When do we go Europa or bust?

manunited1919

Full Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2015
Messages
3,580
Are we good enough to win the Europa League? We have scored 5 goals in 4 games in a group of very weak teams. On top of that, 3 of those goals came in one game. It is not a promising outlook.

Also, teams such as Red Bull Salzburg, Inter Milan and Valencia may be dropping into the Europa League. I think it will be very difficult to win it this season.

We will not be getting top-four. Chelsea and Leicester will beat the majority of teams. We are currently 9 points off City; do you really think we are going to catch them?
This is the harsh reality. We have very low chance of winning the Europa League, and almost zero chance of top 4.
 

Ikon

Correctly predicted France to win World Cup 2018
Joined
Jun 29, 2017
Messages
2,390
My philosophy is that you should always try to win every competition that you are involved in, but for United, the Europa should take extra focus now...

I think this season is looking very predictable in the League, top 4 are already 8 points clear of 5th and I find it difficult to imagine Arsenal Spurs or ourselves being able to overhaul that deficit and catch City. It doesn't seem likely at the moment.

But there are some very dangerous looking opponents in the Europa, so a good run in that will be very difficult, Wolves, Arsenal, Rangers, Celtic, Sporting & Sevilla, I wouldn't confidently predict that we'd win any of those ties, they would all be touch and go I think, that's not even considering the CL drop outs.
 

Bestietom

Full Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2013
Messages
8,021
Location
Ireland
My philosophy is that you should always try to win every competition that you are involved in, but for United, the Europa should take extra focus now...

I think this season is looking very predictable in the League, top 4 are already 8 points clear of 5th and I find it difficult to imagine Arsenal Spurs or ourselves being able to overhaul that deficit and catch City. It doesn't seem likely at the moment.

But there are some very dangerous looking opponents in the Europa, so a good run in that will be very difficult, Wolves, Arsenal, Rangers, Celtic, Sporting & Sevilla, I wouldn't confidently predict that we'd win any of those ties, they would all be touch and go I think, that's not even considering the CL drop outs.
Add 2/3 players in January and it will give us a much better chance of winning it. We are far too thin in midfield and attack.
 

KennyBurner

New Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
4,673
Location
ATL
Right now we are the strongest team in the competition. we should only be worried when 3rd placed contestants dropout of the championds league. By then I hope we have bought reinforcements in January. Strongest teams that dropout are Intermilan, Benefica and Valencia.
 

Infordin

Full Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2016
Messages
3,897
Supports
Barcelona
Who's left in the competition that is of a higher standard than Leicester, Liverpool, Chelsea, or Arsenal?

If we can hold our own against them - actually beating Leicester and Chelsea (twice) - why couldn't we go on an win it?
Honest question: would you consider yourself favourites or underdogs if you drew Sevilla?

Sevilla is third in La Liga at the moment, ahead of Atletico and only 1 point behind Barca/Real. They’ve taken 15 out of 15 points in the group so far. They are experts in this particular competition.

Would Man Utd really be the favourite against Sevilla?
 

Un4givableB

Full Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
1,687
Honest question: would you consider yourself favourites or underdogs if you drew Sevilla?

Sevilla is third in La Liga at the moment, ahead of Atletico and only 1 point behind Barca/Real. They’ve taken 15 out of 15 points in the group so far. They are experts in this particular competition.

Would Man Utd really be the favourite against Sevilla?
We have almost zero chances of winning it, the first decent properly coached side will knock us out.
 

croadyman

Full Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2018
Messages
34,330
Well it is certainly our only way into the champions league,however the thought of Ole taking us away to a Inter or Valencia just fills me with zero confidence.
 

Random Task

WW Lynchpin
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
34,503
Location
Chester
Honest question: would you consider yourself favourites or underdogs if you drew Sevilla?

Sevilla is third in La Liga at the moment, ahead of Atletico and only 1 point behind Barca/Real. They’ve taken 15 out of 15 points in the group so far. They are experts in this particular competition.

Would Man Utd really be the favourite against Sevilla?
I wouldn't call us favorites, exactly, but I certainly wouldn't bet against us overcoming anyone left in the competition if we are at full strength.

Our best first eleven can hold their own against anyone on their day. The problem is we rarely get to see it in action.
 

The Bloody-Nine

Full Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
6,200
Honest question: would you consider yourself favourites or underdogs if you drew Sevilla?

Sevilla is third in La Liga at the moment, ahead of Atletico and only 1 point behind Barca/Real. They’ve taken 15 out of 15 points in the group so far. They are experts in this particular competition.

Would Man Utd really be the favourite against Sevilla?
Not in my opinion.
 

Nou_Camp99

what would Souness do?
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
10,274
Time for a bump.

With Chelsea A, Everton A, City H, Spurs A amongst our next 5 PL games.....I think it's looking bleak for our top 4 hopes personally. With a fit and firing Rashford, I'd hold out some hope but without him just can't see enough points in those 4 fixtures for us.

Europa League won't be any easier. Only hope in that is if we can navigate Brugge and get a few kinder draws until possibly Rashford is back fit end of April time. Semi finals aren't till May so that's our best shot for me. I think Ole will have to win it to stand any chance of keeping his job as I can see our PL finish being very poor looking at the remaining fixtures.
 

bond19821982

Last Man Standing champion 2019/20
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
10,366
Location
Nnc
Even if we get past Club Brugge ( who is very good btw) list of potential teams below

Inter
Red bull
Sevilla
Sporting
Benfica/Shakthar
Ajax
Wolfsburg
Bayer/Porto
AZ
Arsenal
Wolves/Espanyol
Roma

Inter,Bayer,Sevilla,Roma,Wolves being the toughest
 

Bilbo

TeaBaggins
Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
14,208
You can put all your eggs and balls into europa and we will still be knocked out against the first proper team we faced
It's difficult not to feel inspired by your optimism
 

Jazz

Just in case anyone missed it. I don't like Mount.
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
30,894
Hopefully all the teams we face just crumble before they get out on the pitch, owing to our brilliant reputation:drool:

Seriously, if we get to the semi finals?
 

Vidyoyo

The bad "V"
Joined
Jun 12, 2014
Messages
21,283
Location
Not into locations = will not dwell
I was confident last time but our team just isn't as good now. We've lost a lot of experienced heads in Smalling, Ibra and Herrera. We've so few winners in the team, I just can't see it happening.

Plus our manager is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, not Mourinho. Say what you want about his haircut but the dude knew how to win trophies.
 

Jazz

Just in case anyone missed it. I don't like Mount.
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
30,894
I was confident last time but our team just isn't as good now. We've lost a lot of experienced heads in Smalling, Ibra and Herrera. We've so few winners in the team, I just can't see it happening.

Plus our manager is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, not Mourinho
I dunno. It seems we don't do too badly in these cup runs. Obviously need to get to a final now.

If we can navigate the next round and then hopefully get back some of our injured players, we'll stand a good chance I think.
 

Vidyoyo

The bad "V"
Joined
Jun 12, 2014
Messages
21,283
Location
Not into locations = will not dwell
I dunno. It seems we don't do too badly in these cup runs. Obviously need to get to a final now.

If we can navigate the next round and then hopefully get back some of our injured players, we'll stand a good chance I think.
I'm not optimistic but yeah, if can get to the quarters then it's a possibility. At that point things tend to feel more realistic - same with the FA Cup.
 

Canagel

Full Member
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
13,888
Ain't happening with this manager in charge. We'll get beaten up by the first good team that comes in our way.
 

Mr Smith

Full Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2015
Messages
4,012
Location
Australia
The problem is we are only 6 points off fourth in the league, which is convincing the club and management that top 4 is still possible given everyone else's inconsistency. Problem is there's no evidence at all to suggest we can solve the problems that have us 6 points off in the first place, not to mention incapable of capitalising every time our rivals drop points.
 

padzilla

Hipster
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Messages
3,329
Knowing Ole's luck we'll get Inter in a later round and Lukaku will have a stormer against us.
 

Baneofthegame

Full Member
Joined
May 15, 2019
Messages
2,995
If we lose this Monday then it’s going to be a struggle, with the next 6 fixtures or so in front of us we could be out of it after then.
 

Havak

Pokemon master
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
7,613
Location
Salford, Manchester
Honestly, if we lose to Chelsea we might as well start thinking about it.

However, this can change very quickly over the next three PL fixtures or so. We play:

Chelsea (A)
Brugge (A)
Watford (H)
Brugge (H)
Everton (A)

Chelsea has 6 Points on us at the moment, 9 if they beat us on Monday. It's incredibly hard to see us overtaking them if they beat us. I'd be targeting 18-20 wins and a points total in the mid-60's if you want to have a chance to finish 4th this season. Chelsea would then have 13 wins, so only potentially need 5 from the remaining 12 fixtures. They could still fluff it, but us losing our only chance to take points off of them directly would be a huge blow and make me think it's almost over. But, they play Tottenham after us with Bayern in the Champion's League after that so it is a huge make-or-break month for them too. We really need to be beating Chelsea and Watford, hoping for a draw with Chelsea/Spurs and we're in a strong position just a point behind both Chelsea and Spurs by that stage. We also have big games against Spurs, Sheffield United and Man City coming up soon, so it's a key period. If we can come out of it within touching distance then we've every chance of fourth. If we're failing to beat all these teams around us (Chelsea, Everton, Spurs, Sheffield United) then we have to go for the Europa League.

My expectation is that if we lose to Chelsea and don't get maximum points from Watford/Everton we're not doing it anyway. However, if we did get past Club Brugge, the round of 16 isn't until March 12th. Sadly, we'd play the following fixtures then@

Man City (H)
EL Last 16
Spurs (A)
EL Last 16
Sheffield United (H)

So, it's another huge set of fixtures. If we didn't take maximum points from our remaining February games and that game on 1st March against Everton, I highly doubt we'd manage to stay in the race. We will probably lose to Man City at OT (seems to be the usual outcome lately) and then it's almost surely a must-win against Spurs in-between our EL game if we're in it. Of course, we have to progress in the EL first but we really should against Brugge. It's such a difficult decision whether to stick or twist, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if we don't get 7 Points from Chelsea, Watford and Everton then we should go for the Europa League. Putting in huge effort against Man City, Spurs, and Sheffield United around or Europa League Last 16 Fixtures would probably just mean we weaken our chances of everything at the same time. We'd probably end up out of the top four race and out of the Europa League (depending on who we drew of course).
 

Lynty

Full Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2014
Messages
3,094
Confident we can reach the final as long as we avoid Wolves.

Would love to face Inter
 

meamth

New Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2017
Messages
5,946
Location
Malaysia
This is what will happen,

1. Pogba returns, him and Fernandes saved our terrible run of form.
2. We're still shit in the league, but kept pushing on the Europa League.
3. Final vs Inter.
4. We won. :lol:
5. Ole will be replaced with Poch. Ole's legacy remain intact. Those who insulted him will apologize.
 

El Zoido

Full Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
12,259
Location
UK
Is anyone else not that bothered about CL next season? Would be nice, of course. Pogba will leave regardless of CL, everyone else that we want to stay, will stay. It might affect some incoming transfers, but not significantly. However, next season we have to seriously push for top 4, no excuses.
 

Devil81

Full Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
6,646
We should target the trophy regardless as it's silverwear.

We've not won anything for the past two seasons so a third without any form of trophy would be dreadful.
 

Devil81

Full Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
6,646
Even if we get past Club Brugge ( who is very good btw) list of potential teams below

Inter
Red bull
Sevilla
Sporting
Benfica/Shakthar
Ajax
Wolfsburg
Bayer/Porto
AZ
Arsenal
Wolves/Espanyol
Roma

Inter,Bayer,Sevilla,Roma,Wolves being the toughest
We're not a million miles from the standard of the teams mentioned, only really City and Liverpool are better than us in England.

Our main issue is consistency, if we could perform like we have against the top teams this season we've got a good chance.
 

Alabaster Codify7

New Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2015
Messages
6,553
Location
Wales
It doesn't matter. I've just looked at the fixtures and straight away I can see 4-5 teams that should beat us over two legs. There's another 3-4 that pose problems, but we should beat.

If Ole goes Europa or bust, what will end up happning is we'll crash out by the quarter-finals anyway and finish 10-12th in the league.
 

12OunceEpilogue

In perfect harmony
Scout
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
18,392
Location
Wigan
We're not a million miles from the standard of the teams mentioned, only really City and Liverpool are better than us in England.

Our main issue is consistency, if we could perform like we have against the top teams this season we've got a good chance.
That's the thing, we've shown at times this year we're a match for any of those teams but equally we've shown we can be worse than any of them, and arguably worse than many of the last 32. We have a chance at the EL, but there's no doubt we'll have to up our game if we're to negotiate a way past those teams as maintaining our average performance level from this year will not see us squeak through four two-legged ties and a final.

This is what will happen,

1. Pogba returns, him and Fernandes saved our terrible run of form.
2. We're still shit in the league, but kept pushing on the Europa League.
3. Final vs Inter.
4. We won. :lol:
5. Ole will be replaced with Poch. Ole's legacy remain intact. Those who insulted him will apologize.
Sounds good to me :D
 

Devil81

Full Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
6,646
It doesn't matter. I've just looked at the fixtures and straight away I can see 4-5 teams that should beat us over two legs. There's another 3-4 that pose problems, but we should beat.

If Ole goes Europa or bust, what will end up happning is we'll crash out by the quarter-finals anyway and finish 10-12th in the league.
But you are forgetting the teams that should beat us could be drawn together and that they could also see the Europa league as a distraction to their titles challenges.

Inter are in the running for their first title in a decade so I think they will rotate and given they are playing our rejects then I don't hold much value to them either. We beat Juve in the Champions league last season so the fact they are competing for the league tells you where Italian football is at.

People need to be less negative about our chances in this, Premier league football is far more competitive than most if not all leagues in Europe. I'd give Wolves a decent chance of getting themselves to this final if the draw goes well.
 

Offside

Euro 2016 sweepstake winner
Joined
Jun 9, 2012
Messages
26,627
Location
London
No way will we win the Europa this year. We won't get the embarrassingly easy run we had last time.
 

Alabaster Codify7

New Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2015
Messages
6,553
Location
Wales
But you are forgetting the teams that should beat us could be drawn together and that they could also see the Europa league as a distraction to their titles challenges.

Inter are in the running for their first title in a decade so I think they will rotate and given they are playing our rejects then I don't hold much value to them either. We beat Juve in the Champions league last season so the fact they are competing for the league tells you where Italian football is at.

People need to be less negative about our chances in this, Premier league football is far more competitive than most if not all leagues in Europe. I'd give Wolves a decent chance of getting themselves to this final if the draw goes well.

Agreed, but you're also forgetting that a rubbish team might end up beating us, as well. These two-leg cup knockout games are a crap-shoot unless you're a great side. Anything can happen I suppose, but I just don't see it coming to pass for us.
 

Devil81

Full Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
6,646
Agreed, but you're also forgetting that a rubbish team might end up beating us, as well. These two-leg cup knockout games are a crap-shoot unless you're a great side. Anything can happen I suppose, but I just don't see it coming to pass for us.
Exactly but given the majority of the teams on that list would be lower to mid table Premier league sides I'd give us more of a chance than you give us credit for.

Obviously in comparison to last the last time we won it the list is of a higher standard but I actually think we're a strong side now. If we get Pogba & Mctomminey back then added to Fernandes that's a pretty strong midfield. I also have hopes Ighalo will give us a target to hit as well, he's not the player we wanted but given the service he will find the net I'm certain.
 

Red00012

Full Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
12,087
Aside from the financial side do we really need to be in the champs league next season?
We get into group , we scrape through group and get knocked out in 1st round of knockout. What is the point ?
 

Devil81

Full Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
6,646
Aside from the financial side do we really need to be in the champs league next season?
We get into group , we scrape through group and get knocked out in 1st round of knockout. What is the point ?
Yes is the answer.

You need to be in it to improve as a team, the odd season of Champions league football does nothing. Players improve by playing against the best teams, this squad needs a trophy and they also need Champions league football to grow.
 

TRUERED89

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jan 23, 2019
Messages
2,366
Location
England
Yes is the answer.

You need to be in it to improve as a team, the odd season of Champions league football does nothing. Players improve by playing against the best teams, this squad needs a trophy and they also need Champions league football to grow.
Not to mention the best players wont come without regular CL. (i.e Sancho)
 

Red00012

Full Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
12,087
Yes is the answer.

You need to be in it to improve as a team, the odd season of Champions league football does nothing. Players improve by playing against the best teams, this squad needs a trophy and they also need Champions league football to grow.
I think it’s fair to see the likes of Jones, Bailly , Lindelof , Lingard , Pereira will not improve by playing against the best times
 

romufc

Full Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2019
Messages
12,555
Aside from the financial side do we really need to be in the champs league next season?
We get into group , we scrape through group and get knocked out in 1st round of knockout. What is the point ?
If we do not finish in CL place, I would rather us not have any European football. Play a thin squad once a week and go for the league.