The talk from the pundits is nonsense, before the season some of them did not even have Utd in their predicted top 4's. They talk about Covid as something that will give the chance for the unexpected, but as much as it affects other clubs it has affected us if not more. I actually think if you take perspective, United are showing some growth, and are performing better than the pundits expected, especially considering their ideas about OGS. Rather than complimenting it and praising Utd's progress, it seems there is a concerted effort to change the rhetoric from a team that has improved vastly to one that is failing in a title challenge to detract from any thought of Utd being successful.
From OGS perspective, you can't read into what he says in the media. He is always going to tow the line of 'we are not thinking about it', 'one game at a time' etc. I actually think he believes it more than we think, if you have heard the players interviews there seems to be more mention of the title when asked, and slightly more positive responses - this probably is more of a sign of what is being spoken about behind the scenes.
If we actually look at the current state of play - City have 2 games in hand which are Liverpool (a) and Everton (a) - I have zero faith in Everton, it seems we are always their cup final and we will know more about the other today. Lets say City get 4 points. They are in effect therefore 6 points clear with Spurs and Arsenal to come whilst we have WBA and Newcastle. If City get 4 points again, and we actually get over the line in both of ours the gap is 4 points with City on the horizon.
Taking the above into account - realistically City are by far the favourites and rightly so but the gap could be a lot closer come the end of this month - are we good enough to pounce?
- My mind says no, a team that can pounce does not do what it did yesterday, it also goes out and beats Arsenal and does not concede the number of goals we do
- Heart - you never know, 3 games ago our attack was impotent and we could not break down a deep defence. Then our last 2 games look at how well we have attacked, and the patterns of play we are developing. For the heart to have any chance, our defence really needs to grow - but one thing I have noted with this Utd squad and coaching team - they have the right attitude and slowly but surely are learning. It could just click - its the hope that kills
Ultimately, it would be great if we could go on a decent run now and essentially be in a race if City drop some points but otherwise just secure our top 4 place and come late March start to shift focus to the cups.
