Could our Champions League exit end up being a blessing in disguise?

[PoTMS]

After finally getting over the bullshit we had to endure midweek, I've just thought of something. Something positive anyway.

Maybe going out of the Champions League will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Playing top quality opposition every 3/4 days will take its toll.

For me, it's all about winning the league. Put all our eggs in one basket. Bin the Europa, FA Cup and League Cup. Play the kids and rest the first XI for the league.

We simply have to invest in January. Whatever you think of Ole, he's not going anywhere. Maybe we can fluke it with Bruno, Rashford and Cavani at the wheel. This is the best chance we've had at winning the title in a long while in a season where everyone is a little bit off and the best team in the league has most of their team crocked.

EDIT: Ok maybe not bin the cups but treat them as second priority until/unless we make it through to the latter stages of the cup competitions.

 

[horsechoker]

Can a loss be a win?

 

[Maluco]

This would be a massive error. He needs to be in the hunt for silverware and he has three good strikes at it outside of the league as of today.

In the derby VdB, Martial, Telles, Henderson, Matic were on the bench and players like Tuanzabe, Williams and Cavani not even in the squad.

There is no way Ole should be packing in the chance to win trophies for an outside chance at the league.

 

[Jonno]

For me, it's all about the league. Put all our eggs in one basket. Bin the Europa, FA Cup and League Cup. Play the kids and rest the first XI for the league.

This will never happen

 

[DickDastardly]

So, your saying, play the kids and second fiddles in the EL, FA and LC?

And focus solely on the League?

Ok, good enough. But, what makes you think that will work?
We've already found out we play better vs better opposition, we won't play City every week.

Also, do we even know our best 11?

We have so many question marks over at least 4 positions.

What would be a sound investment in the winter? A RB competition? A DM? A right wing?

 

[Mike Phelan's Former Tash]

Play fringe players and U23's in Europa, save first team for the league.

 

[JPRouve]

Yup. Build a culture where loosing is acceptable.

 

[TheReligion]

Can a loss be a win?

Yes mate!

 

[#07]

Can a loss be a win?

Classic!

Going out of the Champions League is never going to be a good thing. However, I see the OPs point.

The league this year is going to be as much about endurance as anything else. The team's that are seriously going for it in Europe are going to have deal with the long season last year, plus a condensed season this year. More injuries are inevitable. If United sack off the cups and just focus everything on the league we could grind out enough wins to be there or thereabout in May.

 

[Dante]

I've been ringing warnings about the 20/21 football schedule ever since the restart. Footballers aren't machines.

As much as I wanted to stay in the CL, I think our squad was too thin to sustain a challenge on multiple fronts. I feel a lot more comfortable now about making top 4.

 

[AaronRedDevil]

United could have gotten knocked out in the next round and still be embarrassed. Least in the EL we’d could go far enough and potentially win it.

 

[united_99]

A CL exit is never a blessing in disguise.
And if we play against even a half decent team in the EL we are going to play more or less our best 11 anyway, rightly or wrongly.

 

[LuisNaniencia]

Its quite clear we were never going to win the CL, so I agree in that regard.

But, we need to win some trophies. Binning all the cups off is madness.

 

[PoTMS]

Just to clarify, I'm not happy with losing midweek. I'd have much rather we made it through and progressed deep into the knockout stages as I think we'd have a better chance of winning the CL than the league. But this season it's about winning one, not many and losing meant we will focus more on the league than anything else. No one is winning multiple trophies this season, not in the Premier League anyway.

 

[el3mel]

Europe League doesn't require any less effort than CL and we'll probably progress in it even further than what we would have progressed in CL if we went through the group so no, not really.

 

[Random Task]

Although it doesn't make going out in the group stages acceptable, doing so certainly improves our chances of challenging, particularly since the competition seems to be weaker than ever right now.

If we suddenly click and begin playing how we all know we can, then anything is possible. That's a big if though.

 

[Shane88]

All this failure adds up.

The negativity of less prize money to spend on transfers and more damage to these players fragility in big games far outweigh a little extra rest later in the season.

 

[Cutch]

United could have gotten knocked out in the next round and still be embarrassed. Least in the EL we’d could go far enough and potentially win it.

Fair chance we would have I feel. Could only play Bayern, Real, Dortmund or Juve in the last 16.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

After finally getting over the bullshit we had to endure midweek, I've just thought of something. Something positive anyway.

Maybe going out of the Champions League will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Playing top quality opposition every 3/4 days will take its toll.

For me, it's all about the league. Put all our eggs in one basket. Bin the Europa, FA Cup and League Cup. Play the kids and rest the first XI for the league.

We simply have to invest in January. Whatever you think of Ole, he's not going anywhere. Maybe we can fluke it with Bruno, Rashford and Cavani at the wheel. This is the best chance we've had at winning the title in a long while in a season where everyone is a little bit off and the best team in the league has most of their team crocked.

And that's the most annoying part. If the Glazers had the balls to sack Ole we could win the league this year. And no I don't agree with playing the kids in all other competitions we would lose every single game and become a laughing stock

 

[Handré1990]

No, are you joking? You know we’ll never bin the cups. Thursday - Sunday for the rest of the season, yaaay...

 

[Poborsky's hair]

We should do our absolute best to win everything possible. Going out of CL this way might save some legs of our better players having easier ties but anyway Ole will go for it I rekocn since he really has to wina trophy. League is much tougher to win for an inconsistent manager and team like ours. I would rather save that optimism..

 

[marktan]

Can a loss be a win?

Attack the space!

 

[MZX7]

I hate this negative mindset that says we are lucky to be competing in one less major competition. Ffs!

 

[RoyH1]

All this failure adds up.

The negativity of less prize money to spend on transfers and more damage to these players fragility in big games far outweigh a little extra rest later in the season.

This right here

And additional, it makes it more difficult for us to attract the most attractive players to Old Trafford. The likes of Haaland, Upamecano want to play in the CL and win it. They are paying attention to who is reaching the latter stages of it and who is never there anymore.

 

[Bilbo]

Its definitely in no way a positive that we went out of the CL. It is important though that the club regroup and set a new target. There's no chance that we wont try our best to win the Europa.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

So you're saying it's a good thing we got knocked out of the CL because it means we can concentrate on qualifying for next year's CL?

 

[ManUtdXI]

Is this our version of "How am I doing boss?"

The sad truth is our team has no consistency to push for a title run.
With Leeds, Leicester and Wolves coming up this thread might look silly by the end of December.

As a fan I hope we have a strong December and get some reinforcements in Jan.

 

[Red Star One]

Absurd IMO. First of all, won’t happen that we dump the cups, Ole wants silverware badly as he knows he’s an average manager and has to elevate his status whatever way. Secondly, only by playing better than you you’re able to test yourself and see how far we are from the top - a game against Bayern will be much better lessen than a tie against Copenhagen after we get carried away since we bettered - pardon my French - farmers. Finally, even if we put all eggs in the Premier League basket, we’re still far from a serious title challenge, nevermind winning the league. That would end in tears.

 

[rcoobc]

Mid table club

 

[Maurice Setters Training]

I could see it being a blessing in disguise if we finish below the top 4 but win the Europa league.

Someone might already have posted this.

 

[Superunknown]

I can understand and appreciate the sentiment to some extent due to the fixture congestion caused by the pandemic. The lack of rest time between games is crazy and it is certainly going to lead to more fatigue and injuries. From that point of view, having less games to play in a short amount of time means that it lessens the potential for burnout.

At the same time, I want the club to be in the Champions League competing, and there's such a buzz to be in that competition slugging it out against other teams across Europe. For a club of this stature to be out of the Champions League at this stage isn't good at all, imo. It also has a huge knock-on effect with attracting potential players to come to the club. Who wants to come to a club without ambition? Our ambition shouldn't be to just get into the competition, but it should be to make it out of the groups and into the latter stages, whilst also making a go of it in the league. It's scary how our standards have dropped and how readily this seems to be accepted.

So, imo, it's not a good thing at all to be out of this competition. We tried so very hard last season after lockdown to make a surge to get into that top four, so to just surrender that so easily is very weak.

 

[VP89]

Silly question but are CL and Europa knock outs 2 legged or 90 minute knockouts?

 

[el3mel]

Silly question but are CL and Europa knock outs 2 legged or 90 minute knockouts?

2 Legs. Back to normal.

 

[yumtum]

Peak RAWK.

 

[VP89]

2 Legs. Back to normal.

Ah fecksake. Europa is such a slow punishment.

 

[soapythecat]

Gutted out of the CL but:
Henderson will/should play EL games.
Could help getting Pogba out of the door.
Less pressure than CL so potential for greater rotation.
We are one of the best squads in the competition. We could win it if we clicked.

some positives from a disappointing CL exit.

 

[Greck]

I've been ringing warnings about the 20/21 football schedule ever since the restart. Footballers aren't machines.

As much as I wanted to stay in the CL, I think our squad was too thin to sustain a challenge on multiple fronts. I feel a lot more comfortable now about making top 4.

this year's team is really deep. We signed a lot of depth so we could compete on multiple fronts. Top 4 isn't a football goal, it's a financial one, it's not meant to get in the way of aiming for cups

 

[Bwuk]

Ridiculous.

 

[Greck]

Ridiculous.

I know right this is when it really starts to feel like we're more interested in top 4 and helping the manager meet requirements to save his job over real ambitions. I hope we won't be playing it safe for the rest of the season

 

[Amerifan]

I've been ringing warnings about the 20/21 football schedule ever since the restart. Footballers aren't machines.

As much as I wanted to stay in the CL, I think our squad was too thin to sustain a challenge on multiple fronts. I feel a lot more comfortable now about making top 4.

Agree. On paper City is the only club with two squads of starters and even they’re struggling to maintain quality. From mid-season on the aggressive scheduling will take a toll on the likes of Liverpool and Spurs.