Are we on the verge of a breakthrough or waiting to be found out?

[BennyBlanco]

Take Zlatan out and we're not that far away from the last 2 seasons in terms of results, lets be honest here. As a team obviously we have improved, the quality of the squad has obviously improved, but we're too reliant on individuals.
The biggest issue for me again, thats holding us back is the consistent, or lack there of... production from the 3 behind Zlatan.
We all know Micky is class but he's been 50/50 all season, Martial is having a very poor season by the standards he set last year, Rashford is likewise having 2nd year growing pains,Mata has as many limitations as he does positives and the jury is still out on Lingard as a 1st team player.

If we're able to achieve more production from those 3 spots then yea, you could see us really breaking out as a top force again, but right now, as it stand's.. we'd be in dire straits without Zlatan.

 

[kafta]

I think we really missed Mkhi yesterday. He has become essential to our forward play, and in a game like yesterday where we were playing on the break, he is the best equipped to create chances for us.

That in mind, if we can overcome the fatigue, and utilize or squad, I think we are in for a very exciting end of season. I believe we've turned a corner, as we seem to have lots of quality, and seem to have developed a winning habit, which was the main thing holding us back.

 

[TsuWave]

Call me a pessimist but I am not happy that we're being dragged by a 35 year old to success. We've got too many players who are simply not pulling their own weight.

Take Zlatan out and we're not that far away from the last 2 seasons in terms of results, lets be honest here. As a team obviously we have improved, the quality of the squad has obviously improved, but we're too reliant on individuals.
The biggest issue for me again, thats holding us back is the consistent, or lack there of... production from the 3 behind Zlatan.
We all know Micky is class but he's been 50/50 all season, Martial is having a very poor season by the standards he set last year, Rashford is likewise having 2nd year growing pains,Mata has as many limitations as he does positives and the jury is still out on Lingard as a 1st team player.

If we're able to achieve more production from those 3 spots then yea, we'd easily have improved 10fold we'd really break out as a top force again, but right now, as it stand's we'd be in dire straits without Zlatan.

But that's exactly what world class players do though. Are we bemoaning a team's big player doing what big players are supposed to do?

and Zlatan has been great but let's not act like he's been going in Messi type slalom runs to get us the wins every other game. Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Herrera to a maybe lesser extent have pivotal roles in many of them important goals/wins. Zlatan is our constant focus point in attack and naturally will grab more of them clutch moments, but like, he is the striker so...

Rashford is 19, Martial turned 21 in december, the fact that we are winning trophies with them in my opinion is more indication that we are more likely closer to a breakthrough than to be found out.

 

[VeevaVee]

We still lack a lot of quality. Teams that attack us show our defence up for what it really is, and when we attack we often lack precision and urgency, weakly attempting anything creative or losing the ball too easily. Both these things were on display yesterday. We didn't have our 'best' defenders out but I wouldn't have expected much better from Jones/Rojo at CB either.

Thankfully we're good enough to be doing alright this season (I mean...we're still 6th), but I dread to think what would happen in the CL to be honest.
We need to improve in quite a few areas and certainly in each third. Problem is that these positions are all inhabited by caf darlings, so we'd have no chance of improving anywhere if it was down to the caf, and you can bet Jose is gonna get some stick when he tries.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

The shift of opinions on here after one game of football is madness. A leggy performance the weekend after a Europa away game against a fresh, highly motivated quality team on a good run of form and suddenly we're on the verge of being found out.

Just two weeks earlier we were running rings around a Watford team that had just beaten Arsenal. Playing some of the best football I've seen since Fergie retired.

In between that game and today's one we've won all our FA Cup and Europa League games (2 out of 3 on the road)

And this is all during a period of intense fixture congestion at the end of a long run where we've been practically unbeaten over several months.

I mean, fecking hell, we should be delighted with where we are and hugely confident in the obvious winning mentality of our team under this new manager. It couldn't be clearer to me that we're a top side again and are going from strength to strength. I think we'll definitely lose some games in the coming weeks if we keep on winning our cup fixtures and playing against teams with less hectic schedules. That's invevitable. But we didn't yesterday, for which the manager and team deserve huge credit. Enjoy the win ffs. No need for all the nervous nellying.

 

[Ramshock]

I can't decide, I mean we are on a decent run but any time there has been expectation we have fluffed our lines. We were humiliated by Chelsea, didn't turn up against City or Liverpool at home in the league and put in a terrible performance yesterday which we should be embarrassed by - a club of our stature shouldn't be bossed in a cup final by a team of Southampton's stature. Plus we remain sixth in the league having had a relatively comfortable run of opponents. Are we actually as good as some are saying or a lucky bunch?

Look 4 games in 10 days v 2 weeks off preparing in the Spanish sun..dont underestimate that.

 

[Ramshock]

We'll find out when we face Chelsea next Monday. More than the result, the performance will tell us where we stand.

A much better performanxe needed

 

[Ramshock]

The shift of opinions on here after one game of football is madness. A leggy performance the weekend after a Europa away game against a fresh, highly motivated quality team on a good run of form and suddenly we're on the verge of being found out.

Just two weeks earlier we were running rings around a Watford team that had just beaten Arsenal. Playing some of the best football I've seen since Fergie retired.

In between that game and today's one we've won all our FA Cup and Europa League games (2 out of 3 on the road)

And this is all during a period of intense fixture congestion at the end of a long run where we've been practically unbeaten over several months.

I mean, fecking hell, we should be delighted with where we are and hugely confident in the obvious winning mentality of our team under this new manager. It couldn't be clearer to me that we're a top side again and are going from strength to strength. I think we'll definitely lose some games in the coming weeks if we keep on winning our cup fixtures and playing against teams with less hectic schedules. That's invevitable. But we didn't yesterday, for which the manager and team deserve huge credit. Enjoy the win ffs. No need for all the nervous nellying.

Pogue settle down with the common sense feck sake

 

[TsuWave]

The shift of opinions on here after one game of football is madness. A leggy performance the weekend after a Europa away game against a fresh, highly motivated quality team on a good run of form and suddenly we're on the verge of being found out.

Just two weeks earlier we were running rings around a Watford team that had just beaten Arsenal. Playing some of the best football I've seen since Fergie retired.

In between that game and today's one we've won all our FA Cup and Europa League games (2 out of 3 on the road)

And this is all during a period of intense fixture congestion at the end of a long run where we've been practically unbeaten over several months.

I mean, fecking hell, we should be delighted with where we are and hugely confident in the obvious winning mentality of our team under this new manager. It couldn't be clearer to me that we're a top side again and are going from strength to strength. I think we'll definitely lose some games in the coming weeks if we keep on winning our cup fixtures and playing against teams with less hectic schedules. That's invevitable. But we didn't yesterday, for which the manager and team deserve huge credit. Enjoy the win ffs. No need for all the nervous nellying.

Exactly. Great post.

 

[Salus Populi Suprema Lex]

Still a work in progress, but Jose has brought back the strong mentality which has been lacking post Fergie. We will be better next season, no question, but we're still in the hunt for trophies and a top four finish, which is encouraging. We need another centre back and for Shaw to be ready to go at left back next season. I think whether we have Champions League football will define the extent of our progress.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Another reason to be optimistic is that we've a full week's rest before our next match, for the first time in ages. A lot of recharging of batteries going on right now and we'll be a much better team on Saturday.

 

[Gladiator]

nice post @Pogue Mahone some fans won't be settled until we are a "more complete team" in their eyes. we're a work in progress and apparently for some united fans, that's a bit too nervewracking lol

 

[RedChip]

My memory of 99 is just crawling over the line in all three competitions. We needed a Giggs maestro and a Keane leadership masterclass to keep going. Kind of like Zlattan yesterday.

Competing on multiple fronts is really tough. Anyone expecting champagne football will be disappointed. We probably won't play that well till the end of the season but, hopefully, we be gritty like yesterday and just about get the job done.

 

[Smores]

We scored 3 goals in a cup final and you're embarrassed? Cup finals are never easy they're not a normal fixture and the idea that we should have just walked over Southampton is absurd.

Some really stupid threads over the last 24hrs but we had them during Sir Alex's reign so thats no suprise.

 

[VeevaVee]

The shift of opinions on here after one game of football is madness. A leggy performance the weekend after a Europa away game against a fresh, highly motivated quality team on a good run of form and suddenly we're on the verge of being found out.

Just two weeks earlier we were running rings around a Watford team that had just beaten Arsenal. Playing some of the best football I've seen since Fergie retired.

In between that game and today's one we've won all our FA Cup and Europa League games (2 out of 3 on the road)

And this is all during a period of intense fixture congestion at the end of a long run where we've been practically unbeaten over several months.

I mean, fecking hell, we should be delighted with where we are and hugely confident in the obvious winning mentality of our team under this new manager. It couldn't be clearer to me that we're a top side again and are going from strength to strength. I think we'll definitely lose some games in the coming weeks if we keep on winning our cup fixtures and playing against teams with less hectic schedules. That's invevitable. But we didn't yesterday, for which the manager and team deserve huge credit. Enjoy the win ffs. No need for all the nervous nellying.

I think we're a 4th-6th place side when you look at overall performances and quality at the moment personally, but agree with the rest, and we're obviously not expecting Jose to just take it easy and carry on as is without trying to improve further.

Looking forward to watching how we see out the season, the summer, and next season, which is nice after the last few years.

 

[Globule]

Both. I think this season we're due for another rough patch in form. We're playing loads of games and, while people keep going on about the size of our squad, there is a definite drop-off in quality once you get past the first team. I think fatigue is going to catch up to us.

That said, I'm still confident that we're heading in the right direction and that, hopefully with a few additions to the squad, we'll be a lot closer to where we want to be next season.

 

[devilish]

But that's exactly what world class players do though. Are we bemoaning a team's big player doing what big players are supposed to do?

and Zlatan has been great but let's not act like he's been going in Messi type slalom runs to get us the wins every other game. Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Herrera to a maybe lesser extent have pivotal roles in many of them important goals/wins. Zlatan is our constant focus point in attack and naturally will grab more of them clutch moments, but like, he is the striker so...

Rashford is 19, Martial turned 21 in december, the fact that we are winning trophies with them in my opinion is more indication that we are more likely closer to a breakthrough than to be found out.

I can't recall a time when we were so dependent on one player. Sure we had Ronaldo. However Ronaldo was surrounded by some great talent such as Rio, Vidic, VDS, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney and Tevez. It was more about us building a team around him to exploit his full potential rather then being dependent on him. We were slightly dependent on Cantona but still, he was more like the final piece to a masterpiece. In matter of fact we won the treble few years after he left.

Ibra is literally dragging us to victory and he's 35. We keep mentioning how good Rashford and Martial are without acknowledging that they had regressed this year. Its early days of course, but I hope that they don't end up like Shaw, Smallingbeur, the Da Silva twins, the new Duncan Edwards etc whose mostly hype and very little substance.

What gives me hope is the fact that we've got a manager whose getting the right players at the club. We havent had that for many years.

 

[Decomposing In Paris]

I think we're a 4th-6th place side when you look at overall performances and quality at the moment personally, but agree with the rest, and we're obviously not expecting Jose to just take it easy and carry on as is without trying to improve further.

Looking forward to watching how we see out the season, the summer, and next season, which is nice after the last few years.

Why 4-6th? Why not 2nd-6th? Before Spurs won at the weekend there was only 4 points in that, and form-wise since October we've been the 2nd best team in the league, and gone pretty much unbeaten. It took us time to settle, we lost 3 of our first 6 competitive games. Would you say we've been lucky this season if we finished 3rd, with a trophy?

 

[Dec9003]

I think since Mourinho has come in we've been taking more steps forward every month, getting better and better and it's becoming more obvious what he wants from the team.
When a new manager comes in its essential he gets time, you have to give a lot of slack to Mourinho, Guardiola, Conte(not that he needs it obviously) etc.
How long it takes us to get back to challenging for the league title depends on how quickly our young players go from being promising players to the players we think/hope they can be.
It's been said above but the three behind need to pick up the burden next season, I can understand why we're supposedly looking at Griezmann to go in there and score plenty of goals.
All in all to actually answer the question of the thread I think neither, we are where we are, and where we end up will depend on how the players develop/who we can bring in. Im confident Mourinho will get it right though.
Ps the defence needs work.

 

[VeevaVee]

Why 4-6th? Why not 2nd-6th? Before Spurs won at the weekend there was only 4 points in that, and form-wise since October we've been the 2nd best team in the league, and gone pretty much unbeaten. It took us time to settle, we lost 3 of our first 6 competitive games. Would you say we've been lucky this season if we finished 3rd, with a trophy?

No not really. I was just saying 4th-6th as a barometer for the standard of our play/quality in the team, but with it being so close this season anything could happen.

It is a work in progress, of course, but doesn't mean we can't/shouldn't look at how we are in the moment either.

 

[Adisa]

This thread is depressing.
That was our fourth game in 12 days ffs!
If anything I'm happy the team showed a lot of resolve to hang in there and get the winner.
We faced a good team that hadn't played in two weeks,knocked out good teams and played the game of their lives.
Wtf is wrong with you people?

 

[TsuWave]

I can't recall a time when we were so dependent on one player. Sure we had Ronaldo. However Ronaldo was surrounded by some great talent such as Rio, Vidic, VDS, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney and Tevez. It was more about us building a team around him to exploit his full potential rather then being dependent on him. We were slightly dependent on Cantona but still, he was more like the final piece to a masterpiece. In matter of fact we won the treble few years after he left.

Ibra is literally dragging us to victory and he's 35. We keep mentioning how good Rashford and Martial are without acknowledging that they had regressed this year. Its early days of course, but I hope that they don't end up like Shaw, Smallingbeur, the Da Silva twins, the new Duncan Edwards etc whose mostly hype and very little substance.

What gives me hope is the fact that we've got a manager whose getting the right players at the club. We havent had that for many years.

Like I said, Zlatan has been great but let's not act like he's been going in Messi type slalom runs to get us the wins every other game. Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Herrera to a maybe lesser extent have pivotal roles in many of them important goals/wins. Zlatan is our constant focus point in attack and naturally will grab more of them clutch moments, but like, he is the striker so..

Him being 35 or not, is a non factor in the context of him being a world class player and this is what world class players are employed to do.

The view of us being "so dependent" on one player is skewed by the fact that our star player just happens to be our striker and a constant on the team. Pogba has created a gross amount of chances this season that our forward players, mostly Ibra, have not put away. Its easy to lose sight of that when Ibra pops up at the end of a ball pinged to perfection to his head by Herrera on the 86th minute of a cup final. Many of our clutch wins have been the byproduct of great pieces of play by other players/the team and Ibra coming up with the required finishing like he is supposed/expected to.

We have a good team in players like De Gea, Pogba, Mkhi, Herrera, Valencia (he's had a good season). Bailly has been one of the best CB's in the league and best buys this summer, two average performances shouldn't change that.

Rashford hardly played enough last year for a sentiment of "regression" to have substantial basis. He's playing more this year (so he'll have more poor performances over a longer window) and in a different position too, despite that he has still contributed and looks an exciting prospect. Martial is victim of his heroics last season, he is routinely involved in our goals, his stats are good, yet we talk as if maybe we have a dud on our hands. We are winning trophies with these two lads in the team and somehow the fact that a 19 and a 21 year old do not have the consistency of seasoned vets is somehow supposed to be a red light?

again, we have lost 1 in the last 26 games. scored 18 in our last 8 games. conceded three times in our last 11 hours of football. In a season in which we are amassing an incredible amount of games. Don't matter how hard people try to paint this as the "Ibrahimovic show" or "riding luck", it just doesn't compute, not to me at least.

We are not the finished article, but we are a good football team.

 

[Zlatattack]

During the Fergie years we won against teams that were often better than us on paper. We have had periods were our players in key positions were not the best in the world, not even the best in the league. We had rubbish keepers between Schmeichel and Van Der Sar. We had defences featuring Evans, Silvestre, Hienze. We've had smalling and Jones at RB, we've had Cleverly, Kleberson, Anderson, Smith in midfield, we've had Bellion, Fortune, Cruyff out wide.

These teams kept on winning. Part of it was there were enough top players around them to make up for it, but also there was an aura of invincibility. You didn't expect to get 3 points from Manchester United, you'd be lucky to get 1. That aura didn't come from the names on the teamsheet, it came from consistent performances on the pitch. Until we get consistent performances for a season or two, where we win regardless of how we perform, we'll always be at the cusp of "breaking through" or "being found out".

 

[NinjaFletch]

I'm not convinced we're a great team, but we are a team that has rediscovered how to win ugly, we can win without playing well, and is very (Moyesism ahead) hard to beat.

Ultimately, I think thats probably more important.

 

[Zoo]

Strange thread.

 

[POF]

The ability to win that game when the whole team looked shattered was a really good sign.

But it was a bad sign how shattered the team looked with such a congested fixture list to come.

 

[Zlatattack]

The ability to win that game when the whole team looked shattered was a really good sign.

But it was a bad sign how shattered the team looked with such a congested fixture list to come.

I'm hoping to see a bit more rotation too.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

It doesn't have to be one or the other. We've improved in our cohesiveness in general but we're still some way away from where we need to be and where you'd expect us to be after spending a gazillion pounds under Jose (and the managers before go). Steady improvement yes, but whether that means we're ready to explode and be top dogs soon, we don't know. We could just meander along the top 4 for awhile. Same with the negative. We're not on a big enough high or wave to be found out.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Strange thread.

I think people have every right to question just how well we are doing. After a win like yesterday's it is natural to want to take stock of where we are at and this thread in a roundabout way is attempting to do that.

Where I agree with you is that the thread is attempting to answer a question that no-one has really asked. The dichotomy of 'ready to break through' or 'about to be found out' is too prescriptive: we are going well at the moment, have won some silverware and are in the hunt for more but we have far too many question marks over our squad to think we are close to genuine domination over the very best teams.

As has been said in this thread our best/most productive player has maybe two years left at the top of his game, the five behind him are in a state of flux in which we still don't know the best combination (with many thinking we will need additions in the summer) and our defence doesn't have four nailed-on starters (in truth we could do with two quality additions here, though we have some nice potential). This is not a team looking set to sweep all before it, but nevertheless if we are to lose a couple of games and end the season in relative disappointment we won't have been 'found out', we'll have proven ourselves as very much a work in progress, which most observers already know to be the case.

 

[POF]

I'm hoping to see a bit more rotation too.

It was worrying today how little fluency there was in attack without Mkhitaryan. If losing one attacking player takes away that much attacking threat it makes it harder to rotate.

Adding to that a lack of numbers in midfield and a tough FA cup draw it's going to be hard to keep the team fresh and compete on all fronts.

 

[devilish]

Like I said, Zlatan has been great but let's not act like he's been going in Messi type slalom runs to get us the wins every other game. Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Herrera to a maybe lesser extent have pivotal roles in many of them important goals/wins. Zlatan is our constant focus point in attack and naturally will grab more of them clutch moments, but like, he is the striker so..

Him being 35 or not, is a non factor in the context of him being a world class player and this is what world class players are employed to do.

The view of us being "so dependent" on one player is skewed by the fact that our star player just happens to be our striker and a constant on the team. Pogba has created a gross amount of chances this season that our forward players, mostly Ibra, have not put away. Its easy to lose sight of that when Ibra pops up at the end of a ball pinged to perfection to his head by Herrera on the 86th minute of a cup final. Many of our clutch wins have been the byproduct of great pieces of play by other players/the team and Ibra coming up with the required finishing like he is supposed/expected to.

We have a good team in players like De Gea, Pogba, Mkhi, Herrera, Valencia (he's had a good season). Bailly has been one of the best CB's in the league and best buys this summer, two average performances shouldn't change that.

Rashford hardly played enough last year for a sentiment of "regression" to have substantial basis. He's playing more this year (so he'll have more poor performances over a longer window) and in a different position too, despite that he has still contributed and looks an exciting prospect. Martial is victim of his heroics last season, he is routinely involved in our goals, his stats are good, yet we talk as if maybe we have a dud on our hands. We are winning trophies with these two lads in the team and somehow the fact that a 19 and a 21 year old do not have the consistency of seasoned vets is somehow supposed to be a red light?

again, we have lost 1 in the last 26 games. scored 18 in our last 8 games. conceded three times in our last 11 hours of football. In a season in which we are amassing an incredible amount of games. Don't matter how hard people try to paint this as the "Ibrahimovic show" or "riding luck", it just doesn't compute, not to me at least.

We are not the finished article, but we are a good football team.

You unintentionally highlighted my main concern. We speak about United as if we’re still a big club. Unfortunately while we have the money and the name to be one, we certainly don’t have the team. We’re closer to Spurs (whom I believe they have a better squad then us) then Barcelona and unless we acknowledge that, then we’re heading for more misery.

Ibra was never as good as Messi. However I dare to say that he’s more important for us then Messi is for Barcelona. If Messi picks an injury then the likes of Neymar and Suarez will take over. If Ibra picks an injury then we’ll end up a mess. Rashford had regressed and Rooney is a former player in all but name. The fact that we're dependent on a 35 year old for quality and goals is a matter of concern too. We're 6th despite having Ibra. Imagine were we'll end without him

We do have some decent talent but its too few and far between. As SAF once said, the EPL table doesn't lie. We're a 5th-7th EPL side.

 

[Decomposing In Paris]

You unintentionally highlighted my main concern. We speak about United as if we’re still a big club. Unfortunately while we have the money and the name to be one, we certainly don’t have the team. We’re closer to Spurs (whom I believe they have a better squad then us) then Barcelona and unless we acknowledge that, then we’re heading for more misery.

Ibra was never as good as Messi. However I dare to say that he’s more important for us then Messi is for Barcelona. If Messi picks an injury then the likes of Neymar and Suarez will take over. If Ibra picks an injury then we’ll end up a mess. Rashford had regressed and Rooney is a former player in all but name. The fact that we're dependent on a 35 year old for quality and goals is a matter of concern too. We're 6th despite having Ibra. Imagine were we'll end without him

We do have some decent talent but its too few and far between. As SAF once said, the EPL table doesn't lie. We're a 5th-7th EPL side.

7th? We're closer to 2nd than 7th. We've finished 7th once in my living memory. Why is there the recent need to label us as "worse than Spurs" (just a couple of points ahead, out of CL, out of EL, out of EFL Cup)? Nobody is saying we have a team to beat the best in Europe... yet. They have hope though.

 

[devilish]

7th? We're closer to 2nd than 7th. We've finished 7th once in my living memory. Why is there the recent need to label us as "worse than Spurs" (just a couple of points ahead, out of CL, out of EL, out of EFL Cup)? Nobody is saying we have a team to beat the best in Europe... yet. They have hope though.

I think we’re 4th to 6th place. We’ll be 3rd if luck gives us a hand (Ibra keep scoring goals, Jones remains fit etc). We’re 7th if luck slaps us instead (Ibra picks an injury etc). I strongly believe that Chelsea, Arsenal, Shitty and Spurs have a better squad to ours.

Mentioning the past is pretty pointless. We can only judge the present squad.

 

[Santoryo]

Im sorry this makes no sense. Ignoring the fact we've always "failed the test' at Stamford Bridge, to say we haven't had a test since mid October is ludicrous.
Do we have to struggle to be tested? Surely navigating through the landmine that is English football for 5 months and only being tested v the very best is a huge achievement?
I would understand this thread if we were shakey, if yesterday was the norm, but it wasn't.
If anything we should have more points and wins than we have. That's how good our performances have been.

That's one point that really annoys me with people on these boards. These talks about not being tested since October is some of the most nonsensical bollocks which get thrown around.

You can't just go through 4 months of football and claim said team is yet to play a competent team to test them, that's rubbish talk.

Other teams get glorified by these same people for putting in good run of form against lower teams or whoever challenged presented but we get told that we're yet to be tested when we down these very same teams.

It's downright annoying to keep hearing it.

Meanwhile we've played Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool in our run but none care and queue the excuses why these supposedly superior teams didn't turn us over.

 

[Suedesi]

I can't decide, I mean we are on a decent run but any time there has been expectation we have fluffed our lines. We were humiliated by Chelsea, didn't turn up against City or Liverpool at home in the league and put in a terrible performance yesterday which we should be embarrassed by - a club of our stature shouldn't be bossed in a cup final by a team of Southampton's stature. Plus we remain sixth in the league having had a relatively comfortable run of opponents. Are we actually as good as some are saying or a lucky bunch?

We had the better chances against Liverpool - they were gifted a penalty and could control the match, yet we came back. We could/should have done the same against City.

Southampton are no lightweights. Young, hungry team that had 15 days of rest to prepare for one game. Of course they appeared fresher.

 

[whatwha]

Until Rooney is replaced by a new world class attacker, we are a Zlatan injury away from a ton of disappointment and impotent performances.

 

[RedMaestro]

Like I said, Zlatan has been great but let's not act like he's been going in Messi type slalom runs to get us the wins every other game. Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Herrera to a maybe lesser extent have pivotal roles in many of them important goals/wins. Zlatan is our constant focus point in attack and naturally will grab more of them clutch moments, but like, he is the striker so..

I'm sorry but why does a player have "to have slalom runs" to be considered the best or among the best in the world? Is Messi style the only style a player should have and if they don't, isn't the player world class? Why not change it the opposite way - I would like to see Messi do what Ibra does. But he can't since he's not built for it, just as Ibra isn't built to do "slalom runs".

This is why I don't like "player rankings", since the players seem to only be considered if they dribble a lot and run like a sprinter and win WC or CL. There are other aspects to this sport too.

Oh, I'm not implying you're thinking this way, I just wanted write about this since seeing you mentioned this...

 

[Son Of Sam]

I can't decide, I mean we are on a decent run but any time there has been expectation we have fluffed our lines. We were humiliated by Chelsea, didn't turn up against City or Liverpool at home in the league and put in a terrible performance yesterday which we should be embarrassed by - a club of our stature shouldn't be bossed in a cup final by a team of Southampton's stature. Plus we remain sixth in the league having had a relatively comfortable run of opponents. Are we actually as good as some are saying or a lucky bunch?

United players were tired. Southampton hadn't conceded a goal in the EFL competition and we scored 3 good goals against them while not playing well. It's a testament to the resilience Jose has instilled in the squad.

I wouldn't worry much about how we got bossed. The number of games we have bossed this season without winning should put us on the same point with Chelsea. Southampton had 15 days to prepare for the final, it shouldn't be surprising they were fresher and more energetic than us.

 

[RedMaestro]

Until Rooney is replaced by a new world class attacker, we are a Zlatan injury away from a ton of disappointment and impotent performances.

Not necessarily. At least not next season, if Martial and Rashford continue to develop.

 

[WhoDaGOAT]

We're a functional team; efficient. We're not the best side to watch but we get results.

I think our counter attacking play is woeful, and it's what separates us from the majority of other big teams across Europe.

I'm not convinced by our midfield either. It's still an area that needs investment. A dictator is needed.