I suppose the other thing is the mentality we're trying to create as a club.
We keep hearing Mancini, Platt and the players go on about building a winning mentality. In the 87th minute of one of the defining games of the season, the players look up and see a half empty stand, i just wonder if this translates to them.
Jermain Jenas (i know he's a ****) was on Goals on Sunday, and he was saying that everytime he played away from home, Bobby Robson would urge his team to keep possession, to quieten the home fans down. Like this was the number one priority. Reduce the noise, and reduce the momentum. The momentum often comes from the home crowd making a huge amount of noise in reaction to the slightest thing. A throw in, a lucky deflection which leads to a corner, a bad clearance which allows the home team to apply more pressure. In turn, this momentum and noise influences the opposition, and the officials.
I've lost count of how many times i've seen United score a late winner or equaliser because of this. Yesterday felt like we'd accepted a draw was probably as good as it was going to get. I think this translates on to the pitch. On the back of a ten game winning streak (at home), you'd expect our fans to be more optimistic, if not expectant. Had we had a history of scoring late goals (like them lot) i'd imagine people would have been less bothered about missing the more convenient train home, and thus, the ground would have still been full. United probably gain around 6-10 points per season from these type of scenarios. It's much easier to create momentum with a full stadium. We want teams to be shitting themselves going into the last 5 minutes with something to hold on to. We don't them being encouraged because they've seen half the stand emptying.
Again, not a knock, just an observation.
