A tad harsh?
It would be an understatement to say that Tiémoué Bakayoko has underwhelmed for Chelsea this season. The French midfielder arrived from Monaco in the summer to replace the outgoing Nemanja Matić and fans were excited. Monaco had won Ligue 1 last season with a midfield pairing of him and Fabinho, but he has not been able to show the same form he did in France.
His season lowlight came at Vicarage Road when Chelsea lost 4-1 to Watford. During the first half Bakayoko picked up two yellow cards and was sent off before the break, leaving his team a huge task in the second half of beating Watford with one less player.
However, Antonio Conte still picks him regularly, partly due to his reluctance to play Cesc Fàbregas in a midfield two against sides who could expose his lack of athleticism. And he would likely play against Barcelona on Tuesday if he were not ruled out through injury.
While many Chelsea supporters understandably won't have wanted him to play against Barcelona, some are actively celebrating his absence on social media, seeing it as giving them a bigger chance of overcoming the Catalan giants without the hindrance o Bakayoko playing in midfield.
You could argue it's a bit harsh on the player.
https://twitter.com/AussieConte29/status/964976298958372864
https://twitter.com/Wemmy__/status/964634282990940161
https://twitter.com/CarefreeTom_182/status/965210673830682624
https://twitter.com/pompeydboss/status/965171950346756097
https://twitter.com/General_North/status/965154540654915584
https://twitter.com/ArnoldSantos22/status/965149096091713536
https://twitter.com/der_pun/status/965069881854058497
https://twitter.com/andreydavisug/status/964915539981213696
https://twitter.com/TheBeardedRauI/status/964912022658932736
https://twitter.com/Swaka_Em/status/964903033531453441
https://twitter.com/ItsMrBlueGuy/status/964889898128875520
https://twitter.com/eyy_hoesay_/status/964876328976764928
Some fans even decided to send the player completely unwarranted abuse, which Bakayoko read and 'liked' on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/tundesubair2012/status/964133817110925312
https://twitter.com/bazanwar/status/963038344463740930
https://twitter.com/_TrulyBlue/status/963394399676837888
Which prompted others to send him tweets of encouragement.
https://twitter.com/turkyalbatel/status/963390730822615040
It's refreshing to see that the minority of abusive fans were outweighed by the majority of sympathetic fans.
https://twitter.com/BackOnYourTL/status/964889744520990721
https://twitter.com/Bala1686Mohan/status/961299559056998405
It's a shame that some fans often forget that footballers are human beings with emotions who often experience rough patches in their professional lives, and that social media gives them a platform to abuse the players. But it's a small consolation to see other fans defending the underperforming player.
