Handing City the title without them even playing, your thoughts?
Was Ole a coward?
- Thread starter SAred
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Was? He's still alive.
Rock and a hard place. Hand City the title or hand Liverpool CL football.
No, did the right thing. Next?
Not really. He had no choice but to rotate given the extreme schedule, and picked a team he thought could get the job done. He ended up fielding Bruno, Cavani and Rashford anyway.
No.
Even more of a legend than before.
City winning something means nothing.
Fecking Liverpool over in hilarious style is legendary
City winning something means nothing.
Fecking Liverpool over in hilarious style is legendary
4 games in 8 days. Dont be fecking daft.
We need to rotate our players. We have to keep them injury free for the EL final.
We need to rotate our players. We have to keep them injury free for the EL final.
Correct.
Imagine he went guns blazing and Pogba and Shaw got injured for the final in a few weeks. There would be blood on this forum for him.
The game is in the past..
If brave is playing the first choice 11 for 3 games in 5 days and risking injuries before the Europa final, I'd rather him not be brave. City basically just needed 2 points in 3 games to win the title when you consider their gd as well (unless we beat the dippers 15-0 on Thursday).
I don't care what City do.
Squad rotation was the aim, fecking Liverpool over was the bonus.
Squad rotation was the aim, fecking Liverpool over was the bonus.
So the question should be 'Did Ole act like a coward in the last game?'
Seems a little Long-winded thanks for the English lesson but you actually failed to answer the question so was he a coward?
Absolutely not. The alternative was to play this second string team on both Sunday and Thursday with our first XI last night. Better to field the weaker team once than twice.
Also, the chances of catching City were so very slim it wasn’t worth risking the players welfare, whether there was a cup final to look forward to or not.
Also, the chances of catching City were so very slim it wasn’t worth risking the players welfare, whether there was a cup final to look forward to or not.
I think Ole do not take big risks and this time I agree with him fully. Risk big injuries and fatigue just for a tiny chance to catch City is not worth it.
Would Sir Alex done the same, United have blown 2 league titles with a 5 point gap and 3 to play. A long shot for Ole to catch City but stranger things have happened...
City needed 1 win from 3 games against Newcastle, Burnley and Everton. It was a matter of time.
Geez!
What next
What next
Clearly a wum thread, but i'll bite.
We were put into an impossible situation.
With everything on the line, you'd be daft not to take the Leicester game more easily, and be fresh for Liverpool.
If it just so happens that it helps Leicester get the top 4, and Liverpool don't... well that's hard luck.
We were put into an impossible situation.
With everything on the line, you'd be daft not to take the Leicester game more easily, and be fresh for Liverpool.
If it just so happens that it helps Leicester get the top 4, and Liverpool don't... well that's hard luck.
Hang on...I thought Ole didn’t play youngsters because he’s a coward? It’s difficult to keep up on here.
What a stupid question.
The league was all but done and the Europa was clearly our best shot at silverware. We lost the league because of silly results against West Brom, Sheffield United, Crystal palace and a really poor showing against the top 6 in the first half of the season.
Last night was necessity not cowardice.
Last night was necessity not cowardice.
Pretty much this... what's the alternative? The only one I can see is go strong for Leicester and weak for Liverpool, why in the feck would we do that?
There wasn’t really a title race. Scousers/media are hyping up the situation for dramatic effect. 100% correct thing by ole.
Nope, yesterday was the first time all season I think he showed some real bravery.
I don’t think you are understanding the point.
You can’t physically ask players to play 3x 90 minutes of prem football in 5 days. It’s dangerous and could lead to long term problems (we wouldn’t win all 3 anyway).
Ole had 0 choice, it isn’t about ‘let’s go for it we’re man united’, it’s the realities of the situation, especially when the schedule has been absolutely insane this season.
here we fecking go
City would have won it anyway. We have to look at ourselves and our main aim now is winning the EL. Can't risk injuries by playing our best XI in such a congested fixture list for absolutely meaningless games.
He would have been a bloody fool to go any stronger with his team yesterday, you could argue it was still too strong.
I never expected to play a first-team in 3 but to stick 2 youngsters up top and a pity much-unused midfield 3 surely was just giving up on the game and whatever little chance to catch City.
I think people genuinely aren't in the same universe as us, they think these guys can play 3 matches in 5 days at premier league level and still be fit and healthy.
If Ole did that, and then they all collapsed with injuries and missed the Europa final, what would they say then?. "ole is a bad manager, he doesn't rotate". It's just brainless.
For me i'm really proud of him for taking a risk and giving the likes or Elanga and Amad a start. It's a shame Mejbri got that shoulder injury as I think he would have been close to starting also.
Or we could have played our strongest team and lost. Like we did against WBA a few years ago which handed City the title.
I can only refer to SAF when he was in a similar situation on some occasions. He wouldn't hesitate critizising the system (FA). Not only in this type of situation but also how the FA didn't help English club when they had important games in Europe. I can't remember if Sir Alex's team selections were maybe someone with a better call than me can remember.
And he knows Leicester are awful at the moment. Their first goal was a fantastic finish but you have to think he doesn't score that 9 times out of 10. We could easily have gotten a result with that team.
It's one of those cases where the evidence is there right in front of their faces but still choose to be ignorant.
Ultimately the blame lies solely on those that decided to make us play 3 matches in 5 days. It was a nonsense decision and Ole rightly called it out.