Gotoku Sakai, who plays for second division side Hamburger SV, was on the receiving end of supporters’ bashing after a photo of the team in pre-season training was posted on social media.

Despite holding strongly in the top two position of the 2. Bundesliga for most of the 2018/19 season, Hamburger ultimately collapsed at the end and finished in 4th, outside of the promotion places. As a result, Sakai became the centrepiece of fan frustrations.

In the final match of the season, Sakai was booed by a section of the supporters when he came on in the 83rd minute. Whistling was heard every time he touched the ball. He cut a desolate figure after the game.

Hamburger begin a new season with the target of promotion under former Borussia Monchengladbach manager Dieter Hecking. To mark the start of pre-season, the club posted a photo of the team in training on Instagram. And the sight of Sakai – faintly visible in the background – got some supporters riled up. Comments like “He should be gone”, “Cancel his cancel” and “Why did we pay 500,000 euros for him” flooded the post. Many supporters came to Sakai’s defence, with comments like “It’s repulsive to attack a person” and “It’s a big mistake to put all the blame on Sakai”.

As the bashing became obvious, the club stepped in with the following message: “Sakai is a true professional who is contracted with us, and he has given everything for the club. As a footballer, his attitude and loyalty are exemplary. We hope our fans will support him like they would with all other players.”

The media have criticised the bashing. 90min stated that “such actions are unbecoming of a fan”, while local newspaper Hamburger Morgenpost wrote, “New manager Hecking rates Sakai highly. And he thinks that the inappropriate criticism is out of place. Sakai acknowledges that as well. It’s certainly a difficult situation to garner support once again from the fans so soon. But even if everything goes wrong, it’s not sorely his responsibility.”

While Sakai’s contract with Hamburger runs until June 2020, he has shown inclination of returning to Japan towards the end of last season. But now that he is involved in pre-season training, the prospect of him staying on with the club is a possibility.

For Japanese football news: CoolJapan Soccer

Source: Yahoo

Image: HSV tweet