Diogo Dalot can fluently speak multiple languages, but Chinese is probably not one of them. Well, if you were to ask some Manchester United fans, it might be the turn he starts learning the Asian language.
The Portuguese defender has become an important part of the United backline under Erik ten Hag. He’s managed to pip Aaron Wan-Bissaka and be their regular first-team right-back, featuring much more often than he did under any of the previous managers since his arrival at Old Trafford.
Dalot is well known for his crossing ability and tendency to work as a swift wing-back who can add more creative threat to his side. He’s also improved his defensive work from previous seasons, which is why Ten Hag keeps giving him opportunities.
However, the Portuguese defender had a forgettable afternoon at St. James Park on Sunday – where his side went down to a 2-0 loss to Newcastle United.
Dalot under fire for poor showing against Newcastle
Dalot has been tormented by Newcastle in all his recent meetings with them this season. It started with the Carabao Cup final, in which Allan Saint-Maximin proved to be a nightmare for the defender with his movement.
The French winger’s dribbling ability and trickery allowed him to expose Dalot’s weaknesses and pile the pressure on the Red Devils. That forced Ten Hag to take Dalot off and replace him with Aaron Wan-Bissaka at half-time, which proved to be a masterstroke as the Englishman completely neutralized Newcsatle’s threat.
However, with Wan-Bissaka unavailable for the trip to St. James Park, Ten Hag couldn’t pull out that card anymore. Instead, Dalot had to play the entire game and was again given a humble by Saint Maximin – who set up the first goal and created more chances than anyone else in the game.
Saint-Maximin had Dalot’s number, being able to burst past him with ease and capitalizing on his issues perfectly. While the Portuguese defender has been occasionally error-prone all season long, his poor performance against Newcastle has ticked off some fans.
The meaning behind Dalot being mocked with Chinese Memes
Several Manchester United fans were infuriated at Dalot for causing problems for his backline with his shaky defending against Newcastle and inability to neutralize Saint-Maximin’s threat.
Some fans seem to have lost all faith in his ability and want the Red Devils to find an upgrade over him next season. Some have even hounded him with the ‘Get Ready to Learn Chinese Buddy’ memes.
For a stranger, this could come out as weird. Why would Dalot have to learn Chinese anyways? Well, this is inspired by a running gag around social media where many sports fans often direct this insult to underperforming players.
The ‘Get Ready to Learn Chinese Buddy’ is a fake quote inspired by something NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. A macro image of Silver with the fake quote ‘Get Ready to Learn Chinese Buddy’ started spreading around Twitter in November 2022 and is being used by many football fans these days too.
The original meme indicated that Silver is telling NBA superstar Kyrie Irving to start learning how to understand and speak Chinese because he might be shipped off to China’s CBA.
Silver did not, of course, make any kind of such statement and this is part of the fake quote memes that go around the internet. Fans have been inspired by this to urge Dalot to start taking Chinese-speaking classes as he might be sold to a Chinese Super League side in the summer.
While Dalot does have many things he needs to work on improving in his game, he’s still just 24 and has a long career ahead of him. Moreover, he’s shown signs of major improvement all season long and his general performances have been solid.
While he tends to be quite active on social media, the Portuguese defender is unlikely to pay much attention to the ‘learn Chinese’ taunts and use them as motivation to get even better.
