Race for top 4 | Finito.

[SAFMUTD]

Liverpool are going to win their last 3 games no doubt about it. Newcastle will get at least 9-10 points.

So it's on us, we need 9 points from our last 4 games. I don't know if we can do it, but if we don't then we're really bottlers. Its amazing how this season has crumbled.

 

[theballisround]

Bunch of absolute fannies in here.

Not even Europa League .

 

[erikcred]

It means we’ll have to offer higher wages to entice good players to join us. The type of players we need don’t want to play in the EL and will request more money. It’s not that difficult…

Yes, exactly the kind of players we want. Players who consider playing for Utd beneath them because we just about missed out on CL football, but would change their mind as long as we throw enough cash at them. Exciting!

 

[erikcred]

I don't but again, surely there's a better chance of having more money for transfers if we have more revenue? How is it possible to deny this?

That wasn't my point.

The poster I was replying to implied that the *only* reason why CL football is important is for the money and to attract better players, and not because we'd do anything in the actual footballing part.

My point is that if money to spend is all we care about, then we do have it even without CL football. If we want CL football it should be because we want to achieve something in it. How is it possible to deny this?

 

[Marcus]

Liverpool are going to win their last 3 games no doubt about it. Newcastle will get at least 9-10 points.

So it's on us, we need 9 points from our last 4 games. I don't know if we can do it, but if we don't then we're really bottlers. Its amazing how this season has crumbled.

We went far in Europa and through to finals in two domestic cup competitions. Blame EtH for trying to win everything I guess, but you can't blame him for squad injuries and fatigue. The fact that the club had no meaningful depth without further investments in Jaunary is on the Glazers. Remember who the enemy is.

 

[Josh 76]

Need to hope Leicester fight against the scousers. They’ll beat villa and Southampton who’ll have nothing to play for.

Wolves, Fulham and Chelsea have nothing to play for either.

Utd couldn’t have picked 4 better fixtures. We can even afford to lose one of those. People keep saying all the players are tired.
Casemiro has missed a few weeks through suspension, Erickson was out for a few months. Martial hasn’t played much Linderloff the same. Apart from Bruno, all the players have had a fair bit of rest.

No excuses at all not to get the 9 points.

 

[Leftback99]

The "such as" is doing a lot of heavy lifting for you. Maybe the extra money will go straight to the owners' pockets. Maybe it'll go towards a much needed improvement of the stadium. My point is, how do you know it'll go to the transfer budget?

In any case, take look at our transfers in the last decade and how much we've been able to spend regardless of CL participation. The money's there, CL or no CL.

Not any more. FFP has caught up with us. Wages are too high and our revenue with no CL is too low.

 

[Chaky_Best]

We need 3 wins out of the 4 remaining games.

Wolves are an absolute win at home and possible one, especially after a week of training.

Then B'mouth away is tough but manageable.

Biggest challenge will be Chelsea, as they are playing for nothing and they would do anything to prevent us. Big one is this game.

Meaning that even B'mouth away is an absolute win if we still want to have a joker and play a final against Fulham at home.

 

[BootsyCollins]

I think we will win our last 4 matches.
A 6 day rest untill the next match for our two next matches will do us really good, and we have been pretty good at home still.

 

[DavelinaJolie]

Two moments of madness have made the last four games much tougher than they needed to be, don't concede those two goals in ridiculous circumstances in the last two games and we're looking at 2 wins and a draw which feels a lot less imposing.

Water under the bridge now. We are where we are. Time to put up or shut up.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

I hope Liverpool still have a slip up in them somewhere.

 

[Josh 76]

I hope Liverpool still have a slip up in them somewhere.

Their last min goal against Spurs was their Alison moment against WBA a couple of seasons ago!

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Their last min goal against Spurs was their Alison moment against WBA a couple of seasons ago!

Bloody hell, you're right. Jammy fecks.

 

[DJ_21]

Wolves, Fulham and Chelsea have nothing to play for either.

Utd couldn’t have picked 4 better fixtures. We can even afford to lose one of those. People keep saying all the players are tired.
Casemiro has missed a few weeks through suspension, Erickson was out for a few months. Martial hasn’t played much Linderloff the same. Apart from Bruno, all the players have had a fair bit of rest.

No excuses at all not to get the 9 points.

Ye I’m with you. I’ve never mentioned the players being tired. The manager said they prefer playing matches to training. Well they’re not showing it! City can play 2 games a week and still win games. There’s no excuse. We just have a few weak links in the team. Especially the GK. and we’re missing a ST. If we don’t make top 4 this season then that’s unforgivable.

 

[Charles89]

All this talk about Liverpool overtaking us and missing out on top 4, I think that is only 1 part of the equation, since Newcastle still has to play Leeds and Leicester who are fighting relegation, a Brighton side that is trying to get a spot in Europe. There is every chance that they could drop out of top 4 as well.

 

[Mickeza]

All this talk about Liverpool overtaking us and missing out on top 4, I think that is only 1 part of the equation, since Newcastle still has to play Leeds and Leicester who are fighting relegation, a Brighton side that is trying to get a spot in Europe. There is every chance that they could drop out of top 4 as well.

Newcastle could definitely feck it up. However, even if they only get 6 points from their last 4 games we’d still need 3 wins due to our goal difference.

 

[Lentwood]

It was obvious that we could at best hope for 2pts against Brighton and West Ham away. This team have proven yet again that they are spineless away from home.

BUT onto the positives....since we knew this was the case, not much has really changed. I said yesterday that Bournemouth away was a key fixture. We *should* get 6pts from Chelsea, Fulham and Wolves at home.

It then boils down to a one-game shootout. Can our billion-pound squad of international footballers defeat the mighty Bournemouth infront of a baying mob of 12,000 mildly disinterested retirees and children? I wouldnt count on it personally...but its still very doable

 

[EliasRavelino]

The trouble is United are maybe THE most predictable team in the Premier League. It's very easy, as someone who watches us week-in, week-out, to know which games we will win and which we will drop points in.

We will drop points in the game against West Ham later. I am certain of it. We perform very poorly away from home against scrappy teams and hostile crowds (as you are aware, as a Sevilla fan!)

I can already see it now. De Gea flapping at every cross and every set-piece they throw into the box. We'll no doubt concede some amatuerish goal from a corner or a set-piece to some big lump like Craig Dawson or Kurt Zouma and never recover as our pampered lambs wilt under the pressure of a setback.

At Old Trafford, we are a much better side, more confident side, and therefore I expect we'll take seven points from our three home games.

That means our season basically boils down to beating Bournemouth away. We SHOULD be able to do that...but I personally would not waste a single penny betting on us to win any away game.

I wish I read this before kick-off, I could have made a few Euros, you practically mapped out the game before it happened!

 

[LordSpud]

I know we are shit away from home. We have one last away game vs Bournemouth. SURELY that has to be a win? Otherwise it comes down to those last 3 home games. Statistically speaking I do not fancy us going 3 for 3 on those, especially seeing that no-one is scoring at the moment.

No, I think Top 4 is well and truly bottled this year, meaning that those wastes of space won't earn their 20% or whatever it was pay decrease back and we will lose quite a bit of sponsorship money for missing CL back to back seasons.

 

[James35]

We have won 4, drawn 2 and lost 4 of the last 10 league games. Now with the pressure at it’s highest, people think these players can win 75% of the remaining games. No chance.

The only way for me we now get top 4 is by Liverpool dropping points. I believe the best case scenario will be, we win 2 and draw 2. However I see Liverpool easily winning their remaining games and then taking 4th on GD.

Newcastle will need a bottle job performance that is even more terrible than ours to lose out so they will be fine.

Strap in fans, I feel this end of the season (including FA cup final) will be the biggest gut punch since 2012.

 

[DJ_21]

Top 4 is sealed if we just win our home games right? Seems easier said then done though obviously. Liverpool can only get 71 pts. We can get 75pts still. Also Newcastle have a game in hand also. So it is still very much in our hands. My biggest worry is the drop of in our performances, even the home games we have aren’t guaranteed wins. Wolves can be a tough game as can Fulham and Chelsea even though they’re awful this season, they’ll still cause us problems.

 

[Siorac]

We have won 4, drawn 2 and lost 4 of the last 10 league games.

I think that is the sort of pattern we're looking at for the last four games as well. One win, two draws, one defeat, something like that. Beat either Wolves or Fulham, lose to either Bournemouth or Chelsea, draw the other two - sounds about right to me.

 

[DJ_21]

I hope Liverpool still have a slip up in them somewhere.

If anyone takes points of them out of their 3 remaining games then I’m going for Leicester. Just because they’re at home and fighting to stay up.

 

[Red Star One]

According to SkyBet, odds to make top4:

Newcastle 91.20% 1/8
Man Utd 79.49% 2/7
Liverpool 26.34% 15/8
Brighton 2.96% 12/1

I expected to see us at high 60s, low 70s after yesterday. Bookies still quite convinced we won't manage to bottle it.

 

[Josh 76]

All this talk about Liverpool overtaking us and missing out on top 4, I think that is only 1 part of the equation, since Newcastle still has to play Leeds and Leicester who are fighting relegation, a Brighton side that is trying to get a spot in Europe. There is every chance that they could drop out of top 4 as well.

Brighton are trying to get into the CL.

 

[ZupZup]

The fans are going to have a big part to play with us having three home matches in four and with our home form generally being decent.

We really need to rally behind the team and hopefully we can make it a bit more hostile for the visiting sides, even though the atmosphere wouldn’t usually be great for a game against Wolves or Fulham. We’ve all seen what a bouncing Old Trafford can do for our performance levels in big games. Our form has been poor but I’m still a believer we can turn things around.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

According to SkyBet, odds to make top4:

Newcastle 91.20% 1/8
Man Utd 79.49% 2/7
Liverpool 26.34% 15/8
Brighton 2.96% 12/1

I expected to see us at high 60s, low 70s after yesterday. Bookies still quite convinced we won't manage to bottle it.

Because they have more common sense that most of our whiney fans.

 

[Offside]

According to SkyBet, odds to make top4:

Newcastle 91.20% 1/8
Man Utd 79.49% 2/7
Liverpool 26.34% 15/8
Brighton 2.96% 12/1

I expected to see us at high 60s, low 70s after yesterday. Bookies still quite convinced we won't manage to bottle it.

All 4 games we’ll be massive favourites though against bottom half sides and we only need to win 3 of them. The fans know this but don’t trust the players to do the easily doable.

 

[dwd]

If anyone takes points of them out of their 3 remaining games then I’m going for Leicester. Just because they’re at home and fighting to stay up.

Only issue is Leicester are total shite.

 

[fallengt]

Fat Fwank going end United race for top 4, isn't he?
Stars have aligned, the writing is on the wall.

 

[SAFMUTD]

We went far in Europa and through to finals in two domestic cup competitions. Blame EtH for trying to win everything I guess, but you can't blame him for squad injuries and fatigue. The fact that the club had no meaningful depth without further investments in Jaunary is on the Glazers. Remember who the enemy is.

I hate the Glazers they are guilty of all the failures in these years. But make no mistake the meltdown against Sevilla, Spurs and the stupid loses against bottom table opposition it's on the players.

 

[Siorac]

All 4 games we’ll be massive favourites though against bottom half sides and we only need to win 3 of them. The fans know this but don’t trust the players to do the easily doable.

Yeah, pretty much. Bookies' odds are understandable, given the respective positions of the teams involved and home advantage but they don't account for the 'modern Manchester United' effect. The modern Manchester United tends to feck up in these situations.

I think there's about a 20-30% chance that we'll actually win three out of four. There's also a slim chance of Liverpool dropping points in one game. Combining these two, we're still less likely to make top 4 than not, in my opinion.

 

[Nero]

If the naysayers had to bet their life on us finishing top 4 or not, they'd probably have a change of heart.

 

[Offside]

Yeah, pretty much. Bookies' odds are understandable, given the respective positions of the teams involved and home advantage but they don't account for the 'modern Manchester United' effect. The modern Manchester United tends to feck up in these situations.

I think there's about a 20-30% chance that we'll actually win three out of four. There's also a slim chance of Liverpool dropping points in one game. Combining these two, we're still less likely to make top 4 than not, in my opinion.

It all comes down to the Bournemouth game for me. If we win that I think we make the top 4, as we will probably win 2 of those 3 home games. I don’t think we will win all 3 home games though, so we need to actually win an away match. Can we silence the intimidating 12,000 strong crowd though or will we fold?

 

[AndySmith1990]

If the naysayers had to bet their life on us finishing top 4 or not, they'd probably have a change of heart.

If there was a gun to my head and I had no choice but to bet, I'd bet against us making top 4. I have watched many of these players for years and I have zero confidence in them when the going gets tough.

But since I'm not forced to bet, I won't be putting any money on it either way

 

[Siorac]

If the naysayers had to bet their life on us finishing top 4 or not, they'd probably have a change of heart.

I'd hope no one, regardless of their level of optimism, would bet their actual life on a game of football. Including those who are confident we will finish in the top 4. I'm not even sure what point you're trying to make here.

 

[Dominos]

According to SkyBet, odds to make top4:

Newcastle 91.20% 1/8
Man Utd 79.49% 2/7
Liverpool 26.34% 15/8
Brighton 2.96% 12/1

I expected to see us at high 60s, low 70s after yesterday. Bookies still quite convinced we won't manage to bottle it.

Doesn't surprise me as theoretically, Liverpool are just as likely to drop points against Leicester and Villa than we are in our games which has to be reflected in the odds whether we truly believe that is true or not.

The bookies don't take into account intangibles like momentum and the bottle factor.

 

[Siorac]

It all comes down to the Bournemouth game for me. If we win that I think we make the top 4, as we will probably win 2 of those 3 home games. I don’t think we will win all 3 home games though, so we need to actually win an away match. Can we silence the intimidating 12,000 strong crowd though or will we fold?

'Will Manchester United fold? They always fold".

(my apologies to Clive Tyldesley for bastardising his commentary)

 

[Sir Erik ten Hag]

'Will Manchester United fold? They always fold".

(my apologies to Clive Tyldesley for bastardising his commentary)

Blasphemy!

 

[Nero]

I'd hope no one, regardless of their level of optimism, would bet their actual life on a game of football. Including those who are confident we will finish in the top 4. I'm not even sure what point you're trying to make here.

Of course I'm not suggesting someone should bet their life. I'm saying that the drama llamas who are adamant we will bottle top 4 wouldn't be so defeatist if forced to make a rational decision, not an emotional one. The rational one being that we should still make top 4 considering we need to beat Wolves, Fulham and Bournemouth. Games you would always back United to win if you had to make a logical prediction.