The only positive from Saturday’s defeat was the crowd
Written by Cameron Donaldson on 1st April 2025
The defeat to Crystal Palace at the weekend offered various problems to ponder. But off the pitch, it is important to note one of the positives – the crowd in the first 30 minutes.
The 12th man
On Saturday, the crowd noise and the atmosphere was heightened in comparison to usual home matches, and, on the pitch, the players responded, creating chances, winning midfield battles and very much restricting the efforts on goal for the away side.
I’m a firm believer that this helps the players in individual battles as well. Rodrigo Muniz had an effort on the two-minute mark that was created due to his desire to battle and win the ball, creating the angle for the shot and feeding off the noise from the crowd. Joao Palhinha is another example of a player that feeds off the 12th man with his desire to win the ball back. Last season, the Portuguese international put in tackles on Bukayo Saka in front of the Johnny Haynes Stand and, in the previous season to that, on Marcus Rashford in front of the Riverside Stand the season before, both of which the crowd responded to.
The crowd helped us against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg last season, as well as at home against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League last season. But the trouble is, it’s not replicated throughout the season.
Why it should change
It won’t be news to anyone that the satisfaction and the gratification that the players receive when they create an energised response from the crowd is something that they crave and thus, naturally this creates a heightened desire to win the ball and fight for the team.
Therefore, we should question, with some of the tackles in the first 30 minutes against Crystal Palace and the battling from Rodrigo Muniz to create the early opportunity, do these phases of play happen in the same manner with a mundane response from the crowd? A further representation of this is within various other matches in the FA cup. The giant killings often happen with the players feeding off the crowd’s energy, summoning up bits of energy that the players did not know existed.
I believe, like many, that the noise from the crowd showed what could be replicated each week at Craven Cottage and the extra bit of physicality, fight and desire may help to aid the players performance and add to the results, helping us push on in the league. How this may change, it is up to us as a club to work out, but here’s to hoping for atmospheres like that at home more often.
