Top 4 race / race abandoned (or maybe not) / Leicester & Chelsea in the process of bottling it

Yakuza_devils

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The only thing to do now is go:

Villa : full strength
Leicester : second string
Dippers : full strength

No chance of Utd winning the league as City only need two/three points which they will get out of either Newcastle/Brighton. West Ham aren't getting 4th so Ole needs to do the right thing.

It should be:

Villa : second string
Leicester : second string
Dippers : full strength
 

Dumbstar

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It should be:

Villa : second string
Leicester : second string
Dippers : full strength
Totally agree. Problem is it's the Liverpool game where frustrations will lead to Thiago breaking Bruno's legs in the second half. It's an animalistic game.
 

Bertie Wooster

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It should be:

Villa : second string
Leicester : second string
Dippers : full strength
Yes, in retrospect, I agree!
I disagree (or agree with the initial suggestion).

There's no need to put all our eggs in one basket out of spite and risk losing all three and then having to pick stronger teams v Fulham and possibly Wolves (3 days before a final in Poland) if we want 2nd - which I think Ole does, hence his strong team selection today.

We can't go strong for all 3 games, but Thursday, Sunday, Thursday is the same as the usual calendar this season. Physically, at least. Mentally it's different with the extra game added in between. But take those games serious, and just go weak v Leicester. Then, hopefully, we can rest players for the last two without giving up 2nd place. At the worst, take Fulham seriously as well if necessary. But the Wolves game has to be a weak team while the others rest for the final.
 
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justsomebloke

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It should be:

Villa : second string
Leicester : second string
Dippers : full strength
I think that'd be quite insane. It overlooks that you can't really put out the same players today and on Tuesday. You can't ask players with limited match fitness to play two games in three evenings. There's a limit. Also, why go for 3 points when you could go for 6? The first-teamers don't need a week of rest for Liverpool.
 

Dumbstar

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Don't be talking about your players breaking our players legs you daft cnut.
It was tongue in cheek but if I was Utd manager I'd be daft to let any of my key players face a frustrated rival before a cup final. It's just management 101 when you're at the wheel.
 

roonster09

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Just so that we're clear, I won't be managing the team.

This sort of 'shit' is what Ole or any manager worth his salt has to consider.
Yeah, play your best team 3 times in 5 days, else our players will break your players' legs :lol:
 

Counterfactual

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It was tongue in cheek but if I was Utd manager I'd be daft to let any of my key players face a frustrated rival before a cup final. It's just management 101 when you're at the wheel.
Wow. So, don't play Bruno (and other "key" players... Pogba, Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani, Maguire, Shaw, Wan Bissaka?) because you'll break their legs? Unreal comment. I wouldn't have thought Liverpool would have to resort to that, but, there you are.
 

Dumbstar

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Wow. So, don't play Bruno (and other "key" players... Pogba, Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani, Maguire, Shaw, Wan Bissaka?) because you'll break their legs? Unreal comment. I wouldn't have thought Liverpool would have to resort to that, but, there you are.
If I was Utd manager I'd wonder do Liverpool have any fecking cnuts in the team? Well do we? Punk. :p

Ole will put the team he thinks is right for a meaningless game before a cup final.
 

Djemba-Djemba

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It was tongue in cheek but if I was Utd manager I'd be daft to let any of my key players face a frustrated rival before a cup final. It's just management 101 when you're at the wheel.
You're a moron and you should be given a warning for posts like that.
 

charlenefan

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tbf to @Dumbstar he's right about Liverpool, I remember when they went out to kick lumps out of Rashford because they knew he had an ankle injury

Dirty cnuts
 

charlenefan

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What positions get the EL spots that would have been allocated to the cup winners? Are Spurs guaranteed EL football for finishing runners up in the league cup? What about the prize for winning the FA Cup given both finalists will qualify for Europe through the league?
 

GazTheLegend

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It looks to me (what with Leicester playing Chelsea), that the minimum we can now finish is 3rd place. The question is will Solskjaer play the kids against Leicester the way Klopp did against Villa and Everton a few years back (a year back??). Because if you are -ever- going to play Traore, Shoretire etc it's on Tuesday. In a way it's a bit unfortunate that the title race is still on (as hilarious as it would be to win it, I just don't see that happening), because it means Solskjaer will feel semi-obligated to get as strong a side as he can out in both games. But we'll see. The F.A. have fecked us, and probably Liverpool by extension in the case Ole does field kids against Leicester.
 

EC689908

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What positions get the EL spots that would have been allocated to the cup winners? Are Spurs guaranteed EL football for finishing runners up in the league cup? What about the prize for winning the FA Cup given both finalists will qualify for Europe through the league?
It’s now actually quite simple As it stands, 5th and 6th get EL and 7th gets Europa conference. Only difference is if Chelsea win ECL and don’t finish in top 4. If they win ECL and finish 5th, 6th goes into Europa and 7th into Europa conference (Unless Leicester win the cup and finish 8th I think). Spurs don’t get Europe for runners up in CC.
 

charlenefan

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It’s now actually quite simple As it stands, 5th and 6th get EL and 7th gets Europa conference. Only difference is if Chelsea win ECL and don’t finish in top 4. If they win ECL and finish 5th, 6th goes into Europa and 7th into Europa conference (Unless Leicester win the cup and finish 8th I think). Spurs don’t get Europe for runners up in CC.
so is it whatever happens 7th is Europa Conference? That's basically why I asked originally :)
 

Shane88

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Everything falling perfectly into place for Liverpool. Sickening.

Can't be helped when you're relying on Rodgers and Moyes to stop them, I suppose.
 

Sandikan

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Some of us never learn when relying on Moyes.
He falls short when there's anything riding on anything.
 

Dumbstar

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Continuing the discussion of injuries and a final coming up, I wonder if Maguire will need to man up and play in the real cup final this Thursday? After all, it's not April 1st.
 

city-puma

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I wonder how Everton fans think about their team. They are hyper defensive, stubborn, boring in their playing. How can this be any positive in term of long term progression? They are just like a whole bunch of the laboring deadwoods.
 

diarm

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You're a moron and you should be given a warning for posts like that.
You need to take a step back here and read what he's written and the context it's in. He hasn't condoned it or advocated for it - simply said that we should be wary of it happening. Which we should be.
 

#07

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United have secured top 4 now right?
Yup. Nobody outside of the top four can finish above us now.

If we win one more game Leicester can't finish above us either.
 

TheReligion

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Totally agree. Problem is it's the Liverpool game where frustrations will lead to Thiago breaking Bruno's legs in the second half. It's an animalistic game.
Thiago is that far away from Bruno's level he'd mess up trying to get near enough to break his toenail let alone his leg
 

BorisManUtd

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David Moyes' top 4 hopes ended by his former club, how fitting. Still well done to him and West Ham for even being in the race, their chances are minimal now but if they win all of their 3 remaining games and finish on 67 points it would surely mean European football next season and I remember West Ham fans being the least optimistic fans in the league back when the season was about to start.

Anyways, it's between Leicester and Liverpool now and can't see Leicester not bottling it, even if they beat us.
 

Dave Smith

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Top four pretty much secured. Now to roll over against Leicester.