Game By Game - 9

A United View welcomes fellow #runnerblade , director of Pickard Tours and all round bon vivant Alan Pickard to offer up his views on a trip to the Bolton Polytechnic Stadium. Surprisingly less hazy than I expected!

Game 9 - Bolton (A), Championship - 0-3

Bolton away. Bank Holiday Weekend. Super. That'll be fun then. I'm sure you all thought the same. Aside from the fact it's a ground that has slightly less character than Legoland, it's not even in Bolton. Imagine, building a new ground and forgetting where you're from? Anyway......I digress.

The trip started well. I forgot my beers. Sake. On the coach at 9 though with emergency Carling (AUV cannot condone drinking Carling, even in an emergency - Ed) purchased, spirits were high. As always when you travel with mates, talk turns to previous away days and mishaps. But I'd not brought my gloves today so enough of that. 

Let's head to a pub.
It opens at eleven doesn't it Paul?
Oh, turns out it doesn't.
Paul can't read.
Half eleven.
Maths was never his strong point. Luckily another a hundred yards up the road was open so let's have one there instead. Decent. Let's get merry.

Everyone back on the coach at 2 and we're off. Good job the driver knows which car park to go to. And we've not toured all the car parks before arriving at the away end! Been here so many times and it's soulless. One thought - let's have these today Blades. 

Team news filters through. Oooh! That midfield is getting uploaded to Pornhub.....and Coutts ain't back yet.

The game kicks off and United are instantly on the front foot. Get in!!! Or not. Off the bar from Fleck. We were on top here and had to make it count. Another corner cam in looking threatening but it came to nothing. Next attack saw a good little bit of play, the ball fell to Duffy and in it goes to the corner of the onion bag. The tone is set. "We're gonna hammer these". However...my first thought was lets keep a clean sheet. 

More good play followed. Flowing movement across the park, Norwood and Fleck making the Wanderers look like non-league players at times. Duffy popping up in more places than Peter Sutcliffe. The difference in quality is vast and United are hammering the point home. Bolton have a 5 minute spell. Ameeeobbeee looks like the only half decent player for Bolton but, to be fair, he needs a mate.

Blades attack. Ball into Freeman 15 yard out, right of goal. A 10 yard ball into Leon's feet who has the vision of Zidane to leave it and let it roll in the corner of the net. Suprise and delirium take over the away end. WE'RE ON THE MARCH WITH WILDERS ARRR-MY.

Half time. Two nowt. Well on top. Tidy in possession and playing with the kind of thrust that creates WhatsApp groups.

Downstairs for a pint and I missed about 8 minutes of the second half due to Ed not being able to navigate a queue properly. Anyway, I've been informed by my footy mum Bridgette that McGoldrick smashed one top bins only for the keeper to rise like Conor Sammon's more agile brother and tip it over.

Much more flowing football followed. We were very good today and it's such a shame that the following wasn't more, but those in attendance made good noise.

After a slight lull we did our best Barcelona impression. Wonderful build up from the back. The ball broke on the left to Stevens who's delightful delivery caused pandemonium in the box, Bolton nowhere to be seen, Fleck sweeps home. Be seeing you. Is this a fire drill? 

Beyond that, we were in even more control. We could and should have been 4 or 5 up really. Much singing followed and I've got to be honest here, I'm glad it wasn't. Let's not draw attention to how good we can be as early as we did last season. Three nowt. Full time. Off home we go delighted with the performance and result.

Stopping off on the way home we bump into Gary Madine in the services. He seemed happy to see us.

Up the Blades. 

Three final thoughts:

Egan. 4 million. Bargain.

Norwood. 2 million. Steal.

Billy Sharp is as good now as he was in his mid twenties. Captain Marvel.

A Love Not Shared

 

 

 

They are words a football loving Dad hopes he will never hear; "I don't want to go the football with Daddy anymore." In fact I didn't hear it directly. I was working away when my wife texted me to say our son had been a bit upset and uttered those words. I knew they had been coming for a while. I knew that he didn't really enjoy going to the match. The restlessness, the questions about his surroundings rather than what was happening on the pitch, the distant stare away from the on-pitch action, lost in day-dreams of happier things.

 

He had found it hard to tell anyone. He didn't want to upset me and he liked the fact that football meant that he spends time with me. I was left in mixed emotions. The fact he goes to football to make me happy made me smile and want to cry at the same time. We explored his concerns and a litany of complaints followed. Most of his concerns can be allayed and his worries and fears can all be pinpointed to a dislike of the anger and aggression he sees at football.

 

People shouting at the end when you lose

 

You shouting at the match when you lose

 

Players getting hurt by tackles (causes crowd anger and shouting)

 

The referee getting it wrong (causes crowd anger and shouting)

 

A lot of this concern arises because he is a sensitive and emotional lad and an incident at Wembley in 2011 when mindless thugs, purporting to be Stoke 'fans' attacked the stationary car my wife and son were sitting in on their way up to the Wembley car parks. Banging on the windows, shouting leering, goading, ripping window flags down and rocking the car. He was 6 and very scared, as was my wife. When they subsequently parked up they were again confronted by a beer-fuelled aggressor, invading their personal space and abusing them for not supporting his team. Rare events maybe, but once they have happened they are engrained, especially at such an age where perceptions are quickly formed and opinions are even harder to retract.

 

Some of the other questions he asked about football when trying to explain his lack of enjoyment are slightly more difficult to answer;

 

"What do the spectators get out of it?"

 

"The players get paid even when they don't win. But when they win, what do the fans get?"

 

The main problem is that he doesn't enjoy football, either watching or playing. Although he says he supports United and Bolton (he often lists the Wanderers first, more to wind me up), he doesn't really have an attachment to them, they are more "my dad's team" or "my mum's team", not "My team". It is an easy joke to make that if he is going to follow United he should get used to being bored and not enjoying it. In fact, it is hard enough watching your team struggle as an adult, never mind as when you are 6, 7 or 8, going along to out of duty as your Dad hopes beyond hope that you may develop that strength of affiliation and bond that he developed with his team when he was your age. If I have been bored numerous times in the last few seasons, how must he have felt? Cold, fed-up, wishing he was elsewhere, wishing his dad would let him play on his phone or his DS.

 

He has gone along to football training, but both times it wasn't a great experience. I first took him along to our local junior team; indoor training with their nursery side, all about learning skills with a game thrown in at the end. He wasn't the best, he was by no means the worst. He seemed to enjoy it, but preferred being in goal and showed some bravery in throwing himself at the feet of groups of goal hangers that always materialise at that age. Then, not long after he had started they said that it was time to reduce a sports hall full of 5 year olds down to a squad for Under 7's football. The axe was to be wielded at reception class age. "If you signed up, you have to be committed. You have to turn up every week regardless." Woe betide those that don't. He wasn't going to make the cut and without the opportunity to continue training and learning we went elsewhere.

 

This isn't some "Football is failing our youngsters" rant, everyone is different and has different life experiences. I know two friends who coach junior sides in Sheffield, I know the challenges they face, one blogs about the trial and tribulations of coaching here, but it has failed my boy. The junior football system didn't garner and develop the interest of young boys who might develop later as footballers. Cast aside at 6, because they aren't good enough and can no longer attend training because they are not in the squad. Teams are set up to compete and not develop, that means they don't coach and develop players who aren't in their squads. It is like Lord of the Flies, survival of the fittest.

 

At the second local club we went to there was little attempt at integrating a new face. Other, clearly talented players laughed when he couldn't do what they could do, or when he stumbled and fall when taking a shot. The braying not picked up on by the coaches or the bullish and ignorant parents who think they have sired or given birth to the next David Beckham, complete with obligatory stupid haircut. We didn't go for many weeks. I love football. I enjoy playing - as well as I can - and will happily watch a match between anyone. But that environment wasn't a comfortable one to be stood in. I watched on with a huge amount of sadness.

 

Would these things not happening have changed anything? Would he enjoy football now? Would he want to play with his friends at school? Would he find interest at Bramall Lane? Who knows, but I can't believe any of it has helped in anyway. Maybe my interest benefited from not going to watch United in the early to mid-80's when United stagnated, crowds dropped and frustration came to the fore. But I still enjoyed playing at school and after on the fields with mates or taking pot shots at my Dad in the back garden. I pored over Shoot! and Match magazines when they were delivered every week. Sunday mornings were reading the football reports and completing my League Ladders. He just hasn't got that interest.

 

What he has got are other interests and other sports he enjoys and if they develop then that might mean over 25 years of being a season ticket holder for me come to an end. What he, or my daughter, wants to do comes first and I will support them and take them to wherever they need to be, when he needs to be there, to pursue what gives him happiness. That is what being a dad is about. He says he will still come to some games with me and I am probably a different fan when he is there with me; more tolerant of his day-dreaming and off-topic chats during the game, trying to give him more idea of what is going on, letting him do his own thing when he wants to.

 

The club's marketing team have used the phrase "True Blades" are at the Lane. That might not always be the case. Sometimes, some things are more important than being at the football, however much I passionately support my team. There are times in the past where I had to be at every home game, be it the Zenith Data Systems Cup or a Testimonial. I went away to watch the Blades at 50/60 grounds. Little would deter me. Things change. Life changes. Fatherhood changes a lot. So if I am not there as often as I used to be, I am not less of a fan, I am just being more of a Dad. You never know, if I don't push it he might come back to football later in life………or maybe he won't. We shall see.

 

Up the Blades!

Charting the 2011/12 Season in Football - Number 4

Part 4 of the Charting the Season series with a slight North West bias in the graphs, featuring Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Phil Brown's departure from PNE. Other easy targets are not missed out; step forward Doncaster Rovers and Nicklas Bendtner.

Remember - Just double click on the graph/chart to increase to full size.

Previous parts of the series can be found here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 

Super Sunday at the Reebok

As a Blades fan it is not often you get the opportunity to watch a top of the table clash in the Premier League, but with the kids off to their grandparents for a few days I was able to join my wife (a season ticket holder at Bolton) at the Reebok as the top 2 from week one clashed.
 
It was a late call, up until mid afternoon Saturday I was still contemplating watching it on the sofa and saving the £28 that the cheapest Reebok tickets cost, but the lure of live football was too much to ignore. It was a good decision. 

Taking my seat behind the goal just before kick off i had a great view, only slightly obscured when Rik Waller took the seat in front shortly after. I was then further upset, picking up the match programme to be faced with a roaring Paul Robinson. He has never been one of my favourite players and was one of the most frequently nominated players in the My Dislikable XI series, so I am clearly not the only one. The sight of The Poisonous Squirrel in ecstatic open mouthed celebration was nearly enough to send me to the concourse. It really should be 18 rated top-shelf material.

Children - avert your eyes

Despite the empty seats, not unexpected given the ease with which I had been able to get one the day before, a decent atmosphere was building. Local rivalries stoked up further by an appeal in yesterday's papers from Wanderers' right back Gretar Steinsson for a fair welcome for Kun Aguero, stating that he had forgiven the Argentine for a spitting incident in Bolton's UEFA Cup clash with Atletico Madrid clash 3 years ago. The thing is, most Bolton fans had forgoteen it............until they read the article. Needless to say his every touch was booed and his name was often called out with a 't' on the end.

The only down side to the atmosphere were the youths with the drums pitchside, bang in front of me. I am sorry you shouldn't need a 12 year old with a bass drum to thump out your chants. 

You can stick your drumsticks up....

The match started at a decent tempo with both sides pushing forward with decent movement and play in an open game. Silva and Aguero were busy for City, popping up across the front line and often deeper, although Bolton worked hard to close them down and limit opportunities. Whilst the Wanderers attacked with intent and created a chance or two of their own, but too often their final ball was lacking, particularly from wide.

The big differences between the two teams could be summed up as pace and strength. City's back 4 and their central midfield shield looked tall and imposing and were able to brush off Bolton players with ease at times. Even the more diminutive players like Silva, Aguero and Milner seemed able to hold off challenges better than their Bolton counterparts. As much through speed of feet and balance as brutal strength. Players like Petrov and Eagles displayed little appetite for battle for Bolton.

Having said that, Lescott and Kompany (the Belgian in particular) were perhaps lucky to escape without a booking for persistent fouling, especially given the frequency of Mike Jones’ whistle. You cannot help feeling that if they had been up against a different opponent than Kevin Davies, the referee might not have been so lenient with the cards.
 
The fact that City took the lead in a half relatively even with chances, was due to a blunder from Jussi Jaaskelainen. A relatively tame shot from Silva squirmed under Jaaskelainen’s body and over the line. After being an impressive shot stopper over the last 10 years or so, there are noticeable signs that the years are starting to catch up with Bolton’s legendary custodian. Increasingly last season, including the high profile occasion of the FA Cup semi final, the Finnish keeper has demonstrated errors of judgement and slowness of reaction that suggest Adam Bogdan may be getting a chance sooner rather than later.
 
This may seem a tad harsh and I am taking nothing away from what was Gareth Barry's only contribution to the match, but I think Jussi was also slow off the mark for City's second. Sat right behind it, I thought that he had plenty of time to size it up and potentially stop it.

It would have been easy to assume that Bolton were out of the game at this point, but far from it. Continuing their commitment to attacking play, Bolton continued to look for opportunities against a City side that showed no signs of wanting to protect a lead. Throughout the game, City played with an attacking intent that was as much to their detriment (allowing Bolton space to play) as it was to their credit.

With seven minutes left in the half, Barry’s goal was the signal for many Bolton fans to head for the concourse for pie and pint and many will have only seen Klasnic pull one back with a sweet strike on TV screens as they queued. The ground was lifted once more and there was renewed optimism in the home end going into the break. Optimism that was soon knocked, right at the start of the second half.

Another mistake, a miscue from Knight, let in Dzeko and the Bosnian finished with aplomb. Despite this he looks far from the finished article. Travelling home I read tweets from respected football journalists saying how Dzeko impressed. Yet for me, he is a hard running front man, with a heavy touch and looks far from assured on the ball.

Behind once more, Bolton again fought back and a perfect glancing header from Davies beat Hart and clipped in off the inside of the post. At this point, with a rousing crowd encouraging the Wanderers forward and plenty of time left, I believed the Wanderers might have the momentum to draw level. Yet each attack seemed to fall down on the edge of the 18 yard box.

A Bolton attack falls down

In the end, City looked more likely to extend their lead creating clear cut chances and the increasingly influential James Milner drifted in from the left and created some great openings. Tevez came on to good effect, all it lacked was end product - shots flashing wide of target or blocked.

At the final whistle City fans were understandably delighted. Bolton fans had mixed emotions. Relief that the scoreline was respectable, frustration with the manner in which they gifted City two of the goals and at the fact that they couldn’t fight their way back level. I had enjoyed an open and entertaining game.

Bolton can look forward to a better season than I imagined pre-season. The squad is still a little lightweight, although a return to fitness and form of Mark Davies will help, as will the return from serious injury of Stuart Holden and Sean Davis. They still need a couple more players in their squad and an injection of pace is vital, particularly to offer something different up front. In the absence of Tuncay today, there was only Robbie Blake available to provide an option off the bench.

Their style of play is an ever-changing mix of direct play and short interchanges of passing. One such patient spell of little triangles eventually led to a great chance for Eagles in the second half only for it to be skewed and spurned. Chances like that need to be grabbed, especially when at a premium.



Back in Black - but not yet in the black



City displayed an impressive combination of strength and guile which, allied with attacking intent, showed a marked shift away from games earlier in Mancini’s reign. The chants of “Boring, Boring City” from their fans were rightly ironic. However, they did leave themselves open and better teams, with a little more craft, could have really had them rocking at 3-2 and even pulled level.

Mancini spoke afterwards of signing Nasri this week and you have to wonder where he fits in. City have such a large and talented squad that pieces of the jigsaw are seemingly inter-changeable from one week to the next. How seamlessly Mancini can achieve this tinkering will determine how successful City will be.

So what of my Premier League experience? Well it was a good, end to end game, with some world class players on show. I saw that, despite what Sky might try and tell you, the newly anointed Premier League saviour Aguero is human; shooting over from 8 yards with Jaaskelainen struggling to get back in position. It was played in a less than full stadium with the somewhat manufactured and derivative atmosphere that clubs and sometimes fans seem to want to foist on us these days. From the drummers and cheerleaders behind the goal, to Depeche Mode blaring out after Wanderers’ goals, to the celebration of the fans of the fifth best team in Poland by the fans of the fourth best team in England it is all a bit forced and, unlike the boys from Basildon, of that I can get enough.

The Polish celebration

Ticket: £28

View: Good

Programme: £3 (should have been discounted based on the cover)

Match Rating: 8/10

Value for money: 6/10  





Charting the Week in Football 5

Week 5 and this week we have Avram Grant and his superiors at West Ham, players turning up (or not) on the big occasion, paranoid managers, a recipe for a Sheffield relegation and yet another Neil Warnock chart......sorry I can't help myself!

Graphs and Charts from previous weeks are here:

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4 

Not a Grand Day Out

There is a five year old boy from Sheffield. He doesn't share the natural enthusiasm for football that his Dad had at the same age. Then again, some children get into football later in life, some don't at all. Onlookers might say that his Dad has spent his time since August in a season long attempt to put him off football by taking him  to Bramall Lane, but a ten pound season ticket makes it a low cost investment of time and money. Slotted in have been sporadic visits with his Mum, a season ticket holder at the Reebok Stadium, a much happier place to be.

Although his enthusiasm was a slow burner, he had, for the last few weeks, a big day out to look forward to. The FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. The wonderment of a trip to a huge stadium, the sense of occasion, a positive riot of colour and noise. Something to live long in the memory. It may well do, but for all the wrong reasons and not for what happened between 4pm and 6pm.

Thanks to the M1 being closed, it was a hot an arduous journey to the capital, although early encounters with opposition support at Oxford Services witnessed over exuberance and daftness as opposed to any menace. A train of cars of red and white and blue snaking down the M40 and A40 until, nearly two hours later and close to five hours after setting off, the car bedecked with scarves and flags entered the final mile or so to the stadium. A mother and son's road trip, as much a part of the day's experience as the match itself. Wide eyed wonderment at a trip to "London", not realising that it is the northern suburbs and not the tourist London of schoolbooks and television.

"It's no different to Sheffield Mummy!".

Passing pubs, the first overspilling with raucous Bolton fans and then another populated by Stoke fans. Approaching traffic lights, although the lights were green, the car is stopped to allow some Stoke fans to cross the road.

At that point several drunken Potters fans preceded to start thumping on the windows of the car, hurling abuse at the passengers within. Irrelevant to them that it is a young woman and her small son. They then proceed to do what 70mph driving couldn't achieve and rip the car flags from the windows of the car taunting their victims with their trophies. A bit of a verbal set to ensues as the driver points out her young son is in the back of the car, which does nothing to stop the idiots' taunts. Eventually a female Stoke supporter grabs hold of one of the flags from her fellow fan and returned the remains apologetically as the idiots continued to taunt and bait and the car moves on.

Shortly after, on arriving at the stadium, the young boy incredibly upset continues to shake and quiver. This should have been the time to soak up that atmosphere on Wembley Way, the colour, the feeling of being at a special event, but that wasn't to be. The young boy didn't want to be outside the stadium as "those Stoke fans might get us Mummy".

He knew that it wasn't until he got into the ground that he would feel happier, surrounded by fellow Bolton supporters. They took some photos to remember the day, but all show a boy whose eyes are looking anywhere but the camera, darting around, clearly worrying about what might happen next. 

What happened next was a football match, but the day had been tarnished long before the Wanderers' capitulation. His team were soundly thrashed, some said they never turned up, yet events off the pitch left the little boy upset, scared and wishing he hadn't turned up either.

During the match the views of those who oppose the F.A.'s avaricious decision to hold semi-finals at Wembley were further vindicated as supporter segregation went out of the window in the country's showpiece stadium. The inability to restrict Stoke fans from the Club Wembley seats around the Bolton end leading to exchanges of "pleasantries" and missiles with the Bolton fans below. Stewards looking on impassively. Young fans looking on, wondering why?

"They smell of pubs, of Wormwood Scrubs and too many right wing meetings"

Society is cursed by a number of drink fuelled, emotionally crippled men who get their kicks in -perverse ways, Sadly football just seems to exacerbate the worse aspects of their behaviour. We have all seen it at football, instances of threatening behaviour from sinewy pit bulls, veins bulging from neck and forehead, more often than not directed at their own breed from the other side of the club divide. Their kids, the next generation, giving it the big one at the opposition pups. Then there are those, a minority I know, who take it to another level. Revelling in threatening their fellow supporters who don't share their opinion, with few qualms about threatening women and young children.

In taking your children to football you know that you are potentially exposing them to unsavoury behaviour. If you are sensible you can shield them from a lot of what happens. You know where to go pre-match, where to sit, avoiding the potential pressure points. You set their moral code, so they know right from wrong.

The swearing passes them by for a while, although you know you will have to cross that bridge in time and then it will most probably be as much to do with what they hear at school as at football. You can explain why the police are arresting people and dragging them out of the ground. You can explain that the reason the Millwall fans are marching across the seats arms outstretched offering out the home support is because they are naughty and a bit sad that they aren't winning.

But how do you explain what happened on Sunday afternoon? Before the match, before the emotions run high, before the real anger and frustration potentially manifests itself.

You would think that a Bolton v Stoke semi-final, a massive game for both fans, with little inter-club rivalry, would be a safe environment for a young boy - not least for the fact he was with his Mum. Even when a friend, the day before, reported a nasty and at times violent atmosphere at the City - United derby it did little to change opinion.

It is a sad indictment on society that some people consider the behaviour that 5 year old boy witnessed and suffered as acceptable, with no retraction or embarrassment. Even in sober post-match reflection you cannot imagine their opinion changing.


Come Saturday the opportunity will be there to join his Dad at Bramall Lane. If he doesn't want to go, I'll understand why. He may choose not to follow football. After Sunday you wouldn't blame him. He may change his mind several times as is the want of young boys. Whatever happens que sera, sera.

  

Points vs Technical Merit

In an interview with Matt Hughes in Wednesday's Times, Cesc Fabregas commented on the difference in styles between English and Spanish club football and the cultural differences between fans in both countries in accepting style and results.

"In Spain we believe in one style of football. The way we play is most important. It is not just about winning, it's about how you do it. If you lose, you go again. You will never play the ball long or do things you are not used to. We want to win by playing football. No Spanish teams would play like Bolton. Here in England it is all about passion - the fans love it when there are hard tackles and you play long balls and counter attack. But if you do that in Spain they will boo you even if you win."

Na na, we make more passes than you...

Now people will point to Spain and say, World and European champions and suggest that maybe Fabregas has a point. But Spain are blessed with technically excellent players and their big two clubs are blessed with significant transfer funds, therefore winning with style tends to come easier for them than other teams and, last time I noticed, points and trophies are awarded for winning matches. It's not 3 points for a win and 5.9 for technical merit.

Firstly, I find it really disappointing that he chooses Bolton as his example of ugly football. They still seem to be tarred with the long ball brush, usually by lazy media pundits who fail to see the changes made to the way they play, particularly under Owen Coyle. Yet even in the Allardyce days they played with noted footballers in a team containing Okocha, Djorkaeff and Campo amongst others. The goals they scored were often spectacular as much as direct and I don't think any of the three players mentioned ever complained that the tactics and style inhibited their performances or enjoyment of the game. 

Ask any Bolton fans, would they have preferred to see a few more passes in the build up to their goals when they finished 6th in 2005 and qualified for the UEFA Cup? I doubt it. Maybe they would have preferred their team to play differently when drawing away with Bayern Munich, when they became the first British team to win at Red Star Belgrade and when they knocked out Atletico Madrid? Clubs like Bolton, live within their means and play within their means, I see little wrong with that. It is noticable that the other English clubs (outside of the usual suspects) to achieve greater UEFA Cup success since Bolton reached the last 16 (Middlesboro and Fulham) have multi-millionaire's backers who have invested significant sums to achieve similar success.

Success is what drives a majority of fans in this country and it's what drives clubs. Never mind trophies, £800k prize money per place in the Premier League means the extra point gained, sat playing deep at the Emirates and hitting on the counter, can lead to a significant windfall. The reward structure is the direct cause of teams setting out to frustrate when visiting the Big 4.

Now I don't see a huge amount of the Spanish football live on Sky, so I cannot comment on the style of football played by Deportivo De La Coruna. However, I struggle to believe that fans of a club who played Champions League football 5 years ago, would not mind a bit of direct football if it brings the goals and victories that would lift them from the foot of La Liga. Would new boys Hercules not sacrifice style, if it elongated their Primera Liga tenure? 

I asked freelance Spanish football writer Mike Holden about how fans react to performances in Spain. He told me "They don't like losing, but they just stop going if their team keeps losing. Spanish fans are passionate but many can take or leave the match experience. To English fans, matchday is their life."

Therefore if  Cesc's claim is right, the Spanish support will boo their team when winning ugly and just stop going altogether when they are losing. Maybe Fabregas is basing his comments on his beloved Barcelona, but that is hardly indicative of Spanish football as a whole. 

Maybe I am a footballing neanderthal, but we have to accept that every team has it's limits. As much as we would love to see our teams play the beautiful way, there is not the talent to achieve it and the structure of the game means tipi-tapi with little end product costs points and costs money. By all means continue playing your way Cesc, but maybe you and your teammates might have to compromise your footballing principles to get the results that will bring Arsenal a first trophy in five years. I am guessing that the Arsenal fans might like one?