Can The Weight Of Expectation At Old Trafford Help Saints ? Thursday, 18th Aug 2016 11:46 Last January Saints won at Manchester United for the second year running and were undoubtably helped by the toxic atmosphere that day, but can they again be helped by one that is about expectation. Saints have gone three games unbeaten at Old Trafford, the last two being wins by a single goal each time, now Saints head to the North West hoping to join an elite band of clubs, indeed possibly the only club to have won three consecutive Premier League games at Old Trafford. The atmosphere at the so called Theatre Of Dreams last January was toxic and the crowd were on United's and Louis Van Gaal's back from early on and indeed were streaming towards the exits long before Charlie Austin netted the 87th minute winner. Saints were undoubtably helped that day by the animosity of the home crowd towards the manager and his team, however seven months later it is a different scenario at United, however it could still create an atmosphere that could help Saints or for that matter completely blow them away. The United faithful have embraced former public enemy number one Jose Mourinho and have seen him splash the cash during the summer not least on re signing Paul Pogba, but there will be a weight of expectation amidst the crowd and that could be just as much a hindrance to them as last season's toxic one was. This is a United crowd unused to failure, a fair chunk of them have been brought up only on dominance and success and have found it hard in recent years since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, they have now gone three seasons without a Premier League title and this is something that has happened only once since 1992 when they won the Premier League in it's first season. So the Old Trafford faithfull wil turn up at Old Trafford on Friday night with their hopes high, but will they be prepared to be patient ? the answer is the atmosphere will not be as hatred filled as back in January, but there will be that level of demand, that says that the crowd expect United to win and win well, they are expecting to walk the league and that could help Saints. You cannot just turn an average side into a great one overnight and Mourinho is still to bed in his new signings and still unsure of his best line up, that being the case there is a window of opportunity for Saints to get in below the radar before they get up a head of steam. But it could just as easily turn against us, the crowd might inspire the team to a wave of confidence that could blow Saints out of the water, last season they werent the real deal, but they still had their moments, but will Ibramhovic, Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Bailly be enough to improve them that much from last season, on their day yes, but United made big signings over the past few seasons to know avail, however there is the Mourinho factor. My heart hopes for a fourth consecutive good result at Old Trafford, but my head says that no one manages that feat and we are due a defeat, I hope I'm wrong. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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