Lifelong United fan Alessia Russo returning "home" with Arsenal to play United tonight at LSV, how should United fans welcome her back?

[Lightbringer]

Posting this in the main forums as I think the question is bigger than the womens team only and more of a fan question for the club as a whole!

The story:

Lifelong Manchester United fan Alessia Russo turned down an offer to become Manchester Uniteds best paid player and declined re-signing with United - instead choosing to join our biggest rival Arsenal on a multi year massive contract.

She played 59 games for United.

How should fans welcome her back tonight at Leigh Sports Village in front of a sold out stadium? (first time Uniteds women play in front of a stacked arena)

- Cheers & applause
- Boos
- Silence

My personal option would be to give her the silent treatment as I fear booing her will only spur her on to punish us! I also dont think anyone joining our biggest rivals deserve to be welcomed back as a hero! The fan base seems pretty split on this subject so interested in more peoples take on this.

As comparison:

How would Unted fans have reacted if Rashford had signed for Manchester City citing they had bigger chances of winning titles, offered him more money, negotiated more swiftly and thereby showed her more respect?

And does United fans treatment of Russo influence Mary Earps decision making after this season? As Earps allegedly tried to stage an escape from United this summer to also join Arsenal!

 

[rimaldo]

when she goes to take a corner, throw a dead piglet at her with $ signs painted on its flanks in the piglet’s blood.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Cheering and applauding would be weird. Unless you think the club fecked her over and it's a protest about how badly run the club is. Which I could definitely get on board with.

 

[Jersey Heel]

She‘s a fellow Tar Heel, so she gets cheered by me regardless of the team she plays for.

 

[Lightbringer]

when she goes to take a corner, throw a dead piglet at her with $ signs painted on its flanks in the piglet’s blood.

Do you consider this option more aggressive than booing? And would you recommend booing as well in addition to the blooded piglet?

 

[Solius]

In a normal speaking voice from the back of the stand: "Hope you have a disappointing game".

 

[JB7]

Hopefully she's greeted with about as much hostility as you see in the women's game. I'm actually going tonight so will be interesting to gage the reaction to her, but I've not got the impression her leaving was overly popular.

 

[GueRed]

Joining one of our rivals I think she'll get rightly booed.

 

[Lightbringer]

Cheering and applauding would be weird. Unless you think the club fecked her over and it's a protest about how badly run the club is. Which I could definitely get on board with.

Well, United did match Arsenals contract offer and also would have made her to highest paid player a the club aside from already being the front figure of the entire promotion on the womens side. She was basically the fans & clubs princess here! But I think the club did not want to make her one of the best players in the world when she only scored 10 goals in the league last season, thats what I think the main problem was, United and the player not agreeing on how great the player was and how much the player was worth. Her lioness status along with being a pretty PR-bomb commercial & merchandise wise likely escalated her perceived value beyond her sporting performance, which complicated matters.

 

[Schmeichel=God]

Fly a plane over. "Traitor"

And rain down pigs blood

 

[AltiUn]

I think she'll get booed and rightly so.

 

[Lightbringer]

Hopefully she's greeted with about as much hostility as you see in the women's game. I'm actually going tonight so will be interesting to gage the reaction to her, but I've not got the impression her leaving was overly popular.

It seems the majority of people think she can feck off, but I also see alot of womens team fans wishing her well and hoping Arsenal wins the league this season! They are being Russo fans first and United fans secondly which is pretty annoying tbh. And they are trying to influence regular fans to not boo her tonight.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

It seems the majority of people think she can feck off, but I also see alot of womens team fans wishing her well and hoping Arsenal wins the league this season! They are being Russo fans first and United fans secondly which is pretty annoying. tbh And they are trying to influence regular fans to not boo her tonight.

They can get to feck. Fans like that are a blight on the game.

 

[Lightbringer]

They can get to feck. Fans like that are a blight on the game.

Agreed. But you have remember many of the fans attending United games were recruited to the sport by the Lionesses, and their loyalty might be: 1. Lionesses, 2. Russo, 3. United. On the womens side the lioness factor is pretty unique compared to the mens game!

 

[JB7]

It seems the majority of people think she can feck off, but I also see alot of womens team fans wishing her well and hoping Arsenal wins the league this season! They are being Russo fans first and United fans secondly which is pretty annoying tbh. And they are trying to influence regular fans to not boo her tonight.

Such people are freaks. Thankfully you don't tend to come across too many of them at actual football matches in my experience as they don't tend to like leaving their bedrooms, but we'll see; you probably know the matchgoing womens supporters better than me as I've only been to a handful of their games. I'd be very surprised (and disappointed) if she isn't roundly booed tonight though.

Edit - seen your post above, makes sense. Disappointing, but makes sense.

 

[spiriticon]

Boo the hell out of her for not wanting to play our first CL season. Lifelong fan my arse.

Then laugh at her for tumbling out of the CL at the first hurdle.

When she leaves Arsenal, we can maybe think about cheering her again. Not guaranteed though.

 

[Lightbringer]

And does United fans treatment of Russo influence Mary Earps decision making after this season?

As Earps allegedly desperately tried to stage a late transfer-window escape from United this summer to also join Arsenal!

 

[Lightbringer]

Such people are freaks. Thankfully you don't tend to come across too many of them at actual football matches in my experience as they don't tend to like leaving their bedrooms, but we'll see; you probably know the matchgoing womens supporters better than me as I've only been to a handful of their games. I'd be very surprised (and disappointed) if she isn't roundly booed tonight though.

Edit - seen your post above, makes sense. Disappointing, but makes sense.

I guess the obvious question to this would be, if they are still attending United games as they enjoy womens football but still wish Arsenal all the best, maybe they are a Russo fans and general womens game fans and not United fans? I see it all the time how this is dividing the fan base and creating drama on different United platforms.

 

[redNATION]

I’ll be shouting BOO-urns !

 

[Gordon S]

Do you consider this option more aggressive than booing? And would you recommend booing as well in addition to the blooded piglet?

Twist, if the piglet is not dead, maybe you can teach the piglet to boo her once it is thrown on to the pitch?
Just brainstorming here

 

[JB7]

I guess the obvious question to this would be, if they are still attending United games as they enjoy womens football but still wish Arsenal all the best, maybe they are a Russo fans and general womens game fans and not United fans? I see it all the time how this is dividing the fan base and creating drama on different United platforms.

Yeah you are right. It's easier to be a casual follower of the women's team too I guess with the tickets being so much cheaper and so much more readily available for almost every game. For example if you were a Ronaldo fan who watched United for example you probably wouldn't continue paying your £40/50/60 a game of £600/700/800+ for your season ticket after he had left due to the cost, but in the womens game I think my ticket tonight was £9? So much less of a commitment if you're just interested in watch a live football game.

 

[groovyalbert]

Just blast out the Champions League music whenever she touches the ball

 

[Lightbringer]

Just blast out the Champions League music whenever she touches the ball

SAVAGE RESPONSE!

 

[SATA]

Is she any good as a footballer? This is equivalent to Rashford joining City?

 

[Damien]

Is she any good as a footballer? This is equivalent to Rashford joining City?

She was a starter at the World Cup. Rashford joining City would be the closest comparison though he has been with us a lot, lot longer.

 

[Lightbringer]

Is she any good as a footballer? This is equivalent to Rashford joining City?

Well, here are the top scorers in the WSL from last season:

And since she is a starter for the lionesses as well, she might be even better than in womens football than what Rashford is in mens football.

I think mostly United did not Russo was a world class star that deserved the same amount of salary as the top strikers in the world!

 

[Lash]

Is she any good as a footballer? This is equivalent to Rashford joining City?

Yes, shes a great footballer. In my opinion, no. The men's and women's game are in very different places and she should look to maximise her earnings, so I don't begrudge her that. I don't think she is a huge loss compared to Batlle leaving, personally and her decision int he short term hasn't looked like a good one.

 

[Jazz]

Silence.

No longer our player so treat her as you would other Arse players.

 

[Alvaro Maestre]

Silence, my wife hates when I do that.

 

[Maestro14]

I’ll be there, and I’ll be booing her. And I can guarantee you the loudest fans - the ones that are there to see United, not the Lionesses will all be booing her.

 

[Lightbringer]

Silence.

No longer our player so treat her as you would other Arse players.

Agreed. Booing her will make her feel she was important here, if we just ignore her for her betrayal that will be more efficient in telling her she is dead to us!

 

[Lightbringer]

Tweet

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[GazTheLegend]

In a normal speaking voice from the back of the stand: "Hope you have a disappointing game".

I can imagine it now.
"I hope you have a disappointing game.
I hope you have a disappointing game.
I hope you have a disappointing game."

Hairs on the back of your neck stuff

 

[GazTheLegend]

Real answer though, a torrent of foul mouthed abuse is the least I expect.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Boo her 100%

I don't even think this would be a question if it was on the men's team/male equivalent... and I don't know if that says something or not?

 

[rimaldo]

Do you consider this option more aggressive than booing? And would you recommend booing as well in addition to the blooded piglet?

booing!? we’re not savages.

 

[Bubz27]

Can we play the CL anthem for her as she walks out? Nice for her to hear it live once more this season.

 

[Ubik]

Boo her 100%

I don't even think this would be a question if it was on the men's team/male equivalent... and I don't know if that says something or not?

I think people that have followed women's football for a while say they've liked the generally friendlier atmosphere compared to the men's game. Players tended to flit between the major clubs a lot more than would be expected (eg, Toone used to be at City, Zelem was at Liverpool etc) and it was very much a contract to contact type situation. Obviously with the popularity exploding though, that's changing. Stuff like booing and standard rivalry behaviour should be expected, you'd just hope we don't end up seeing the abuse off the pitch that we see in the men's game.

 

[Puskas_007]

And does United fans treatment of Russo influence Mary Earps decision making after this season?

As Earps allegedly desperately tried to stage a late transfer-window escape from United this summer to also join Arsenal!

Shhhhh!

 

[Maestro14]

Agreed. Booing her will make her feel she was important here, if we just ignore her for her betrayal that will be more efficient in telling her she is dead to us!

I think you’re somewhat missing the point with all this. It isn’t about sending a message to Russo, she’s moved on and we have too. This is a game between two rivals for the top 3 spots who both have eyes on Chelsea at the top. It’s gonna be a hostile atmosphere (relatively speaking for a WSL game). Russo being a former player who left on bad terms just adds to that. For us as fans it’s about getting under the opponents skin, but more importantly providing an energy for our players to feed on. United have arguably the most vocal and aggressive support in the WSL, and I think that reflects in the way we play. We’ll need that aggression to beat Arsenal and keeping the fans engaged will help with that.