Dalot: Players must give more energy to Old Trafford
Diogo Dalot says he and his United team-mates must do more to engage the Old Trafford crowd, to reawaken the stadium's at-times formidable atmosphere.
The Theatre of Dreams has been a proverbial fortress for the Reds over the years and, as recently as 2022/23, United won 27 of 33 games here in all competitions.
But our home form is currently a concern, particularly in the Premier League. And Dalot told our Local Supporters' Club that, during a period of poor results in M16, it's on the players to rebuild trust and confidence between the team and the fans.
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"I think it's not fair for me to expect that the fans would come here and think: ah, we're going to win 4-0 every game, or we are so confident about the team. Because the results are not there," he admitted.
"Before I was a football player, I was a supporter as well. So I would go to watch Porto games, and if the team was not winning, I was not completely happy and 'buzzing' – just to use an expression from here! I was not buzzing about it.
"I would still go to support, but I was not top and positive about it.
"I would still go to support, but I was not top and positive about it.
"We cannot come to the stadium and rely on the fans to give us energy so we can play well. This time, it has to be the other way around. We need to show that you need to support us because we are doing enough to win games, and that is the cycle that we want to put in, especially at home.
"I think that's where we can be much more better, in terms of dominating teams. Teams have to come here and be afraid to play against us. The reality is, at the moment, it's not that. We have to go to that direction, because this is the history of the club. I will try to keep doing that and I'm sure my team-mates will do as well, as a staff, as a club, as long as we can, to put the club back on top. I'm sure it will happen."
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Our support, both home and away, is something that has already made an impression with new head coach Ruben Amorim.
After our recent Premier League win at Fulham, Dalot's compatriot told reporters that the level of backing our players receive is 'not normal', and Diogo revealed that it's something the boss has hammered home to the players in private.
"I never saw a big team losing the amount of games that we lost, and still having people after the game, looking at your face and [saying] 'Come on, let's go' and clapping and giving you energy," marvelled Diogo.
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"In other countries, you don't have that luck. And, sometimes, what can happen is that players and the club can take that for granted. So I think that's one of the things that he [Amorim] noticed straight away. He made sure that we could feel that as well, in terms of: 'Listen, you don't know how lucky you are – losing a game and still having [that support].'
"I remember we lost 4-0 at [Crystal] Palace last year and everybody – I don't know how many fans were there, I expect 2,000 fans – still trying to motivate you and clap you after. That doesn't happen, pretty much anywhere.
"I think you realise that it's something that he was not used to, and it's something that is good in my opinion. He made us sure that know we are lucky to have the support that we have. I think it's the soul of the club."
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