The Fans Prayer

Ali Anani asked me to expand on a couple of comments on the "Lucky Number 13" around comment #5 and #7 and expand around the theme of how great teams make luck and yet good teams count their unluck that prevents them from greatness.  The picture used for this buzz are not Tottenham fans, but Manchester United fans praying in a game that was played in the last few years as Manchester United have fallen from their greatness since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.  Ferguson retired delivering Manchester United their 20th league title. 

Why do great teams prosper though examination of their games prove how much luck played in their success and teams dreaming of greatness never seem to cross the threshold to greatness and here I mean consistent greatness.  Leicester City had one great year where their team rode an absolutely lucky year when all the major teams were in transition, except for Tottenham Hotspur and given that luck, how did Tottenham fail to capitalize on that opportunity with a better team?

Fans of great teams note their 12th Player, which is the fans while fans of good teams may end up psychologically effecting the team.  Ali Anani is correct in observing that this aspect of relationship between the game and people are applicable to business situations, they business is not a soccer, basketball, hockey or whatever sport that inspires an analogy or a comparison.

A prayer for success is a vain prayer and often leads to the completely opposite outcome.  In the match played today (13th January 2018) the fans of Tottenham could be seen praying deeply that their team will score.  When in a losing position, what is the psychological effect on a human being (no matter if they are meant to be professionals at what they do) to see their fans praying to a higher power.  Not only can this add pressure and stress to those players but the very act of seeing their fans praying means they are no longer believing in them.   So it is that chances that would have the fans rejoicing are chances missed due to self-inflicted behaviour.

When the great players of former great Manchester United players were questioned after the game, all of them (the likes of Ryan Giggs and Teddy Sheringham) said the same thing.  The way United played today fits with what Sir Alex Ferguson taught them, to see the game through their fans eyes and recognize that those fans would chop off their own hands if it meant helping the team towards glory game after game.  The United of old were represented on the field of play at Wembley Stadium today because David de Gea was a young goalkeeper that SIr Alex Ferguson entrusted to be the keeper, realizing that de Gea had massive shoes to fill following in the footsteps of legendary United goalkeepers.

That perspective was fully in the psyche of David de Gea as he became a projection of "unbeatable".  That projection would have registered subconsciously with the Tottenham players as the thought starts to creep in that either it is not their day or that they are undergoing the same psychological effects that have effected every other Tottenham team for decades upon decades.