I'll be very happy with a draw here. Europa is our only way to Champions League for next season.
Europa League Group A
FC Zorya Luhansk 0:2 Manchester United
Chornomorets Stadium
- Kick-off
- Thu, 8 December 2016 @ 6:00pm GMT
- Status
-
Closed
Discussion Your Lineup Prediction
-
- Status
To be honest, I've completely forgot how our match against these went before. Just had a quick look and we won 1-0. Both Fenerbahce and Feyenoord drew 1-1 away to Zorya with both of them beating Zorya at home. I think 1-1 would be a fine result for us.
It's really strange that this happens.
It's almost as if we are fielding 2 very different teams: one team which batters teams scoring 4 goals. And then the other which limps to a 1 goal draw.
So it's a high...and then a low, followed by another high, then another low.
I do agree with this.
I think many have been brain washed into thinking that the EL is some easy peasy competition that any 2nd rate team can win.
It is extremely difficult to win this and requires consistency and luck - we have neither.
If I had to bet on winning the EL or top 4 in the league, I'd say the latter was easier. The EL is too much of a lottery.
The CL is arguably the weakest now then it's ever been. Looking at the 3rd placed teams right now none of them bother me to be honest, and I'm no fan of the way we have been.
My thoughts exactly.
There is a great disrespect for this tournament, but only two English teams have won this since 2001.
I think we have a better chance of fourth than winning this competition too.Fed up of this competition already, I just want the next league game. Hopefully we'll get through it unscathed.
There will always be some who believe we'll win the next 6-10 games whilst at least one of the top 4 will crumble, all based on nothing but blind faith.
This game is huge for our season. No one is saying winning the Europa is easy but it's our best chance of CL qualification now.
100% agreed.
Its not a matter of faith to point out that 4 or more teams putting together a near flawless run from December to May almost never happens in English football. Whether we can capitalise is another matter of course.
I think winning this cup will be as tough as winning the CL for us. We're not clearly the best team in it IMO. Bilboa are the favorites for me. We have teams in the final 32 like Villareal, Fiorentina, Schalke, Shakhtar Donetsk, Roma, Ajax, Zenit and Anderlecht who can all be tricky customers. Thats not including the 8 CL third place teams joining the party like Lyon (Or Sevilla the current champs if they lose to Lyon in basically a playoff for second in group H), M'gladbach, Spurs, Sporting Lisbon etc. United have all to do but it can be done if Jose uses the right approach. Its no cakewalkLast edited:United are thunderous c*nts when it comes to cups so far and perhaps we'll get another good result there but hopefully no risks taken with some selections.
Opponent is not some tricky Portuguese side so just get it done and on to the building a league form.I wonder whether we should just do a Chelsea and completely forget about the PL, just throw our hats into the Europa completely.
It's too early to do that really as it's not mathematically impossible, but if it's looking like small chances I think we should.
Who cares if we finish 10th but get into the CL?Our away from in this competition has to be the stuff of nightmares, surely? To think that our season is at least partly on the line in December isn't very nice. The worst thing is that we are well capable of losing this game.
Understand your sentiment but technically it's only zero chance when it becomes mathematically impossible to achieve a top 4 position....and we're nowhere near that stage yet. Aguero's out for 4 games and Fernandinho out for 3. Who knows what impact that might have on City over the xmas/new year period. Yeah it's very unlikely at the moment but certainly not impossible (United/Newcastle?).
Seriously???
Get him.
I actually want him to stay. Get him.
My point is that we don't know what the club will do.Remember how many times we kept telling the press that Van Gaal would definitely get a third season?
So Jose can never be too comfortable.
I'm one of those who thinks we will be fecked if Jose actually leaves, as we'll have to start again from scratch with yet another new manager, with no guarantee of improvement.Last edited:
I really thought Jose was the one.
I don't really have faith in a new manager coming around and changing things. The novelty of replacing managers has certainly worn off.
Jose might need time ,but he has to start earning it though.
It's also important for Jose to do well here.Very few big teams would touch him after two successive failures,football moves on quicklyRomero
Valencia Jones Rojo Blind
Herrera Pogba
Mkhitaryan Mata Martial
RashfordRomero
Valencia--Bailly--Rojo--Blind
Herrera--Pogba
Mata--Rooney--Lingard
Rashford
subs: De Gea, Jones, Shaw, Schweingsteiger, Mkhitaryan, Young, Martial
You are joking, right ?
I agree, we are all in on Jose at this point and it's really fine margins this season with our results.Need to win this one for sure, but we absolutely have to manage the team better and get a strong squad for Sunday against Tottenham at home. 3 vital points !
So I would rotate the squad but having our team we can field another strong side
----------------------------------Romero-----------------------------------
Darmian----------------Bailly-------------Rojo/Blind----------Shaw/Blind
---------------------Schneiderlin--------Herrera/Fellaini------------------
Lingard----------------------------Mata---------------------------Rashford
------------------------------------Rooney--------------------------------I still think we should rest certain players, but others who are in some kind of form should be playing. I think we should rest Ibra, but I feel like a fresh Rooney and Mata should both be coming into the side (and Ibra seems to be a constant Jose selection regardless).
Martial has played well the last few games, as has Mkhitaryan, but one of them is probably dropping to the bench:
Romero
Valencia Jones Rojo Blind
Herrera Pogba
Mkhitaryan Mata Rooney
Ibrahimovic
---
de Gea; Darmian; Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Lingard; Martial, Rashford
Carrick to be rested, along with Shaw given more time to recover (hopefully play against Spurs but unlikely). I have a feeling Jose will still play Romero despite us needing to avoid defeat at all costs here, as he's unlikely to get another game bar perhaps the FA Cup game in January (or later down the line in this competition if we win a first leg comfortably). Schweinsteiger sadly isn't in the squad for the Europa League, so it'll be Fellaini and Schneiderlin as the other midfield options. Part of me thinks Fellaini may be asked to play this game as some kind of odd 'punishment' as well.
We have to put a lot into this game, so dropping points again in the League is going to be expected. Spurs will rest players against CSKA.Tricky decision this. Do we go full strength, try to win it early then control the game?
Do we mix the team up and trust them to get the job done?
I think considering we HAVE to atleast draw, we should go full strength. Let's qualify then worry about rectifying our league form on Sunday. Tottenham have got to travel to Basel and can't just lay down either, so it's not like they'll be much fresher than us.
People like Memphis/Schneiderlin/Blind need a game but I am worried about consistency if we mix it up too much.
Mkhi and Martial need to learn how to play with eachother.
They play CSKA in London.
Ah, well that doesn't help.
We should be able to happily rotate our front 4 Rooney/Rashford/Mata + 1 Mkhi/Martial/Ibra/ +1
Midfield I think Pogba and Herrera have plenty of energy.
Just depends if we want to use a 3rd midfielder or throw in an extra attacker.
We have to rotate, 3 difficult games in a week would be a bit too much, especially given how much Spurs run. I think the team showed signs of tiredness in the last 20 min vs Everton.
Agreed, I am not so sure it was tactical by Mourinho, we definitely looked more tired and seemed happy to sit off them.
I would personally rotate, I think that was a key feature of why Fergie consistently did well. Can the reserves be trusted to get the job done is my worry.
I would personally go for; DDG, Valencia,Bailly,Rojo,Blind,Schweinsteiger,Schneiderlin,Lingard,Mata,Rooney,Rashford.Surely we don't need our first team to get the result we need. Rest some key players for once Mourinho!
This is my worry.
The problem is that everytime we sack a manager, we hit the reset button and the current season (and probably the next) is completely wasted.
In life, sometimes you can be better if you hit the reset button, but generally, you need to work hard and go through a little pain before you reap the benefits. And if you keep hitting the reset button, you definitely won't get anywhere.
Regarding the EL vs EPL (top 4): I look at it like this.
To win the EL, no team in the competition can be better than us. So, basically, we need to be unbeatable.
To get top 4, we can allow 3 teams to be better than us and still achieve our target.
I think EPL Top 4 is more achievable.I reckon it will look something like this:
Romero
Darmian, Bailly, Rojo, Blind (Shaw if fit)
Schneiderlin, Pogba
Lingard, Mata, Rooney
Rashford
DDG, TFM, Blind/Shaw, Fellaini, Depay, Martial, ZlatanWhat's this about United fans being told not to wear their colours if travelling to see the game?
How bad are these Zorya supporters?
I've read this too... quite worrying tbh.Cant believe people want us to rest players when this is our only path to the Champions League next year.
De Gea
Valencia
Jones
Rojo
Darmian
Herrera
Pogba
Rooney
Miki
Martial
IbraI'm not surprised about the instructions. Recommendations like these have been given for years. It's also not recommended to gather in larger fan groups or speak loudly in your mother tongue. Russian fans are notorious, the violence they showed during the Euro 2016 wasn't a coincidence.Romero
Valencia Jones Rojo Shaw
Herrera Pogba
Lingard Mata Martial
Rashford
We just need a draw. Some players should be rested for Spurs IMO- Status
Player Ratings
Total Average Rating
Highest Rated Player
Lowest Rated Player
Compiled from 390 ratings.
Score Predictions
395,44,100
- Man Utd win
- Zorya win
- Draw
Detailed Results
- 23% Zorya 0:2 Man Utd
- 14% Zorya 0:3 Man Utd
- 12% Zorya 1:1 Man Utd
- 10% Zorya 0:1 Man Utd
- 8% Zorya 1:2 Man Utd
- 8% Zorya 1:3 Man Utd
- 6% Zorya 0:0 Man Utd
- 4% Zorya 0:4 Man Utd
- 4% Zorya 0:5 Man Utd
- 3% Zorya 5:0 Man Utd
- 3% Zorya 1:0 Man Utd
- 1% Zorya 1:4 Man Utd
- 1% Zorya 2:1 Man Utd
- 1% Zorya 2:2 Man Utd
- 1% Zorya 3:1 Man Utd
- 0% Zorya 4:0 Man Utd
- 0% Zorya 2:3 Man Utd
- 0% Zorya 2:0 Man Utd
- 0% Zorya 4:5 Man Utd
- 0% Zorya 5:5 Man Utd
- 0% Zorya 3:0 Man Utd
- 0% Zorya 1:5 Man Utd
- 0% Zorya 3:5 Man Utd
Match Stats
- Zorya
- Man Utd
- Possession
- 29% 71%
- Shots
- 6 19
- Shots on Target
- 2 7
- Corners
- 2 9
- Fouls
- 5 8
Referee
Tamás Bognar
Man Utd Lineup
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
replaced by Jesse Lingard
-
-
replaced by Timothy Fosu-Mensah
-
replaced by Marouane Fellaini
-
