When did rivalries stop mattering?

Revan

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I must have missed the memo.

It seems like a lot of people seem to take pride in remaining calm and zen, after getting obliterated by your biggest rivals. It was the case last season and the same now.

Is this the modern football hipsters badge of honour?
"Worship of manager" disease that many United fans suffer. You cannot get angry too much yesterday, because then you have to criticise the team, which then means critiquing the manager. And that is the ultimate sin.
 

Dan_F

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Who’s said it doesn’t matter?

Would you feel better if everyone decided to post Ten Hag out on every thread instead?
 

Sir Erik ten Hag

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In Moyes's season we were miserable but the saving grace was having Gerrard's slip as a painkiller.
That could be the case for the scouser. Even if they finish out of top 4 this season, they would have this hammering to lay back on.
 

MegadrivePerson

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Never. For me, it's more intense now than ever.
Feck the Scouser and their freak result yesterday.
We're on our way back, albeit with a few bumps on the road.
The worrying thing is that it's not a freak result. Three of the last four games against them have been 0-4, 0-5 and now 0-7!

In response to the opening post, its becoming the norm now sadly!
 

Fully Fledged

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This is why we say it's different for local fans vs the rest.

For some, oh well its just a game, lets go and get dinner and carry on with life. For others, it's the dread of knowing the stick you'll get from friends and at work for the next few weeks. Rivalries most definitely do matter.
I agree. I'm just never letting a scouser see that I'm hurting.
 

Nicolarra90

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Of course that that matter, but a 7-0 defeat goes beyond getting mad. It belongs to the comedy category.

Besides that, the game didn't feel like a 7-0 defeat. Last season 5-0 was way more humiliating. We couldn't touch the ball that game.

Yesterday we didn't shut up shop and spirits were broken. Was it a mistake? Probably... Or maybe the players have to learn to keep focus and don't throw a game plan because of the results. Look at Real Madrid they didn't frustrate and turned back the game at anfield. If we didn't frustrate we might still have lost, but maybe 3-1, 3-2, who knows.
 

lsd

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To be honest I like people going overboard on laughing at us when these beatings happen.

We need to take that to ensure we pay them back by getting back to the top.

Just been reading a thread on Reddit where fans of other clubs are thanking Liverpool for the result and how its made their week
 

Kassadin

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It's a coping mechanism. Years of hurt and disappointment has trained me to tune out everything football related when we go through such lows. I stop consuming all football related content and try to focus on on things in life. It helps that I work from home so I don't have to face my friends/co workers rubbing it in.
 

King7Eric

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I think a lot of people have become numb to batterings over the last few years. Yesterday did hurt though. For the first time since I was in my teens did I kick a table in anger over a football game ( when the 4th goal went in). Maybe because I had allowed myself to believe this team was different from the others in the past decade.

What bothers me most though is the lack of accountability that will inevitably follow. Such a performance such signal the end of many careers at this club. The likes of Dalot, McTominay( and I've been one of his bigger defenders over the years), DDG should see themselves dropped apart from the odd appearance here and there and then sold in the summer. But we know it ain't gonna happen.

Phil Neville said in one of the documentaries that when he gave the pen in the 99 FA Cup SF he felt at that moment his career at Utd was over. That's the kind of accountability that needs to be built into the club and fanbase if we are ever gonna reach the standards of old. But we've seen these players take batterings and then be back on the pitch like nothing's happened.

It's not about actually selling players after a hammering, it's about players believing such things are not tolerated at this club and giving their all in the moment to ensure it doesn't happen. No use apologizing afterwards and saying this isn't Man Utd blah blah blah and we thank fans and the utter tripe they come up with.
 

Moriarty

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They stop mattering when you get smashed 7-0 and pretending you don’t care is the only way you can cope.
Reminds me of an old X-Files episode where Mulder was in a cage next to a Air Force pilot who had encountered an alien and kept repeating 'this isn't happening'.
 

fergiewherearethou

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I must have missed the memo.

It seems like a lot of people seem to take pride in remaining calm and zen, after getting obliterated by your biggest rivals. It was the case last season and the same now.

Is this the modern football hipsters badge of honour?
If we are talking about the Liverpool game away it's worse now, but we are in a far better position than we were last season when we lost at Anfield.
Last year the Liverpool defeats defined our season, we were no better than those results, this season our fans understand that it was just a disastrous day at the office and we are much better than this result.
 

tomaldinho1

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After last season's hammerings I think I'm desensitised and also I do believe we're having a good season. If we were going to struggle to get top 4 I think this place would be calling for ETH's head in summer.
 

pauldyson1uk

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I must have missed the memo.

It seems like a lot of people seem to take pride in remaining calm and zen, after getting obliterated by your biggest rivals. It was the case last season and the same now.

Is this the modern football hipsters badge of honour?
calm and zen , not a fecking chance, I am fuming, refuse to talk about it at work because I know it will end in an argument.
But some of talk on here about throwing the Europa and bin them off even sacking the manager is fecking crazy talk.
Yes they utterly destroyed us , but like I said in the match thread for the Europa, finish above them in the PL have a couple of trophies to show off, all they will have is a freak result.
 

Berbasbullet

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calm and zen , not a fecking chance, I am fuming, refuse to talk about it at work because I know it will end in an argument.
But some of talk on here about throwing the Europa and bin them off even sacking the manager is fecking crazy talk.
Yes they utterly destroyed us , but like I said in the match thread for the Europa, finish above them in the PL have a couple of trophies to show off, all they will have is a freak result.
Agreed, think everyone is fuming but what do we accomplish by having a paddy online? Stupid thread.
 

kouroux

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I must have missed the memo.

It seems like a lot of people seem to take pride in remaining calm and zen, after getting obliterated by your biggest rivals. It was the case last season and the same now.

Is this the modern football hipsters badge of honour?
You're confusing not getting angered by a situation to a certain degree and the disappointment we all felt. It is pretty normal to not wanna dwell on it no matter how much it hurts. What would persisent anger achieve anyway ?
 

Gavinb33

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Of course they matter but what am I meant to do about it? Kick the dog, shout at the wife, punch myself in the face etc or do you mean just come on here and rant and rave like a child because that will achieve something
 

Boycott

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It's not that they have stopped mattering. People have quite often on this forum spoken about their mental health suffering as a result of what's been going over the years and particularly last season.

Perhaps there is more people who are not sensitive to feeling a rage because of a multitude of factors that have nothing to do with them not caring but rather the feeling that the players out on the pitch didn't care so why should we. There's also the fact that this result looks more of an outlier rather than the systemic malaise the 5-0 and 4-0 last season represented. Therefore people are more shocked rather than angry.
 

ROFLUTION

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I feel there's a way bigger narrative about us having to feel a great amount of shame about the result.

To some extent yes, but personally the 4-1 with Torres/Vidic and all that hurt more. I think it's due to none of the teams aiming for a big result in the table, that it matters less to me.

In reality it's 3 points and of course 7-0 hurts. But it's not the end of the World for me.
 

JB7

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Proper weird thread. Are we supposed to throw our toys out of the pram, call for Ten Hag's head and say the players are all shite?
 

simplyared

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Look we lost seven feckin nill to our biggest rivals. Certainly not the best Liverpool team I've seen either.
From a coaching point of view ETH can't linger on that and rightly so he's got to get that group to go again
However, for me a fan since the days of Quixall, Herd, Law and Charlton it's not going to go away that easy.
Easily the worst experience I've ever had watching Utd.
The magnitude of the defeat is bad enough but the fact it's Liverpool who inflicted it makes it a lot worse.
 

Real Name

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I must have missed the memo.

It seems like a lot of people seem to take pride in remaining calm and zen, after getting obliterated by your biggest rivals. It was the case last season and the same now.

Is this the modern football hipsters badge of honour?
So you made something up and made a thread about it?
 

Salford_Red83

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Context is key,

No one likes losing, especially to Liverpool, but we've just won a trophy and are the form team in the league, still in two other cups as well.
It was one loss, albeit a heavy one, it isn't the end of the world, it's how we react that's important now.
I think this is it. I hate the fact that it was the scousers that did this to us but its still just 3 points.
I want to see a reaction now on Thursday, from the players and manager. It simply has to happen, thats the most important thing for me.

Let them enjoy the highlight of their season.
 

JB7

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Look we lost seven feckin nill to our biggest rivals. Certainly not the best Liverpool team I've seen either.
From a coaching point of view ETH can't linger on that and rightly so he's got to get that group to go again
However, for me a fan since the days of Quixall, Herd, Law and Charlton it's not going to go away that easy.
Easily the worst experience I've ever had watching Utd.
The magnitude of the defeat is bad enough but the fact it's Liverpool who inflicted it makes it a lot worse.
As someone at both games, I can tell you it was literally not even the worst experience at Anfield in the last 12 months ffs, let's not go overboard.
 

Fully Fledged

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I feel there's a way bigger narrative about us having to feel a great amount of shame about the result.

To some extent yes, but personally the 4-1 with Torres/Vidic and all that hurt more. I think it's due to none of the teams aiming for a big result in the table, that it matters less to me.

In reality it's 3 points and of course 7-0 hurts. But it's not the end of the World for me.
Last year hurt more because I had no come back. This year it's you're seven points behind us.
 

Zlatan 7

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This is how I feel from a posters quote in another thread, and I guess what the opening post of this thread is getting at, the people just calling it a loss after a good run as if we’ve just lost 2-1 to Brighton or something and trying to play it down when Losing 7-0 to Liverpool hurts so much more than ‘just a loss’


And we lost 7-0 - our heaviest ever defeat - to our fiercest rivals. But it’s just three points innit? I can never look at that way. I will not remember a league cup and Top 4 in 20 years but I will remember this 7-0 battering. That’s how I look at it.
I think I need to switch off now, the match is clearly still on my mind
 

Real Name

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Proper weird thread. Are we supposed to throw our toys out of the pram, call for Ten Hag's head and say the players are all shite?
OP's creating threads just to prove he wants ETH sacked between the lines.
 

ScholesyTheWise

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I don't understand what the expectation is- that all United fans cry their eyes out, stop eating and throw bricks at Fernandes' house?
What makes you think people who talk about context and perspective don't hurt?

Yes, I hate Pool more than any other club,
but the fact that it's a cricket score makes it somewhat less fathomable.
Call it a defense mechanism if it makes you feel better, but I did check out at 3-0 or 4-0. still watched the game but it didn't hurt as badly as other times.
Should I force myself to be fuming right now so that I can call myself a better fan?

The two losses against Barca in the CL finals shook me much more. The losses to Pool and City in the Moyes season hurt me much more.

losing 2-3 to the Arse would have hurt much more if we lost in that manner to the scouse.

Bigger scorelines don't necessarily lead to bigger emotional reactions, be it winning or losing.

Even losing to them 4-0 and 5-0 last year stung much more because it amplified the fact that they're streets above us.

They're not anymore. We'll finish above them most probably, and win silverware this season whereas they probably won't.
Yeah they will have something to use for banter for a couple of weeks.

And maybe, just maybe, this is where local fans feel it much more. I don't know whether I agree with that because my Whatsapp is full of crap from my friends who support a variety of teams, includinng the scouse.

That'll pass.

Am I supposed to cut my wrists because some Liverpool supporter will come to Old Traffotd in 10 years time, holding a "7-0" banner?
Nah. That'll be his right, and I'll have other things to worry about.
 

ROFLUTION

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Last year hurt more because I had no come back. This year it's you're seven points behind us.
Also: As a fan there's not much to actively use the "shame" for in every day doings. Walking around feeling bad about the loss will not last a long time for me personally, as I just don't see what use it would be for.

As a player on the other hand, you can use it as anger to fuel getting better/respond to the loss.
 

McTerminator

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If calm and zen means not calling for the managers head after one bad, terrible, awful game then I guess so.

LVG won at Anfield, should we get him back in?
 

Bertie Wooster

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I'm more interested in winning trophies by the end of the season than in 'getting one over' a rival. If you can do both, then even better, but I was much more nervous about the Barcelona 2nd leg and the Cup Final than I was about the league game v Liverpool. Not least because I fully expected a defeat - not as heavy, obviously - so was more worried about getting results in those must win cup matches.

It hurts losing so heavily, so regularly, to the likes of City and Liverpool. But it hurt more in other seasons, when we weren't looking like winning any trophies either. I'll accept a hammering or two against those for now so long as we keep adding some silverware.

Personally, I think the 'who wins the derby' is more important for those teams who rarely compete for titles throughout their history. So 'who has the bragging rights' in the derby is their equivalent of a trophy.

For a team like us, it should matter more that we're the overall winners of the League or Cup, and not as much about the individual results against rivals along the way.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Last year hurt more because I had no come back. This year it's you're seven points behind us.
Yup agreed. Last season we were a joke full stop. This season we’re playing well and putting out some good performances but were a joke for 45 minutes. We’re also 7 points ahead of the scouse wankers. So all in all, excuse me for not going into depression over it.
 

glazed

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it's not like one of my children died. It's a football game. I'm a grown up. Yeah it's fekkin annoying but only inside the sandbox marked football.
 

Salford_Red83

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This is how I feel from a posters quote in another thread, and I guess what the opening post of this thread is getting at, the people just calling it a loss after a good run as if we’ve just lost 2-1 to Brighton or something and trying to play it down when Losing 7-0 to Liverpool hurts so much more than ‘just a loss’




I think I need to switch off now, the match is clearly still on my mind
I already forgot the heavy defeats from last season. This one will be no different.
 

Eriku

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After the last few shitty years, including United’s fortunes as well as lockdowns and inflation, I find it hard to get as worked up about football.

It sucks, and certainly put a dampener on my day, but I just can’t let football add that much to my woes anymore.
 

croadyman

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I must have missed the memo.

It seems like a lot of people seem to take pride in remaining calm and zen, after getting obliterated by your biggest rivals. It was the case last season and the same now.

Is this the modern football hipsters badge of honour?
Thank god someone is speaking sense,personally feel yesterday was our worst performance ever and joint second darkest day as well
 

2 man midfield

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Calm and Zen? I was in a right foul mood all yesterday evening. My missus even came out with the classic "It's just a game". I'll let her off as this is the first time we've got beat since we've lived together, and it was a bad bad defeat.

Ordinarily I'm nowhere near as bad as I used to be with a defeat, time was I'd be fecked off for days and days when I was younger, but nowadays I can brush it off pretty quickly, but yesterday is lingering on.
My girlfriend thinks it’s hilarious that my mood is so dependent on something as trivial and out of my control as football. I said it doesn’t help that all her family are scousers.
 

Nou_Camp99

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I'm still fuming now. At the players and manager. A total and utter fiasco.

If we get hammered again there next season serious questions need to be asked. This is a team that has struggled much of the season and couldn't beat Crystal Palace last week. We look scared to death of playing at Anfield.