The Role of The Supporter: Your Team Needs You

It appears one of the topics of the week echoing about the pressure cooker world of football at the moment is the fiercely debated subject of supporters booing their own team and its players.

Liverpool were subjected to a chorus of negativity at the final whistle after their goalless draw at home to West Ham—despite moving them in to first place in the league—and the more recent display of discontent coming from some Arsenal fans towards Emmanuel Eboue after a poor game for the Gunners against Wigan on Saturday.

I have touched on the subject of the Liverpool supporter’s frustration at their teams display against West Ham in a previous article, but in this offering, I would like to discuss in more detail when a supporter is most needed by their team.

Support

I’m pretty certain I do not have to provide a link to the meaning of the word support, as pretty much everyone who reads this will know what the word means.

But unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, it appears some ''supporters'' forget the important role they play for their club and its players.

Nobody can deny that Eboue had a dreadful game for his team, his passes were very wayward at times and more often than not they resulted in the loss of possession during what was considered a critical match for the club.

The 1-0 victory over Wigan was the Arsenal player’s first game back after a six week absence due to an injury and it was clear he was still rusty whilst obviously lacking the necessary confidence gained from playing regularly.

The Ivory Coast international made a string of errors during the game and showed an apparent lack of motivation which resulted in the home supporters voicing their frustrations in a series of boos that increased in volume as the match went on.

The negativity finally ended during injury time with a chorus of loud boos and jeering when the player—who came on for an injured Samir Nasri during the first half—was substituted before the final whistle.

Some Arsenal fans have said it was the worst display of negativity towards an Arsenal player they have seen in a very long time, some have spoken of their shame of their fellow fans, obviously, others believe it was a just worthy act. 

Whichever way you want to look at it, the majority of people put in Eboue’s place and playing badly are certainly not going to gain confidence and start playing better football when thousands of your own supporters are jeering and booing your every touch.

You expect that sort of behaviour when playing away from home, you are mentally prepared to deal with the obvious fact that rival fans will mock you if you make a mistake.

However, when you hear the people who are supposed to be on your side begin to taunt you, it’s a little more difficult to deal with and adapt to,especially during a game.

Confidence

Over the years, many great players and respected managers have said time and again that confidence is key in football—if you lack the belief, then your game can be dramatically affected.

There are a choice few who have the character to use that negativity as a tool to spur on their own performances, but even the strongest of people will eventually start to become affected in one way or another by negativity.

That sort of behaviour from your own supporters can unite players, although sometimes it can create divisions within the team, which can in turn have an overall affect on a result.

It may be that a player will have his mind on trying so hard not to miss a shot that might lead to more taunts, instead of having total confidence and concentration on a particularly important, possibly game changing moment.

Instead of using that split second to react to a situation and how best to deal with it, a player will instead have that short time span filled with self doubt which could result in another mistake.

I am pretty certain that if Eboue was making mistake after mistake in the game against Wigan, support from team mates and the clubs fans would have settled him down and gained a more positive performance from him.

Even if the negativity was saved for the end of the game, it would have been slightly better than getting on a player’s back actually during a match.

What if the player had lost concentration enough that he conceeded one or two goals and Arsenal had lost the game—would the negative supporters take some of the blame for their contribution?

After all, the player needed confidence to perform better, to me, the supporters failed to live up to their role during the game.

The 12th Man

When it comes to football, this is a phrase that is often heard when speaking about a set of supporters who manage to give their team that extra bit of something to get them over the finishing line.

Pretty much every Liverpool supporter has heard stories from the players during the Istanbul final, when they were in the changing room at half-time and trailing 3-0 to one of the biggest and best clubs in the world.

Many people considered the game to have been over at half-time and there was not a chance in hell for Liverpool to score four goals in 45 minutes against such an array of worldclass talent.

There were probably a few realistic Liverpool supporters and players alike who knew deep down that it was all over as well.

I actually believed myself that the game was out of our reach—considering some of the players we had in the team in comparison to AC Milan—and I just wanted us to come out and play with some pride and hold it together to earn a little bit of respect.

But as the players sat deflated in the changing room getting their orders from Rafa Benitez, they began to hear a display of support that has made the fans world famous for many years.

The volume and intensity of the Liverpool anthem ‘’You’ll Never Walk Alone’’ simply rumbled around every single corner of the stadium.

It appeared these fans knew the meaning of the word support and not only did this display of unity provide the Liverpool players with a belief—no matter how small it was—it also made the AC Milan players sit up and take notice.

It would appear they had lost their concentration for the next 20 minutes or so and the added belief and confidence in the Liverpool players helped to capitalise on this with three goals in six minutes to level the match.

Back in the game and with the confidence to win it, the players—considered by many to be of considerably less quality than the Milan team—managed to play out of their skins and go on to win the game.

It would seem the Liverpool supporters provided that little something extra that contributed to their team’s victory.

It is hard to predict the events that might have unfolded if the Liverpool supporters had decided to boo their players and hurl abuse at them as they left the field after a pretty poor first half display.

However, I am pretty certain the players would have not had the same confidence, they gained from the support shown towards them, to go out and fight for the victory in the second half.

The Role of a Supporter

When a team are playing great football, winning games, and bringing home trophies, there is no great need for the players to want that extra bit of confidence needed to win a match that comes from fans cheering their hearts out.

It is a great feeling to have your supporters singing your name in complete unison around the whole stadium when you are 4-0 up with five minutes to play, but it’s not a necessity.

I believe a supporter has a very important role in the team. Their contribution to the action on the pitch can, at times, be just as important as a star player producing a piece of magic that could turn a game in their favour.

When one of your players is playing badly, show the opposition players and supporters that he is not a weak link, don’t segregate him from the pack and single him out for the opposition to exploit.

A team needs their supporters when they are losing a game and a player needs them when he is playing badly, that is when they need the confidence and belief from their own fans.

Your team needs your support when they are on the floor, not when they are riding high.

In my eyes, negativity breeds negativity, just like confidence breeds confidence.

Now that we are in December, it is time to put forward your vote for who you believe was the manager of the month for November. Click here to cast your votes and find out who is the current front runner for the Premier League award.