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Football is a game of narratives. While every fan has their own heroes and villains, there are some fairly consistent constants. Everyone is charmed by N'Golo Kante, for example. The flip side of this coin are the players who consistently attract the scorn of fans, for a variety of reasons.
Some of the bigger names that would traditionally have graced this list; the Pepe's and Ashley Cole's of this world, are fading into irrelevancy on the global stage, but that simply leaves a vacancy for new pantomime villains to emerge, taking their spots.
#10 Cristiano Ronaldo
Most discussions about Ronaldo involve at least one participant saying, 'Yeah, he's very good, but...'. Unquestionably one of the greatest to ever play the game, the admiration for Ronaldo has been much more grudging than the plaudits that have always flowed towards Lionel Messi, for example.
He has a reputation for diving that he has never shaken off, a petulance to his game that makes him seem averse to even his own teammates scoring instead of him, and of course, he is far from shy about his own ability. Fundamentally, Ronaldo is a player so single-minded about scoring goals and winning trophies, that he has no interest in earning supporters affection, just their respect.
#9 Jack Rodwell
Football, the great game of the working class, tends to have supporters who take an extremely dim view of any display of greed. Contract disputes are an easy way to earn the scorn of fans; players turning their noses up at the sort of weekly wages most people struggle to earn in a year.
Ashley Cole is a textbook example. In recent years though, many have suggested that the Cole situation was far from simple; that behind the scenes, there was more to it than just a greedy young man. Jack Rodwell is a player who would struggle to make the same claim, given Netflix documented his contract discussion for the world to see.
Rodwell had a £70,000 per week contract at a Sunderland side in dire financial trouble, and hadn't played in months. Midway through 'Sunderland til I Die', the camera's capture Sunderland's Chief Executive, and other players asking Rodwell to either cancel this deal for the good of the club, or actually trouble himself to play for them.
The episode concludes with the news that Rodwell decided to do neither, and continue to watch from the stands as Sunderland suffered a second consecutive relegation, eating into their budget. Rodwell is currently doing well at Blackburn, but the world has witnessed his transgression, and he is unlikely to be forgiven any time soon.
#8 Dejan Lovren
Like Ronaldo, Dejan Lovren is not shy about his own ability. Unlike Ronaldo however, Lovren's results on the pitch are not consistent with his opinion of himself. Those who are familiar with Lovren's work would struggle with the claim that he is among the greatest defenders in the world, with erraticism and poor decision making tending to characterise the Croatian's game just as much as his ability does.
Whilst to some extent, Lovren's defensiveness is understandable considering the level of criticism he receives, he earns himself no new fans with the way he constantly demands respect. Lovren is a talented centre back who has had some great games for Liverpool, but can't really be considered one of the world's premier defenders when 21-year-old Joe Gomez has taken his spot in the starting line-up for Liverpool.
#7 Ruben Semedo
It is often overlooked that professional footballers are still just young men, some of them teenagers. Off the field indiscretions are inevitable, and supporters actually tend to be fairly forgiving for mistakes that can be attributed to immaturity. Photographs with 'women of the night' are one thing though, armed robbery and attempted murder another.
Ruben Semedo is currently out on bail, awaiting trial for an incident where he and two accomplices allegedly tied up, assaulted and robbed a man in Spain. Incredibly, Semedo is still under contract for Rio Ave in the top division in Portugal. He has only one appearance to his name this season, but you can be sure that when/if he takes to the pitch again, the reception he receives will be intense, to say the least.
#6 Neymar
Neymar is a footballer of near unrivalled ability, but his reputation is equally built on diving and theatrics as it is jaw dropping skills and goals. At the 2018 World Cup, as much as he would have hoped to define it by winning the Golden Boot and propelling Brazil to victory, he will instead be remembered for his ludicrous diving against Mexico; the ridiculous exaggeration of both the fall and the 'pain' that followed.
Some see Neymar as a petulant child who is incensed when things don't go his way; others see him as a conniving, street wise fighter who will cross the line in order to win, exaggerating challenges in the hope of gaining an advantage or getting opponents sent off. Either way, set apart from his legions of adoring young fans, he is unpopular, to say the least.
#5 Luis Suarez
Suarez has been relatively quiet on the controversy front for several years now, but his track record will secure him a place on lists like this until he retires. In an average game, he is unlikeable enough; nasty, petulant and aggresive, but it is his high profile transgressions that have earned him infamy. On three occasions, he has bitten his opponents, and of course his handball that denied Ghana a place in the World Cup semi-final still ranks high for everyone who isn't Uruguayan.
It wasn't merely the handball; it was the way he celebrated afterwards, as if he had heroically scored the winner for his country rather than cheated their opponents out of a semi-final place (which would have been the first for an African team, at the first African World Cup).
#4 Paul Pogba
In England, midfielders tend to be defined by blood and thunder. Those raised on Vieira, Keane and Gerrard, for whom every second on the pitch was imbued with ferocity, have never quite known what to make of Pogba. He is 6'3'', with superhuman athleticism, who plays in the heart of midfield, yet often seems unwilling to get involved with the dirty side of the game.
His attacking contributions are also sometimes not enough for a player blessed with such ridiculous talent. However, what really irritates people about Pogba is his demeanour; he often seems more concerned with dancing, social media and other trends rather than his football. Ex players, notoriously Graeme Souness, take particular issue with the Frenchman.
#3 Diego Costa
Diego Costa is a one man army who has waged war on central defenders his entire career. His movement is sharp, his touch excellent and finishing prolific, but opposition defenders are normally far more concerned with the kicking, scratching, gouging and taunting they receive from him.
Costa plays on the very edge, which makes opposition players despise him, and inevitably their fans as well. In England, he was held in contempt everywhere except Chelsea, and even there he is remembered less than fondly after attempting to force a move to China.
Like Suarez and Neymar, Costa is a streetwise player who is willing to cross the line in order to win football games. If he is doing that for your team, provoking opponents into red cards and bullying his way to goals, he is a hero. If you support anyone else though, he is one of the easiest people to despise in the world game.
#2 Sergio Ramos
Red cards are an occupational hazard of playing in the most confrontational role on a football team. Even the most elegant centre halves, the likes of Vincent Kompany and Paulo Maldini, picked them up occasionally in their career. For Sergio Ramos to have accumulated 25 though suggests his game may be characterized by aggression that crosses the line into nastiness.
Certainly he is villified by every Spanish fan who doesn't support Real, he is persona non grata in Liverpool, and would probably struggle to even get a visa in Egypt, such is the level of vitriol directed towards him for injuring Mohammed Salah in last season's Champions League final. Ramos doesn't seem particularly fazed by this though, and at times seems to relish his role as football's (almost) ultimate bad guy.
#1 Mauro Icardi
Whilst the likes of Ramos, Costa and Suarez are vilified by the majority of those who follow football, they can at least take solace in the adulation they receive from their own fans. Ramos is undisputably a Real Madrid legend; Costa and Suarez are adored by the fanbases they have showcased their undoubted ability to.
Mauro Icardi is a world class player who is hated even by his own fans. Icardi first began to court controversy when the wife of his Sampdoria teammate, Maxi Lopez, divorced him and married Icardi months later, who subsequently took custody of Lopez's children. He then moved to Inter, where he quickly became imbroiled in a feud with their ultras, the most hardcore fans, writing in a 2016 autobiography that he would bring '100 criminals from Argentina to kill them'.
One of the best strikers in the world, he has struggled to get in the Argentina squad, many speculate due to the controversy he courts, and has recently been stripped of the Inter captaincy. Icardi is surely the only world class footballer in the world who is hated even by those he represents.
