Former Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic came to the aid of Harry Maguire in a recent interview.
The Serbian left the club in the summer to reunite with Jose Mourinho at AS Roma.
Matic was one of United’s only proficient defensive midfielders but was used sparingly under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Norwegian manager preferred the tenacity and speed of Fred and Scott McTominay as compared to the experience and guile of Matic.
The 34 year old was asked about the hate Maguire receives, to which he replied:
“What people are doing to him [Maguire] is a disaster.”
” Everything has to have limits, and some of these people writing on social media, they don’t have their own lives, so they just have to write bad things about someone else.”
Matic also took a jibe at Roy Keane for his relentless criticism of United.
“I have respect for what he has done, but he needs to understand that football has changed.”
“If I played for Chelsea, I cannot say I hate them. I cannot be angry when I’m talking to the press after the game.”
“The way he behaved on the pitch, 70 per cent of it is a red card today.”
“You cannot throw a punch when all the cameras in the world are there.”
“The real hero is when you go out on the street and say something, but he was always very nice to me, so what he says in public, to be honest, I don’t really care.”
“I know what I’ve done in my career, and I’m very happy.”