This is a public service announcement to some users who can't do anything other than make glib posts about how this and that are "useless" or "lazy". I noticed it a lot tonight regarding Rashford, as many people let out their frustrations. There's a lot of decent comments on this forum but to be honest after reading some of the things in the match thread ("he's a brainless idiot", "he's a diva" etc) I'm not surprised Rashford's head isn't in the right place.
He's suddenly gone from being the golden boy at United, lauded for his off field activities, into the center for a whole list of insults (not to mention the disgusting shite he had to put up with after the Euros).
Do you know what's wrong with him? He's probably mentally fecked or depressed. We actually NEED players like him at the club - United lads who actually have some interest putting our jersey on. Is he monumentally shite at the moment? Without a doubt. He needs hauled off and actually coached through his problems. But the same applies to most of the team.
And before anyone comes in and says "well, he should just toughen up. He's paid loads". Feck. You. It's easy to say when your every waking action isn't dissected, and you're in front of 70,000+ playing like shite for a team that have zero fire. A stiff upper lip only goes so far. If I see one more lazy comment that doesn't actually say anything else other than "he's downed tools" or "has no respect for the badge" I'll unshackle Damo and give his primary weapons systems an extra 2 amps to play with. Anyone who has worked or lived in an environment where everything seems to always go wrong knows that you don't just snap out of that attitude overnight, especially when things continue to go wrong.
The players are mentally weak, but they've been shite for ages. Of course they're mentally weak. Even Sir Alex, the master of the hairdryer treatment, knew when to put an arm around his players. His teams weren't just technically sound - they had drive and determination and ran through walls until the last minute. And if you want players that are emotional like that, it swings both ways. Treat them like shit when they're at their weakest and they'll just crumble.
I know it's frustrating. It's been frustrating for years! And the players are shite. But don't mistake it for not giving a shit - they're just clueless, and need a kick up the arse but not ones that resort to hurling insults.
Why does any of this matter? Analysis of why we're playing poorly is important, and it's the core of this forum. But the childish moaning doesn't do anything other than fuel further moaning. And eventually that feeds into the larger media narrative as a whole, and the atmosphere in the stadium.
Anyway, feel free to call me a cnut. Oates does it twice a day.