Chelsea defender Trevor Chalobah deletes tweet praising Declan Rice; fan backlash cited as the cause

Social media strikes once again when it comes to the footballing world today, with Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah forced to take action on his personal Twitter account.

Chalobah took to the increasingly frustrating platform in praise for West Ham’s Declan Rice after the midfielder put in an inspired performance during the Hammers 4-1 win against Leicester City on Monday night at the London Stadium.

As ever, Rice was a linchpin in the heart of the West Ham command and control center, and Chalobah replied to Rice’s own Twitter post which praised his sides three-point haul with a simple ‘big player.’

But the immediate aftermath of the tweet was met with outrage, frustration, and eventual demands that Chalobah, who is friends with Rice from their days in Chelsea’s academey, should remove the tweet, which he eventually did.

The question that now remains is where the line must be drawn; how far will fans go on social media platforms to continue to try to influence matters out of their control through the utilization of backlash, both genuine and fake?

If players that are friends outside of the competitive sphere that exists on the pitch are unable to show support for one another when they are off it, should fans have a look in the mirror at the tribal nature of football and wonder if things are being taken a step too far? After all, it’s just football…not the Capulets and Montagues.