He gets criticized when he takes the blame and says they need to do better as a team, now he gets criticized when he says that he is playing alright within a system that isn't functioning properly.
I think he has played much better this season. His level of play has been even higher when he has protection.
Basically, he can't win with any response. If he doesn't say anything, we say that he lacks passion. If he yells at people on the team, we say he's being overly critical and ignoring the fact that he isn't doing enough.