Henrikh Mkhitaryan took issue with the criticism directed at Paul Pogba during his Manchester United days.
The Armenian moved to Old Trafford in the same summer as the Red Devils' record signing.
Pogba's second spell at United has seen him come in for regular criticism, but Mkhitaryan felt some of it was directed at his life away from the pitch.
The 28-year-old's charismatic nature attracts a certain amount of attention, be that good or bad.
But Pogba's former team-mate has stuck up for him insisting people need to see the whole picture before they judge him.
He told The Athletic : “It doesn’t matter if you are Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba or someone else, they will see something in you, small details to criticise.
"When Paul was playing everyone was criticising him for his hairstyle. I don’t think that has something to do with football, that’s his personal life.
"If he plays bad, criticise him for his bad performance, not his hairstyle. That’s not good. It has nothing to do with football.
"And you know, some people that don’t know him, some people who haven’t trained with him or played with him they don’t see these kinds of things.
"You have to be in the team, you have to see the way he trains, the way he thinks, the way he suffers and then say if he played good or he played bad.”
Mkhitaryan has since left Manchester and is now at Roma, the team standing between United and the Europa League final.
He endured a difficult start to life at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho before finding his feet and has largely fond memories.
"What I want to say is that I had a hard time but after the first two or three months there, I had a very good time," he added.
The playmaker will renew acquaintances with several former team-mates on Thursday night when Roma visit United in the first-leg of their semi-final.
