero of the fans.

Professional footballers have to deal with criticism every day. It is part of the job and if the criticism is about football, that is usually fine.

More Diego

– Manchester City, Pep Guardiola and Manuel Pellegrini all know the deal – coaches come and go

– Manchester United, nor anyone else, should think they are above Europa League

It often is not. You can shield yourself from the abuse – which has got a lot worse with social media – but you still get to hear what people are saying, especially if it is controversial.

Napoli's president does not want his best player to leave and he should have spoken to Higuain in private, but it could be his way of giving him some encouragement, done in the straight talking way of a Neapolitan. Or it could be out of frustration because Napoli have slipped off the top of the league and lost to Juventus, the team in the best form and most likely to win the title.

If a president said it about me, I’d use it in a good way as a motivational tool and be determined to prove him wrong and shut his mouth as soon as possible.

As a player, you know whether you are in shape or playing well better than anyone. I am my own biggest critic and live my life honestly. I will also speak to my family about my performances. They have played professional football, I respect their opinion. My father knows how to analyse a game and while we do not always agree, I’ll listen to him.

I’ll listen to others, too. Sometimes critics can point out a truth, but the number of people commenting has become a flood with social media.

I have five million followers on Twitter and can get thousands of messages some days. It has opened a door for direct interaction with fans which is a good thing, but sometimes fans can be so mean and angry and they do not realise another human is reading what they are writing. There is no filter, people say whatever they want and if you react then that is what they want.

You can be sure that your reaction rather than their tweet will be in the news.

You have to know how to handle criticism. I can remember being a young player at Independiente and being annoyed at my rating out of ten in one newspaper. While I’d not scored, I’d played well and so I was mad that this journalist could not see it. I was 20 years old and furious.

From that day on, I was determined not to be affected by what journalists wrote and not to care if they gave me a ‘3’ or a ‘10’. They had a right to their opinions; they had no right to affect my emotions.

I decided to try and not to be swayed by praise or criticism. During the 2010 World Cup finals, I received a lot of praise. During the next finals, I received a lot of criticism. That came because I did not play as well or score like in 2010. It also came because the senior players are more likely to receive criticism than younger ones. That is better because the first waves of criticism can be hard for a young player to take.

A player needs to know how to react. Sometimes you can accept criticism, but if it is going to affect them in a bad way and hurt your game and confidence then it is better not to read and give space in your brain for abuse.

It is better to block it out. You have to have faith in your own ability which has got you to the level you are at in the first place. You have to realise that the mood of the fans can swing wildly with each result.

I read that I was too old to play for the national team, then, after a goal, told that I had to play every game. You cannot be caught up in all that, you would go crazy.

The intentions of the critic can be a reason for what they write also. A journalist may support another team, he may not like you personally, he may feel aggrieved for any number of reasons. I try to live my life the best I can, but if some people do not like it, I’m sorry but this is me. I cannot please everybody.

I also think that some journalists understand football and some do not. Just because they know how to write a transfer story does not mean they know how to analyse a game.

Football is a simple game which is hard to understand tactically. Some of my best matches have been where I’ve not even scored or assisted a goal. It might be where I’ve made movement to create space for another player to score, but not everyone sees that. They might think that you have done nothing in a game.

Whichever way you look at it, Higuain has played well and scored lots of goals. If he carries on doing that then the fans are going to get mad at the president for criticising him. And no president likes criticism from his own fans.

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport