Although criticism of Gigio Donnarumma is understandable after some poor performances with Italy and PSG, too many fans on social media have abused him and, sometimes seem to be happy when the goalkeeper underperforms, writes Lorenzo Bettoni.
Donnarumma wouldn’t expect such a difficult season only nine months ago when he led Italy to win Euro 2020, becoming the best player in the tournament. It was the first time that a goalkeeper ever achieved it at the Euros and it was the right recognition for the most crucial Azzurri figure last summer.
Despite his achievement on the international stage, in November the 23-year-old received a shocking reception at San Siro a few months after his free transfer to PSG when Italy hosted Spain in the Nations League semi-finals. The thousands of Milan fans at the Meazza booed him every time he touched the ball. Roberto Mancini’s boy ended their 37-game unbeaten run that night, but things had begun going downhill even before for the Azzurri.
Many (not myself) saw Donnarumma at fault for North Macedonia’s winner at Palermo last week, while the PSG man could undoubtedly do more – to say the least – to avoid Turkey’s two goals last night. His performance at Konya mirrored his season. The 23-year-old has become infamously famous for costing PSG a spot in the Champions League quarter-finals. Despite an incredible save on Karim Benzema in the second leg against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, Gigio gave away the ball that the French striker converted in the Merengues’ equaliser, sparking the comeback of Carlo Ancelotti’s men. It’s been all like that for Gigio this term: hot and cold.
The majority of Milan fans are undoubtedly happy to see their ex-goalkeeper far from his best form, especially because the Rossoneri welcomed a solid replacement in Mike Maignan, who has delivered consistently this season. Milan supporters will never forgive Donnarumma and they have the right to do so. Still, looking at some comments on social media (and also on this website), it’s easy to spot a general feeling of hate for the 23-year-old who has honestly done nothing bad to deserve insults and abuse of any kind.
The clearest example is offered by looking at comments after positive Donnarumma performances. You would find plenty of fans asking to stop talking about him because he is playing abroad, after all. There are apposite reactions when Gigio is not up to the task and some fans are eager to comment on his bad day.
Despite still supporting Italy, some of them are just happy when he makes mistakes, not only for PSG, but also for his national team. This is frankly crazy. How can hate for a player be stronger than the love for a team? And who can claim leaving Milan and Serie A should have made him a weaker footballer? Many tend to forget that Gigio is only 23 years old and, if he follows in Gigi Buffon or Manuel Neuer’s footsteps, we’ll be talking about him for more than 15 years to come. It is normal to go through tough times at any stage of a career, especially when you are still very young. Donnarumma is not overrated, as many say these days, he is just having a difficult season and there are plenty of reasons behind it.
It’s true, Gigio left his childhood club to join a team that is not exactly among the most loved in the world. But can you really blame him? Despite Milan being one of the most exciting clubs in Italy as the Serie A table leaders, Paris offered Donnarumma a more challenging environment, on and off the pitch. He had to learn a new language and a new culture while battling week in, week out, with one of the best goalkeepers in the world. It may not be an ideal solution short-term, but Gigio will benefit from it in the long run. Italy are lucky to have somebody like him between the sticks for so many years. Honestly, he doesn’t deserve this harsh treatment from fans (not only Milan’s) who cheer every time he fails. It’s unfair and ultimately harmful towards the best Italian player that we have at the moment.
@lorebetto
Penalty save on Saka to win.
Enough said.
Thank you Gigi!
I understand, I still love Donnarumma. I wish him to be with the Azzurri for many years winning many titles BUT he created this mess himself. He chose money even at the cost of going to a zoo of a club (PSG). People got on his case, PSG is not a good team and not having a good season, he isn’t playing consistently and lately he’s mad costly errors which affected his confidence and play with his national team. I wonder if all this could’ve been avoided if he would’ve just stayed with Milan or picked a better club to play for.
Well said Lorenzo!
Perhaps he is suffering from a lack of confidence, but we have the best keeper in the world! He will prove that in the future! Leave him alone!
Clearly you are not milan fans so just keep your opinion to yourself. Rather than told us to respect him while we got disrespected. Next time write something useful, not just based on your opinion
23 years old with 6 seasons as the number 1 goalkeeper in a top division does not justify these simple mistakes. He is too hot and cold. A goalkeeper should be consistent more than spectacular making saves he should keep out and can be forgiven for not making the spectacular saves. He has always made silly mistakes and gets too much credit for those incredible ones he makes. I would rather have a goalkeeper who does less but is reliable represent my club and country.
Ever thought of not having Donnaruma content when we select Milan on the app or the Milan section on the site? Then you won’t have to deal with ppl berating him. And when he has a good or bad day then ur just fuelling the animosity Milan fans have towards him so it becomes a vicious cycle
@Blog – Why do you think he had to stay at Milan? What gives Milan fans the right to tell a human being where to work? Do you own him because he played at Milan???
It’s his fault to choose to be benches, and it’s stupid choice, everything he got is based on his choice made in the past, and he deserves it, he need to clear his mind and move from psg as fast as possible, even if it mean a paycut
Nobody blamed him for leaving, it’s only natural to do what you think is the best for you. But he could have renewed with Milan first so that the club could benefit and the money for his sale had stayed in Italy, instead of it going to PSG (in the event that they sell him). Instead he dragged it out and in the end he economically hurt the club that made him.
we all need to be backing this young crop
of players and stop all insulting Calcio … we aren’t a bad side all of a sudden and I feel for Mancio here … he has felt loyalty to Ciro / Jorginho / Insigne when in reality they shouldn’t have played
“…who has honestly done nothing bad to deserve insults and abuse of any kind” You’re serious Lorenzo?
I know you are a Juve fan and not condoning imbecilic behavior but perhaps you could have shown some consideration and empathy from the Milan‘s point of view. That statement makes you look ignorant and disconnected to how everything played out and degenerated.
Oh well, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
We no longer care about Gigio. Dont blame Milan for his poor performances.
Most Milan fans are over this. Maignan being an upgrade helped. However, if he is, as you say the best Italian player at the moment, its little wonder Italy didn’t qualify
Donnarumma doesn’t deserve hate. But he is a grown man who can live with the consequences of his actions. And if he can’t do that, he isn’t the champion we all think he is.
Maldini is 100% committed to fielding the best possible team for Milan without falling in love with players. I am sure he could’ve kept him if he thought it was worth it.
I think the hype with Gigi is due to his age and his penalty saves, but overall he is not that great. I believe Milan fans wanted him to stay because he was a “Milanista” who came from the youth academy. But as a Milan fan myself, I turned my cheek to his constant mistakes and poor ball distribution because I was rooting for his success.
He is not the best Italian player.
Her doesn’t deserve hate but neither does he deserve respect.
It’s amazing how fast people forget everything good a player has done. All it takes is one mistake. And I don’t get why all you Milanistas hate him so much. Is he really the only one to blame for not reaching an agreement with Milan? Like most of you, I only know what I read in the media (which was probably only a fraction of the truth) and that is that he wanted a higher salary than Milan were willing to pay. I honestly don’t think that he was asking for to much, and this is coming from a Juve-fan who has hated Milan from the day I started watching football.
Gigio, if you are reading this by any chance, I would love to see you in a Juve shirt, I think you have it in you to become a legend just like your namesake, the one and only Gigi Buffon
Well, just remember what Luca Lucci of Curva Sud once said in response to Donnarumma.
One short paragraph to quote:
“You won’t be able to buy what you lose today! The respect of the people, that respect that when one looks at you they say ‘he is really a beautiful person’. You will never be that, always the ungrateful boy, the attack boy, the boy with the money, the Raiola boy!
Lucci said it all. Once you understand what he said, then you will understand how Milanista feel.
His decisions. His fault.
He disrespected Milan and it fans. He doesn’t get respect from Milan fans? His decision, his fault.
He is poor since Euros? His decision to go to Paris and keep the bench warm instead of playing constantly. His decision, his fault.
He chose money over pride? His decision, his fault.
He got fat Raiola as agent, who ruins his career? His choice/decision, his fault.
So, write 10000 pages of blogs and articles. BL: His decision, his fault!
yeah i am sure he has nothing better to do than read your comments NJC that and just sitting there counting his money … I think he will end up at Juve at some point as per the Pizzaiolo’s original Plan before Juve ran out of money and started falsifying their books …. honour amongst thieves, you both deserve each other to be honest
@Blog. Well, actually, this piece seems to be what you would call an “opinion piece” in the world of journalism, as opposed to a report on an event, or an investigative pieace. The very purpose of an opinion piece is to offer an opinion. And everyone is entitled to their own opinion, just not their own facts.
As for the opinion, I don’t care. I’m over Donnarumma in the sense of his history with Milan. We all know how it went down. We all know he could have renewed and then been sold, etc. It’s over now. He’s gone and we have Maignan. I feel no need to constantly attack him, as these mistakes could very well have happened with him in our goal. And then what? Everyone is laughing at Milan for overpaying for Donnarumma? Let’s move on already.
Didn’t this same author put out a piece today highlighting Donnaruma’s “continuing nightmare”, oh the irony lol
Donnaruma is fault because he moved to psg, thats biggest mistake, and about italy miss for world cup its not his fault, only Jorginho is responsible for this and I not understand why italians still not cut his head of, its crazy, not understood why is here donnaruma fault when there is totaly others to blame
I actually feel real pity for the juventus author and the juventus fans here, Donnarumma is not and never will be buffon, his is not your saviour so stop bending over backwards at every chance to A: have a dig at how Milan fans see him and B: try to comfort a player because you covet him its just pathetic and weak. We Mialn fans have moved on, We Milan fans are happy with out goalkeeper, We Milan fans have every right to not give respect to a person that showed the club no respect.
Maldini : can we talk about that contract renewal now, like you said
Donnarumma : Talk to my agent.
Now remember the respect he showed Maldini and Milan then UNDERSTAND, and finally Stop dragging us Milan fans into every discussion for this P$G player
“Respect is earned, not given”
Well said @1MIKEJ well said. Spot on.
Dollarumma must be so sad right now that Mino isn’t well, as he can’t defend him publicly throughout all this.
More or less the same earnings at PSG but 15-20m commission to Mino sums this up really well.
Forza MM! Couldn’t be happier with you Magic Eagle!
Respect, at any level of life, must be earned.
If Donnarumma wants respect, then work hard, prove that you’re worth the money, treat people right and in time that respect will come.
He HAD respect at Milan but lost it through his own decisions.
He’s not a child and doesn’t need to be treated like one. He’s a 6ft-something 23 year old multi-millionaire so don’t tell the rest of us it’s our duty to wipe his tears away.
People expect too much coz he has shown what he can do. But, Lollarumma keeps making silly mistakes at critical junctures constantly, from his time at Milan. He is still childish, can’t focus for 90 minutes and is worse than a granny with the ball at his feet. For all the exceptional, out of the world saves he makes, he makes mistakes like these which make him a liability. I hope the Italian national team finds another generational talent that is ready to be humble and put in some work to get to the top rather than a money hungry snake who doesn’t wanna learn from his past mistakes. As simple as that.
He lost respect of Most Fans by the way he treated Milan in his departure. Left for $$$ without even allowing Milan to get a price for him. Moved to PSG, cost them the UCL, failed to save a shot from 30 Yr out vs Macedonia, he is overrated and will never be Buffon.
If he is the best Italian player, no wonder we missed the WC.
He chases only money and does not care about team achievement.
23 yo and he already felt like superstar and can move from serie a for his fun and money, he felt lime 23 god of goalkeepers, and here we see where is now this trash person, I think I will not forgive him anymone and he can not come back to serie a never, we will find other superstar keeper lime always and need to forget about this one, he made disastrous mistake moving from serie a
Sadly I have commented on this too many times. IT IS THE SYSTEM THAT IS BROKEN , Gigio is participant in it. The victor is without a doubt the agent.
To all of you wondering why Milan fans are not happy. Some players will re sign even though they know they are leaving, to make peace and allow a club a bit of revenue from a sale to replace them. Milan fans felt Gigio could have done this. They also feel he was playing a game of chicken with Maldini and forced a free transfer.
Money in his pocket and out of Milan’s . Why PSG bought him is the bigger question?
I was sad to see him go and wish him well. But he has tarnished his image, too bad his agent didn’t advise him of the pitfalls of leaving as he did. Instead his agent pushed for it lining his pockets and Gigio’s. A real agent would have advised him different, but ce la vie I guess .
I do question whether those who question Milan fans response even get football.
First football is not supposed to be rational. We’re watching people kicking a ball around who are arbitrarily not allowed to use their hands. It’s the definition of superfluous. Football is a good medium to get out one’s irrational emotions.
Speaking of irrational emotions, what are those emotions? Do I love “Milan”? What is “Milan”? A brand? Its history? Players from years ago? “Milan” has to be the players that we watch each week who are arbitrarily not allowed to use their hands. That’s the whole point. When we support the club we support the players. The two are inseparable.
That’s what draws fans to football clubs. Sure locality is a factor but most localities have more than one club and many fans don’t come from the locatlity of their club.
One of the critical pillars in getting Milan back into the champions league, and won the euro’s at wembley whilst being voted player of the tournament. Gigio is already a legend.
He didn’t even go for the money tho,nearly the same salary only difference is agent commision.
The whole article seems to be written by someone who didn’t follow the ordeal:
1) Milan doesn’t have the financial power it used to have
2) This thing stretched over the years, and the management tried everything
3) Clubs like Milan have prospects, where the build the players teach them and hope to sell them for profit
4) He snubbed Milan contract talks for PSG for free
Milan sold Both Sheva and KAKA, both are icons for the past 30 years. Sheva wanted to leave (cause of his wife), kaka had to be sold to cover losses (initially to Chelsea but he refused and choose Madrid) both are still beloved by fans and the club.
When a player show some integrity and respect ppl tend to show the same. Not only the club fans, but football fans in general. albeit, Milan don’t own him or his decisions, but walking away from renewal and going for free is the worst move a player can do to a club and fans, there is even a term used by journalists “contract rebel”
Saying that we should show respect, is naïve, fans are the sport, fans are the emotion, and emotion is what drives this game. Same goes for Hakan.
Yeah sure… every time Dona messes up there is a spin campaign (i wonder who pays for that) to change the conversation to somehow make it a Milan fans fault. it’s transparent and pathetic. how about owning up to your decisions and your mistakes. That would be a first small step towards respect.
He is a very young guy who, encouraged by his agent, made the wrong choice. How many of us have made bad decisions when we were that age?
Milan fans have many reasons to hate Gigio. It’s not about his loyalty in questions, but how he treated the team. He can go anywhere: PSG, Real Madrid, Manchester City or any rich clubs he wants, but don’t take the club as hostage for his greedy agent’s commission. If he really wants to go, just make it clear earlier, not at the last minutes. Gigio and Raiola knew that Milan didn’t have many choices and was threatened to be left without a good goalkeeper this season. Fortunately, Maldini co. anticipated this and secured Mike’s signature, and the rest is a history.
IMHO Kessie is much better. At least his status with Barca is clear and I think Milan fans will still respect him if he can keep his professionalism until the end of the season. So, yes, Gigio is certainly a legend and has a bright future, but he should learn his lessons. Some fans might be OK with his decision, but don’t expect ultras have the same thinking. Gigio should know this before making his decision.
As a Italy fan, I wish he can regain his confidence and play at the highest level in the future.
As a Milan fan, tbh I don’t care much where he will go next because we currently have a much better goalkeeper than him.
Respect needs to be earned, Lorenzo. You seem to be that bias amateur writer that doesn’t know what’s going on. And take out everything Milan in Donnarumma story, he played BAD in the last decisive games with PSG at Champions League and Italy in World Cup. Past achievements can’t always get you out of jail, ESPECIALLY when you made mistakes like tried to dribbiling Benzema and missed out a save that costs you the World Cup. So shut up, amateur writter, and write better story.