Sunday’s defeat to Man United was painful. While the first half looked somewhat promising, it ultimately ended in a predictable Mourinho defeat, which we all saw coming. To add insult to injury, United didn’t pull off a last-minute ‘lucky’ victory, we we’re completely outclassed on the pitch in the second half. Pogba made our defense look like a League Two side, Cavani showed he’s still lethal, and Mason Greenwood’s got the makings of a future star.
The most bizarre part of the United win was how angry and unhappy their supporters were about it. Rather than the typical shit talk with my United mates about how well they played, the entire narrative was about Son ‘cheating.’ The most popular social posts slating Son as this heinous human being who’s a long-term ‘cheater’ and his ridiculous antics are ruining the game. Son embellished a foul, we all know that, this happens in literally every premier league match every weekend, but what’s so strange about the reaction is that United played great and won the match.
Rather than celebrating a great win, United’s social media keyboard warriors we’re more concerned with creating an agenda against Son cheating. If Son’s dive made United lose the match, okay I would understand the frustration, but the fact that this is the biggest talking point of the game speaks volumes to the state of the club’s fanbase. Not to mention the irony that Bruno Fernandes is largely considered the biggest diver in the league.
What sparks my curiosity is why? What is this bizarre syndrome that causes a supporter to be unable to enjoy a victory and care more about creating conflict and complaining. We’ve seen it with Liverpool, who despite having a classy group of supporters in real life, have the most insufferable social media warriors on the internet. Now, with the endless complaining about Son’s ‘cheating’ we see that United are the same.
While there’s probably a deeper sociological issue at play here which is caused by social media, you see far less complaining from smaller clubs when they feel an injustice has occurred. From Arsenal supporters making compilations of Kane’s fouls to make him out to be some sort of monster to United’s obsession with Sonny, this type of behavior makes me so happy to be a Spurs supporter.
Sure, we can be toxic, but in general, it’s pointed inwards. We may slate our own players, manager, and ownership to no avail, but we don’t endlessly whinge about bad calls and try to create negative agendas about opposing players. In the case of United and Arsenal, perhaps it’s because their past was so glorious, the notion they won’t achieve that level of success again for the foreseeable future makes it hard to appreciate the now. If you spent your early life bedding 10’s, you just can’t appreciate a 7 or an 8 as much as someone who’s never had one before. You find yourself analyzing all their flaws, complaining about every little thing, like a ‘dive’ that happens every game.
So in short to summarize this beer-inspired rambling, being a Spurs supporter might be very tough at the minute, but we should be proud. We might hate what’s happening at our club, but we’re so used to luck going against us, we will never be the joyless complainers of our rivals.