I appreciate your point, and agree with it up to a point. However, I question the motivation of players who can't compete without the backing of the crowd and can't raise their game due to their lack of an inner competitive engine. They need to be possessed of an overriding passion to win...
No it's not. It's up to the players to have the inner drive to want to succeed. Too many games start with the crowd well up for it, but with the players passing the ball around with zero sense of urgency and giving free hits to the opposition through utterly unforced errors. Time for the players...