We have some rotten luck

flappyjay

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Over the last 8 years since Sir Alex retired this is the 1st time where I feel we are 2 or 3 players away from being a formidable team. Unfortunately this is happening during the pandemic. Without coronavirus Sancho is currently a Manchester United player. We have probably sold Pogba last summer and got his replacement 8n the form of a dm or another creative cm.

This summer without covid we were probably looking at Haaland,competition for Aaron wan Bissaka and a new cb. We would get to sell Lingard, Bailly, Tuanzebe for market value. Instead we can probably only afford 1 big signing of the three we need.
 

kouroux

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Over the last 8 years since Sir Alex retired this is the 1st time where I feel we are 2 or 3 players away from being a formidable team. Unfortunately this is happening during the pandemic. Without coronavirus Sancho is currently a Manchester United player. We have probably sold Pogba last summer and got his replacement 8n the form of a dm or another creative cm.

This summer without covid we were probably looking at Haaland,competition for Aaron wan Bissaka and a new cb. We would get to sell Lingard, Bailly, Tuanzebe for market value. Instead we can probably only afford 1 big signing of the three we need.
What makes you say that ?
 

Tibs

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I believe that generally, you make your own luck.
 

AshRK

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It's not luck but incompetence and greed of our owners/board.
 

Lee565

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It's not rotten luck it's rotten recruitment that is our issue from top to bottom
 

flappyjay

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What makes you say that ?
We would have had more wiggle rool during negotiations. We were never going to make a 100m+ commitment during a pandemic. The year prior we bought Maguire, a CB for 80. If Di Marzio is to be believed Juventus would have put in a proper bid for Pogba further increasing our spending power.
 

RedDevilzFox

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I've stopped reading too much into luck debates. So long as Guardiola and Klopp are around, it would be tough. They are top 2 managers in the world who know what they are doing and we have Ole. I don't think even Sir Alex would have had a free run at the title with these 2 around.

Ole is doing the best he can with what he has, personally and in the team. Our game has been the best since SAF. Winning the title would truly put us in post SAF era but right now I am content that we are in top 3.
 

TheRedHearted

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It’s a pretty good point, we’ve gone on big sprees in recent years, thinking of Van Gaals and Mourinhos. Imagine if Ole get one in?
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

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If that bloody fax machine hadn't broken down, we could have offloaded Calamity Dave

Weren't we unlucky in not signing Griezeman as well? Can’t remember the circumstances now but something rings a bell. Edit - that was it, Atletico got their transfer ban upheld.
 

kouroux

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We would have had more wiggle rool during negotiations. We were never going to make a 100m+ commitment during a pandemic. The year prior we bought Maguire, a CB for 80. If Di Marzio is to be believed Juventus would have put in a proper bid for Pogba further increasing our spending power.
That's a huge "if". Maybe the fact 80 was spent on Maguire and it hasn't been a truly amazing signing played a role in the club not wanting to go crazy one more time with that kinda money.
 

Infra-red

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We've been two or three players away every year since 2013. In 2025 we'll still be two or three players away. It's not bad luck - our model is one of perpetual, but financially lucrative, mediocrity. Top 4 finishes and a quiet life - that's all that's required.
 

MU655

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I think we have actually been incredibly lucky that our main opposition has remained poor. Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal have dropped to a very low level at just the right time. Liverpool has also collapsed this season.

I think the outlook wouldn't seem as rosy to people if that wasn't the case.
 

Rightnr

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No one would have ever made this thread under SAF.

When we were top people were saying how good our wider squad is and how we should use this to our advantage. OGS shits the bed a month later and his apologists come out in force talking about luck, lack of investment and refereeing decisions.

It'd be funny if this was Liverpool but it's Manchester United and I'm not amused by all these deluded people who change their opinion on our situation within a month because they don't want to admit we've got a subpar coaching staff (I'm being generous).
 

Bilbo

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There are certain aspects of football where luck is less of a factor. For instance, I usually have little sympathy with anyone whinging about that one incident in a game that cost you when you have 93 other minutes to win it. Then again, those instances so often seem to be decisive and they can play a significant role over a season.

Certainly we've had some rotten luck recently with cup draws, and this has without a doubt had a negative influence on the development on this team. I feel quite confident that we would have progressed from every other group the PL teams had this year in the CL, and then we go and land probably the hardest draw we could have in the EL.

Domestically too we often seem to have to do it the hard way. We might have to beat all of Liverpool, Leicester, Chelsea and City to win the FA Cup this year. In 2019 we beat Arsenal away, then Chelsea away, and then drew bloody Wolves away, and still would have had City to deal with!

For a manager that needs trophies, at a club that demands them, it leaves little room for rotation. With kinder draws we could quite easily have a trophy or two by now and be playing CL knockouts this week. How different the perception might be in that case
 

Annihilate Now!

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I mean the pandemic happened for everyone... don't think we can curse our bad luck because of it.
 

Spaghetti

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I think we have actually been incredibly lucky that our main opposition has remained poor. Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal have dropped to a very low level at just the right time. Liverpool has also collapsed this season.

I think the outlook wouldn't seem as rosy to people if that wasn't the case.
Harsh to put Chelsea in with that lot. They’ve been very unlucky that their summer signings have taken time to settle, yet they are still only a couple of points behind us.
 

the_cliff

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No Excuses, Arsenal have been 2 or 3 players away from winning the league since 05 now they're mid table. Same could happen to us if we don't recruit in the summer.
 

Sky1981

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Ole is quite lucky as a manager. Whenever he's close to being sacked someone saved the day.

Earlier this season we had a bad run and few last minutes goal saved his skin.

Covid break also allows us to push for 3rd.

Ole is lucky enough to be given this chance. He's lucky enough pogba had a score to settle with jose.

He's also quite lucky in timing. Chelsea is on the wane with lampard, arsenal with arteta. Any other season we'd be proper midtable.

I dont think he can complain much in this department.
 

MU655

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Harsh to put Chelsea in with that lot. They’ve been very unlucky that their summer signings have taken time to settle, yet they are still only a couple of points behind us.
That is true, but they are still nowhere near the strength that you expect of them. That is why I do find it a bit fortunate that so many clubs have somewhat fallen away. If Chelsea were at their expected level, they would have been up with City last season than slogging it out with us.

Overall, I just think we have been quite fortunate that they have continued to post lower numbers than what is expected of them. And this at a time when we are weak ourselves.
 

passing-wind

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Pointless thread discussion has no logic with luck which is nothing more than a phenomenon
 

Bebestation

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Trippier being unfairly banned for his gambling thing is really bullsh*t.

We are left with the perfect balance of fullbacks in my opinion then.

Also that damn photocopier broke when in contact with madrid ...:mad:
 

BlueHaze

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What about the past 7 years of failed transfer window after window...?

Should we blame them on covid too? :lol:
 

iHicksy

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Considering how much we mock Rawk some of these posts about "luck" and var and refs don't half sound like they come directly from the mouth of Liverpool fans.
 

flappyjay

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Yeah, luck, that's what it is.

Excuses are in already.
Excuses for who or what, my focus here is that as things stand it looks like we need a dm, rw, an st and a CB. The layout necessary to bring all those players at a go is not possible at the moment. That is unless our scouts can find some hidden gems who are ready to contribute immediately.
 

kafta

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Wouldn't leaving ourselves with a weakened squad, needing overhauling all the time worth hundreds of millions, due to a revolving door of managers, hired and fired by an ignorant CEO who knows nothing about the sport, backed by owners who failed to invest when the time was right, allowed our squad to be depleted because all they care about is making money off this club's name and reputation mean that the reality is its not really bad luck, but rather failure on all levels?
 

MattofManchester

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We've had a lot of luck in terms of our opponents not taking chances.

At the same time, I don't believe in luck. It's all a game of chance.

Nor would I bring Covid up for a football team being 'unlucky'. In fact, they're much more privileged than most of us and themselves should feel lucky that they get to be in the position they are in, doing what they love.
Sport is not essential in these times.

Going away from that point, once you start saying we're unlucky with this, unlucky with that, unlucky with VAR, unlucky with fixtures, decisions, etc, it begins to create a victim mentality.
I hope none of the players in this club find that sort of mentality. And I wish fans would stop with it too.
You take what you get and keep going. Whether that be in football or life.
 

Rampant Red Rodriguez

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Why does the OP think Sancho market value is still upwards of 100m in the pandemic?. Dortmund just did not want to sell and its hurting them pretty badly, it'll be a peak time for income if/when they do not make the Champions League money.

Also we only made big name signings during Mourinho and it didn't work out well for us, ADM, Bastian, Lukaku.. All came and went. Fact is Maguire and Bissaka offer excellent value for money because they do their job and do it well. They get exposed because of their team mates letting them and the whole side down. We need players who will fit into the team instead of going out for the media popular names..