I decided to write this thread at half-time in the freezing cold during yesterday's game. It applies to our match-going fans, more specifically our home fans.
As fans, the people responsible for creating atmosphere within the ground and more importantly provide encouragement and support to our players, we must decide to either:
a.) Protest against the manager because he doesn't play a way that we can get behind by refusing to turn up to games.
b.) Forget about our style of play (and/or negative performance on the pitch) and support the team unconditionally.
I strongly believe that b.) is the correct option as despite his methods not being the prettiest, Jose Mourinho is an extremely capable and effective manager, as shown in yesterday's game. Unfortunately, this will not be simple and will require us to re-frame our mindsets when attending games.
Sometime last year I read a book called "The European Game: The Secrets of European Football Success" and the author touched upon cultures within football fans; it explained that 'on the continent' fans primary objective is to create an intimidating atmosphere and give support to the team to the point where watching the game, to ultras especially, can sometimes become secondary. The songs are sang irrespective of the action on the pitch and are constant throughout the 90 minutes.
In England, however, the crowd are induced into song through situation; ie. opponents, moments within the game, scoreline etc. Unfortunately a team playing the way we did yesterday in the first half, when combined with this mentality, makes for an dour, passionless atmosphere and can negatively affect our players.
In short, it's time we adopt a continental approach as match-going fans to support our Portuguese manager and his continental tactics. Forget what's happening on the pitch, the days of SAF and lightning football is over. We must move on and do our bit to be the extra man for our team.
Let's Make Old Trafford Great Again.
As fans, the people responsible for creating atmosphere within the ground and more importantly provide encouragement and support to our players, we must decide to either:
a.) Protest against the manager because he doesn't play a way that we can get behind by refusing to turn up to games.
b.) Forget about our style of play (and/or negative performance on the pitch) and support the team unconditionally.
I strongly believe that b.) is the correct option as despite his methods not being the prettiest, Jose Mourinho is an extremely capable and effective manager, as shown in yesterday's game. Unfortunately, this will not be simple and will require us to re-frame our mindsets when attending games.
Sometime last year I read a book called "The European Game: The Secrets of European Football Success" and the author touched upon cultures within football fans; it explained that 'on the continent' fans primary objective is to create an intimidating atmosphere and give support to the team to the point where watching the game, to ultras especially, can sometimes become secondary. The songs are sang irrespective of the action on the pitch and are constant throughout the 90 minutes.
In England, however, the crowd are induced into song through situation; ie. opponents, moments within the game, scoreline etc. Unfortunately a team playing the way we did yesterday in the first half, when combined with this mentality, makes for an dour, passionless atmosphere and can negatively affect our players.
In short, it's time we adopt a continental approach as match-going fans to support our Portuguese manager and his continental tactics. Forget what's happening on the pitch, the days of SAF and lightning football is over. We must move on and do our bit to be the extra man for our team.
Let's Make Old Trafford Great Again.
