A 1-0 win over Dynamo Kiev wasn’t enough for the Old Trafford faithful, who let their displeasure known, moaning and groaning throughout. This was a Manchester United side at their peak, after all. Little more than a year previously, they had won the Treble. Expectations were high. Too high, in the opinion of Roy Keane, never one to mince his words. What he said after the game stuck. The Old Trafford crowd has been the ‘prawn sandwich brigade’ ever since. Once revered as a cauldron of English football at its most feverish, its most fervent, Old Trafford has long been derided for its atmosphere, or lack there of. It might be the biggest stadium in the Premier League, with Manchester United home games almost always attended by over 76,000 fans, but something’s not quite right. The noise, the electricity is missing. Jose Mourinho has been keen to underline this point, more than once pointing out the lack of backing his players receive from the stands. The Portuguese has called Old Trafford a “quiet stadium,” even holding discussions with Ed Woodward over ways to improve the atmosphere. Song sheets, cheerleaders and cheaper tickets for 18-25-year-olds have been suggested. Whether or not these measures are enough, something has to be done. As far as Mourinho is concerned, the flat atmosphere at Man Utd home games is actually affecting the performance of his team. While other sides receive a boost from playing in front of their own supporters, Mourinho thinks the apathy of the Old Trafford crowd trickles down to the pitch. The fear factor once held by the Theatre of Dreams is now gone. Of course, this isn’t just a problem isolated to Man Utd home games. The issues experienced at Old Trafford are reflective of those suffered all the way across the Premier League, with clubs in the top divisions in England struggling to rouse their own fans. This, they say, is a symptom of modern football. Liverpool, for instance, have problems of the same kind at Anfield.