Absolutely gobsmacked people can’t see how leggy we are in the last three games. West Ham and Moyes is the perfect script for us to drop points with. Heavily rotated team would probably benefit us considering how tired we look.
2nd string against Chelsea? Or do we risk more tiredness
- Thread starter Adam-Utd
- Start date
Yeah, I think their backup strikers are better, their backup wingers are better, their backup defenders probably too, not the keeper mind. But with Kante and Gilmour out, if they rest Kovacic and Jorginho, we'd have a chance with our 2nd string.
Chelsea will rest players too, I’d go with making about 6/7 changes.
Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Bruno and Greenwood all need to left out of the matchday squad entirely - all four have looked exhausted for 3 games already. I would leave Pogba and Martial out as well, with Lindelof and Rashford getting maybe a half if necessary.
Romero, Dalot, Maguire, Bailly, Williams
Fred, Scott, Bruno, Rashford, James, Ighalo. Keep Pogba, Martial, Matic, Greenwood if we need to win it. If we don't then ahh well. Be nice to win but our players are hitting tiredness now. We need to preserve or creativity for the last two prem games. The tank is nearly empty.
Fred, Scott, Bruno, Rashford, James, Ighalo. Keep Pogba, Martial, Matic, Greenwood if we need to win it. If we don't then ahh well. Be nice to win but our players are hitting tiredness now. We need to preserve or creativity for the last two prem games. The tank is nearly empty.
We've looked knackered for the last few games, and as nice as a bit of hardware would be, the FA Cup simply doesn’t move us forward as a club.
Securing CL does.
Resting the first string is a must.
Securing CL does.
Resting the first string is a must.
The schedule is a joke which is very much advantage Chelsea.
I wanted to win the FA Cup and think United would beat Peps City if they reach the final but the West ham game next Wednesday is the priority and I will totally understand if Ole rests half of the first choice 11.
I wanted to win the FA Cup and think United would beat Peps City if they reach the final but the West ham game next Wednesday is the priority and I will totally understand if Ole rests half of the first choice 11.
Heavy rotation for me.
If your first team were still looking unstoppable I'd maybe argue to try push through, but considering they're not, I'd rotate and then bring in Rashy/Martial/Bruno late on if needed.
If your first team were still looking unstoppable I'd maybe argue to try push through, but considering they're not, I'd rotate and then bring in Rashy/Martial/Bruno late on if needed.
United have a better chance of winning the Europa League than FA Cup.
Massive squad rotation for the FA Cup match as United have to exert themselves against Chelsea at Wembley, so who knows what the travelling is like. Did they go back up to Manchester just to go back down to London in 48 hours?
Still probably need to get through City in the final, assuming they win their match. City have nothing to play for in the league anymore as they have cannot finish any lower than 2nd, so they can rest for the FA Cup final and kick on for CL.
Massive squad rotation for the FA Cup match as United have to exert themselves against Chelsea at Wembley, so who knows what the travelling is like. Did they go back up to Manchester just to go back down to London in 48 hours?
Still probably need to get through City in the final, assuming they win their match. City have nothing to play for in the league anymore as they have cannot finish any lower than 2nd, so they can rest for the FA Cup final and kick on for CL.
2.5 string. Damn UEFA, if City was banned we could handle this game differently.
I care about everything for United, and love the FA Cup, but it feels like Top 4 could make us move ahead as a squad a lot faster. It trumps all by a mile.
I care about everything for United, and love the FA Cup, but it feels like Top 4 could make us move ahead as a squad a lot faster. It trumps all by a mile.
At this point it's more about the mental aspect IMO. A loss in the semi final if you rotate and don't take it seriously could harm the mentality of the players, they'll be pissed about missing a semi final and a big game. A win and you can almost just go to the next 2 games on adrenaline alone. Give it all they have. They'll be fine.
50:50 mix of first teamer and bench players.
I think McT, Fred and Ighalo can start this one
I think McT, Fred and Ighalo can start this one
Romero
Laird - Bailly - Tuanzebe - Dalot
Fred - Pereira - Garner
Mata - Ighalo - James
Would only let Fred & James play 60 ish minutes.Laird - Bailly - Tuanzebe - Dalot
Fred - Pereira - Garner
Mata - Ighalo - James
Save as much energy as possible for the next PL games. We desperately need CL next season.
Last edited:
Do teams still get 5 substitutions in the FA Cup? Or is that PL only?
I'd rest players and maybe revert to our old counter attack system if that helps
UCL is too important
UCL is too important
Second string team. West Ham is a must win, and the players have looked really tired in the last two games.
Even if we win, we’d have to likely play City, so it’s not like winning this makes us super likely to win the whole thing.
top 4 (more importantly UCL qualification) is far more important. If we manage to keep Pogba, and sign Sancho and a couple of players this window, the future looks very bright.
Even if we win, we’d have to likely play City, so it’s not like winning this makes us super likely to win the whole thing.
top 4 (more importantly UCL qualification) is far more important. If we manage to keep Pogba, and sign Sancho and a couple of players this window, the future looks very bright.
Romero
Williams
Maguire
Bailly
Shaw
Fred
McTominay
James
Pogba
Lingard
Ighalo
That has to be the team. Bring on Bruno, Martial, and Rashford for the last 30 mins irrespective of match situation to keep them sharp for West Ham and take it from there.
Williams
Maguire
Bailly
Shaw
Fred
McTominay
James
Pogba
Lingard
Ighalo
That has to be the team. Bring on Bruno, Martial, and Rashford for the last 30 mins irrespective of match situation to keep them sharp for West Ham and take it from there.
AWB, Maguire & Fernandes need to sit this one out.
I can’t believe they haven’t waited till the end of the league to play these FA cup games. Two days a week is more than enough but three!? Ridiculous.
Especially when the likes of Leicester get to rest up.
Especially when the likes of Leicester get to rest up.
Rest everyone, they could use a few days off. The Norwich game went 120 minutes, we don’t need a repeat of that with starters thrown on.
Rotate 4-5 players of our best starting 11.
Romero
Dalot - Bailly - Tuanzebe - Fosu
Fred - McTominay
James - Mata - Rashford/Martial
Ighalo
Pretty straight forward team selection if you ask me. Although Tuanzebe probably still isn't fit so might need to play McTominay at CB and bring in Garner into midfield. Dalot - Bailly - Tuanzebe - Fosu
Fred - McTominay
James - Mata - Rashford/Martial
Ighalo
No point starting Lingard or Jones. AWB, Lindelof, Maguire have all been awful recently and must be rested. Matic cant play twice a week he has to be rested. Pogba and Fernandes are both off the boil and have to be rested.
The trouble will playing a second string side is that you get criticized if your calculated risk doesn't pay off. If we fail to win our next league after resting the first team then all hell is going to break loose.
In all probability, we are going to rest a few key players, e.g., Fernandes, AWB, Matic, and Pogba. The rest will play and will have to find that extra ounce of energy. If we are lucky, then a FA cup win this season will really galvanize the club and be a precursor to great things next season.
In all probability, we are going to rest a few key players, e.g., Fernandes, AWB, Matic, and Pogba. The rest will play and will have to find that extra ounce of energy. If we are lucky, then a FA cup win this season will really galvanize the club and be a precursor to great things next season.
Should definitely be rested: Matic, Pogba, Fernandes, one of Martial/Rashford.
Should probably be rested: Greenwood, AWB, the other one of Martial/Rashford
Play a second string side vs Chelsea, beat West Ham and hope Liverpool/Mourinho do us a favour before the final game.
Should probably be rested: Greenwood, AWB, the other one of Martial/Rashford
Play a second string side vs Chelsea, beat West Ham and hope Liverpool/Mourinho do us a favour before the final game.
Could be an interesting team selections from both managers since they both have the same problem. Both sides could end up missing out on Champions League football next season. Do they rest key players for the remaining league games or go for bust to reach the Cup Final, if they play key players will they miss out on both competitions. Look forward to the team sheets on Sunday.
I'd much rather play the U11 side at this point.
The focus is the EPL and then the Europa League.
Ighalo, Lingard, James and some of the youth is fine with me.
The focus is the EPL and then the Europa League.
Ighalo, Lingard, James and some of the youth is fine with me.
I’m cool with resting everyone, but I just don’t see Ole doing that in a semifinal at Wembley, so I’d guess it’s gonna be a mixed team and most likely an ugly game that we try to grind out
We made 6 subs vs Norwich
I don't see any risk or even consider FA cup something worth remebering in this era? Can you tell me who were the last 3 FA cups winners? Nobody gives a feck really. It's about the league and champions league otherwise teams wouldn't rotate as much as they do. If you are in a position to win a treble - great, let's get it - but the national cups have become pretty much irrelevant in itself in this era.
I don't think anyone on here would take winning the FA Cup over playing in the Champions League.
Without probably. Greenwood has played more than he should, and AWB looks knackered and it seems to have affected his form.
I think that Maguire should be rested too. He has played more than any other player and probably this is not very sustainable.
Thing is, if we rest all of these (+ De Gea, while Shaw is injured), essentially we are resting the entire team except Lindelof. At that stage, give a break to him too so he doesn't feel excluded,.
I disagree. People who win it give a feck. Any trophy, even an FA cup for that matter brings the players together in celebration. It gives them belief to do greater things. It suddenly opens up the possibility that we are good enough to win things. That feeling is important i.e., the feeling of a winner. Many times under SAF, we prevailed and won the league simply because the team had serial winners in them and they knew exactly how to approach a title run.
We have a young group of players and winning the FA cup will cement their belief and bring great joy. This will be OGS's first trophy with Man Utd and who knows it may start another glorious era. It certainly happened for Man City. Nobody took them seriously till the actually won the FA Cup. Then the very next season they won the league and they haven't looked back since.
Football isn't always about the business decisions, of somehow coming 4th to play the group stages of the CL again, only to get eliminated. Sometimes winning trophies, even domestic ones, give joy.
What second string? 
we beat Chelsea with a midfield of Fred, mctominay and lingard earlier in the season with Rashford and James upfront.
Chelsea will be rotating as well with Liverpool in mind so I don't see why we can't play something similar and still expect to compete
Chelsea will be rotating as well with Liverpool in mind so I don't see why we can't play something similar and still expect to compete
Not like winning the league or having a chance at playing in the Champions League does, for many reasons. It doesn't come first. I'm all for winning the FA Cup and I'll root for my team no matter what but you have to consider at what cost it is. We can hardly rotate as it is. I'd rather have us put ourselves in the best position to compete for a spot in the Champions League next season. To compete for the league title.
The FA cup is only a compliment in this era. We have loads of players fighting for a spot anyway that would be eager to play.
Rest AWB, Maguire, Lindelof, Pogba, Bruno, MMM. But we cant rest both Maguire and Lindelof so one must start.
That leaves us with
Ighalo
James - Mata - Lingard
Matic/MCT - Fred
Tofu - Bailly - Maguire - Dalot
DDG
Jeez thats grim viewing, but this is what I would do. Reality is FA Cup does nothing for us, top 4 is more important moving forward for the club. Maybe keep a few on the bench if we want to change it up. The team looks a lot stronger if say we know both shaw and williams are good to go for west ham then we could play one at LB and possibly just go 352
That leaves us with
Ighalo
James - Mata - Lingard
Matic/MCT - Fred
Tofu - Bailly - Maguire - Dalot
DDG
Jeez thats grim viewing, but this is what I would do. Reality is FA Cup does nothing for us, top 4 is more important moving forward for the club. Maybe keep a few on the bench if we want to change it up. The team looks a lot stronger if say we know both shaw and williams are good to go for west ham then we could play one at LB and possibly just go 352
Rest players. If the other semi final was Norwich vs Cardiff, I’d say go all out because if we got through we’d win the cup. Beating City again in a final no less is no guarantee.
I will say that whether we get Champions League football should have no bearing on Sancho coming here. We’re the only ones who can afford him and clearly we’re on to something special.
I will say that whether we get Champions League football should have no bearing on Sancho coming here. We’re the only ones who can afford him and clearly we’re on to something special.
We should and will make plenty of changes.
Think Rashford, one of lindelof/maguire and maybe McT from who started today should start weekend
Changes to the rest
Changes to the rest
I know and understand why we should make changes but I want to win every game.
I think we should make 3/4 changes because if we make too many and get hammered then momentum going into the two remaining league fixtures is diminished.
I think we should make 3/4 changes because if we make too many and get hammered then momentum going into the two remaining league fixtures is diminished.
We could play the first team and still lose. Even if we win, we have to beat City in order to win anything. I can definitely see the reasoning for resting players, I think Chelsea will too. They’re in the same boat after all.