It's a phenomenon you see here all the time. People refusing to accept United players have played well in a game because that would make them "wrong" for being adamant the player was shit.
Rooting for an opposition striker to do well at one of our big rivals in his debut season is a new low, though. Weirdest shit I've ever seen on here.
I don't think it's a new low Pogue. You've been complaining about this shit for years! I know that because I had similar arguments with you almost a decade ago. You're just getting old...
I do mean that semi-seriously too. I'm fairly certain that you're more partisan than the average United fan these days. I assume Raoul is a similar age to you but as an American football fan I assume he got into the sport later than you, built up an affinity with the team later than you and when he started building that affinity, he was exposed to a much wider range of sports and football teams. All of that limits the strength of the connection. The lack of a local, geographical link means the team objectively has less relevance to that individual, and that weakens the connection further.
I'm definitely less partisan than you. I hope Morata and Chelsea crash and burn miserably, but if they don't, I don't find it upsetting. I'd rather enjoy the football they play in that scenario. That way I'm happy when we win and less unhappy when other teams win, which to me is a more enjoyable experience. It probably means the peaks and troughs that we love about sport are less dramatic for me but hey-ho. I find the alternative odd. It's not like sport is a particularly logical thing in the first place.
I'd imagine a big part of the reason for that is about exposure. A lot of that lifelong connection is built up when we're young, and we know that you're more football crazy as a kid than you are as an adult, so when I went through my phase of bingeing on football I did it while watching more of United than you did at the same age in terms of volume, but as a proportion of my overall football consumption it was significantly larger. That must have some impact.
When you throw the constant coverage of all teams in with the globalisation of the sport, it makes logical sense that the connection to the team weakens over time. I don't know if there's been any longitudinal study on it done but I'd be very surprised if it contradicted that hypothesis.
I reckon it's probably true of most sports. If you want to partake in a game that's more partisan than ever, politics is where it's at right now. It's
technically not a game but when a signification portion of participants at the bottom and at the top consider it to be one, the lines become increasingly blurred...
Or Apple vs. Android. I imagine it's still intensifying.
I wasn't referring to league goals - all comps including CL and league cup. Similar to Ruud's first season with us. But even if he gets 29 or 41, what's the big deal. Still means he will be a quality world class (or near) striker.
Well yeah, that's why I reduced it from 35 goals to 30 goals - it was just simpler. You could do it another way and say if he starts 40+ games in all competitions, I bet he doesn't score 35+ goals.
I don't think it's a big deal. I just think I'd be fun. And now I find it amusing that you're so hesitant to stand by your prediction despite you apparent certainty that you're right.