It was no surprise to hear Erik ten Hag, the former Manchester United manager, bemoan that the modern player can no longer take criticism.
He's right. A combination of factors is to blame. The wokeism that exists in everyday life and permeates through society. Money. Media exposure. And the power of their asset value to a football club. All of those elements make it extremely difficult to manage the modern footballer.
If I even pulled a face at something a coach said to me in my time, even as a senior player and captain at Liverpool, I'd be met with a torrent of what today's player would call abuse.