The Power of Positivity
We can kick this off by declaring that yes I am a Manchester United fan and this is a post about Manchester United. So you can take from that what you will about bias, but I’m hoping that I come across as someone who is able to shed the blinkers and comment fairly on any team.
This post is kind of a defence (or at least my explanation for it - whilst only being a fan and having no inside knowledge) against the recent poor form Manchester United have been in and all the resulting negative press around tactics and ability of the players to play in the new formation under Ruben Amorim.
But first we have to start with my view on how good teams actually are. I believe that there is a bar to how good a team can be. No matter how many of the best players you have you can only be so good. There is a certain level that teams can reach but you can very rarely pass this level purely based on the ability of your players within the squad. Teams can sometimes pass this bar with a great team and 1 or 2 exceptional talents but it is very rare, think Barcelona with Messi, or Real Madrid with Ronaldo as the most recent examples. It is though super hard to maintain this and they will eventually drop back down to the bar or below relatively quickly.
Looking at the Premier League at the start of this season (24/25) there was probably only Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool that were at this mythical bar of talent, capable of winning the league. Below them would have been Newcastle, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham all vying for that final Champions League spot. The rest I have included in the table below.
Ability
Now you can argue about what pot your team should have been in at the start of the season but just because they are in that pot doesn’t mean they can’t change throughout the season. My main point is that ability is only one of the factors that determines a teams performance throughout the season.
So now lets get to my main point of this post, what affects teams more than ability i believe is confidence and positivity. Knowing you can win any game and believing you can win any game has a bigger impact on teams where ability levels are quite similar. Across all the teams above, the gap in ability between the first 5 pots is marginal. This is where I believe Manchester United are really lacking. It’s not a lack of ability or a lack of effort it is just a real crisis in confidence and believing you can win a game no matter the circumstances.
This gets compounded when you enter a run of bad performances and every game gets harder as opposing teams sniff their opportunity knowing a team is lacking in confidence. It also affects the players as every chance you get in a game to score a goal comes with more pressure, the pressure of ensuring you don’t make a mistake, everything just becomes that little bit harder game by game. This is where Manchester United were so good under Sir Alex Ferguson, opposing teams didn’t go into games believing they could win which made their job easier, but the team also knew that no matter what happened in the game they could still win and the game was never over until that final whistle went.
You can look at Leicester the year they won the league, they were clearly not the best team ability wise in the league but they surfed along a wave of positivity and belief throughout the season that they could do it. Minor setbacks along the way didn’t derail them, they got back up and ensured they got the momentum going their way again. Bournemouth and Forrest this season are a good examples as well. Finished in 17th and 12th place respectively last year but now more than half way through this season sit 3rd and 5th. Bournemouth has also suffered quite a lot of injuries but the players coming in are picking up the baton and the belief grows around the whole squad.
Manchester United go into a game tomorrow against Everton who have recently had an upturn in form since Moyes came back as manager and the belief is growing. This is a low in confidence Manchester United against a confident Everton side and it coule be another defeat for United if they don’t find some belief and confidence from somewhere. And this is the main point, you don’t become bad players/team over night, the ability is still there but you have to believe that you are good enough and that everyone around you is good enough. As much as winning becomes a habit so does losing.
Anyway whatever happens tomorrow I just want to highlight how I believe that positivity in football and in life is so important if we want to improve and better ourselves everyday.
My 2023 Reading List
As the year draws to a close, I thought it would be a good idea to do a quick run through of the books I have read during 2023.
1 - Permanent Record (Edward Snowden)
This was the result of a library trip with my children. Did not really know what I was looking for but saw this on display and recalled all the stories around Edward Snowden releasing the files and thought it might be a good read. It held my interest but I don’t think it gave anything away that we hadn’t already seen or heard. (2/5)
2 - Sold Out (James Rickards)
I picked this book up from the library when returning my Permanent Record. It is supposedly a book explaining what went wrong with supply chains but ends up blaming most of it on vaccine mandates in the US. Not a book I would recommend reading. (1/5)
3 - Jews Don’t Count (David Baddiel)
This was an interesting book highlighting some of the ways the Jewish people are portrayed in the media, and how antisemitism isn’t treated in the same way as racism towards other cultures or races. (4/5)
4 - Lessons In Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus)
I had seen a lot of people posting about this book on Instagram and noticed that it was on sale on Google Play one day so decided to take the plunge. It is a really good read and definitely a book I would recommend to anyone. (5/5)
5 - Atomic Habits (James Clear)
A book I had seen mentioned on YouTube numerous times by different creators I watch. It is a productivity book pointing out ways that numerous small changes can make a really big difference in mastering something or changing habits. (3/5)
6 - The Last Devil to Die (Richard Osman)
Part 4 of the Thursday Murder Club series of books, and just as good as the first three. It is a really good series and one I always look forward to. Has a Hetty Wainthropp Investigates vibe to it with a really wonderful set of characters and humour. (5/5)
7 - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (Gabrielle Zevin)
A book about young game developers and relationships. Well written, witty and makes it all feel like it could be a true story. Interested now to read more of Gabrielle’s books. (4/5)
8 - Make Time (Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky)
Chose this book after a recommendation by Ali Abdaal. A productivity book with plenty of useful hints in how to make the most of the time you have available and how to focus better on the task you prioritise. A really good book that doesn’t just tell you one way of helping but gives plenty of ideas and lets you decide which ones work best for you. (4/5)
9 - Sapiens (Yuval Noah Harari)
This book always seems to be part of everyone’s recommended reading list, so I thought I would give it a try. It attempts to find out what makes us unique as a species and how we managed to become the dominant species on earth. Trying to fit so much history into one book must have been hard but Yuval manages it well and it was a very enjoyable read. (4/5)
10 - The Secret (Andrew Child & Lee Child)
Book number twenty eight in the Jack Reacher series and just as exciting as the previous twenty seven. This book takes us back to Reacher’s army days and delivers the usual brand of Reacher Justice. (5/5)
11 - Bad Luck and Trouble (Lee Child)
I re-read this book as Series two of Reacher on Amazon Prime is based on this novel so just wanted to refresh myself in time for it’s release in December. You don’t mess with the special investigators! (5/5)
12 - The Christmas Appeal (Janice Hallett)
I wanted to squeeze in a festive book before the end of the year and found this when browsing through Waterstones. It is written as a series of correspondence between the characters of the book in letters, emails, text messages etc. And it is a really refreshing take on a book. (4/5)
Weekend Trip to Prague
I recently took a long weekend trip to Prague with a group of friends. We planned this trip as a little celebration because we have all recently turned 40 or are due to turn 40 soon. The trip was excellent and plenty of fun was had along the way.
Prague itself is a beautiful city, with plenty of history and scenic views. The prices compared to other capital cities around Europe are excellent. You can have plenty of food and drink and be shocked at how little it cost you once you get the bill.
A couple of years ago, I bought myself a cheap DSLR camera (Nikon D3400), I decided to take this along on the trip and see if I could get some decent photos whilst out walking around the city. Quickly realised though that I don’t really know how to use the camera to get the best out of it. I really like photography though so it is probably about time I took myself on a course and actually learned how to use it properly.
Here though are a few of my shots that I managed to get.
Prague1
Prague 2
Prague 3
Prague 4
Prague 5
Hello World
Welcome to my blog, The Gambol
welcome
I’m really excited to have you here. I have been wanting to start a blog for years, and I’m finally making it happen. This blog is my little corner of the internet where I can share my thoughts, ideas, and experiences with you. I’m interested in a lot of things, so I hope you’ll find something here that interests you and makes you stay around.
I’m currently creating this blog using Blot and I am still figuring things out as I go, but I’m hoping to post regularly on a variety of topics, including:
- My thoughts on current events
- Technology
- Football, Formula 1, and other sports
- My personal experiences
- My favourite books, movies, and music
- Anything else that pops up
I also hope to use this blog to connect with other people who are interested in the same things as me. I’m always up for a good conversation, so please feel free to leave comments on my posts or contact me directly.
I’m so grateful for you taking the time to visit my blog. I hope you’ll come back soon!
Thanks
David