FA Cup Final: United v City

Flanders Devil

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That doesn't matter for them. They go 200% for literally every game no matter what.
Fair enough. There's probably no good time to play them. We just need to control what we can, and that's to make sure our performance is as best as it can be.
 

scottser

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We're not that good at being the underdog and we should get roundly beaten. BUT, I fully expect we give 100% and take no shit. Handing the cnuts the treble without a fight is unforgiveable imo.
 

MUFC OK

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I haven't said football is more than anything, what a frankly bizarre take. I've said they are cheats. Which they are. You don't happily pay two separate fines for cheating if you're not cheating. You don't refuse to fully comply with investigations from two separate governing bodies if you're not doing something at least a little be suspect. Literally nobody else gets charged with 115 separate breaches of FFP spanning a decade; smoke, fire etc. If you'd be happy to support that, what's stopping you?
Sorry maybe I’m mistaken, must have been someone else who said that. I agree that they are cheats but find it infuriating that they are being lauded in this way by the media.

Not sure I want us to sell our souls as a club in the same way but I certainly want to see us win a PL, a CL more than anything. I’ve feared since SAF retired that it could be 20,30 years. Don’t want that to become a reality and so begrudgingly I’d take Qatar as my preferred option. Don’t see how else we compete with them.
 

MUFC OK

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We're not that good at being the underdog and we should get roundly beaten. BUT, I fully expect we give 100% and take no shit. Handing the cnuts the treble without a fight is unforgiveable imo.
I disagree, think we are better as underdog. BUT we are terrible under pressure which is why I see us getting hammered here.
 

Theonas

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We're not that good at being the underdog and we should get roundly beaten. BUT, I fully expect we give 100% and take no shit. Handing the cnuts the treble without a fight is unforgiveable imo.
That's actually true when I think about it. We've never been good at that. I remember the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea being better than us at playing higher caliber European teams because they could play the underdog better than we did. We always seemed to play with an element of pride, at our costs sometimes. I am kinda torn as on the one hand, that's how true big clubs behave but on the other, it would really suck to get a bettering in the final.
 

kaiser00

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This Final will be another hammering i'm afraid. The mentality is still fragile, and City are coasting. Don't think this team without Martinez can dog this out. Only hope is to keep it 0-0, Dave to have a blinder and Garnacho getting the winner in the 92 min. It's the hope that kills me!
 

IrishRedDevil

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Was hoping that City would be celebrating the title closer to the FA Cup Final, but they will be on the beer tonight and can party for a full week, and still have a week to prepare before the Final.
 

FlawlessThaw

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Was hoping that City would be celebrating the title closer to the FA Cup Final, but they will be on the beer tonight and can party for a full week, and still have a week to prepare before the Final.
This part is massively frustrating for us. Arsenal really turning to shit has virtually helped City to two trophies.
 

BorisManUtd

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If we get at least a point against Chelsea then Fulham game becomes unimportant and we get more than a week to prepare for the final as well.

As good as Shaw is at LB you'd maybe expect him to go back to LCB position for this game like he did vs City back in January. Actually whole first 11 could be very similar if not the same as in that game. Though Lindelof has been really good lately so perhaps he won't be dropped.
 

17 Van der Gouw

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I’m not going to take some moral high ground about SAF building a team around academy products and shrewd signings with no sugar daddy.

but United’s treble is the greatest achievement in English football history and I would hate to see it matched by an oil funded mercenary dream team.

We really do have to win this one.

But please, anything but penalties, I couldn’t cope with that.
 

Offside

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United need to wrap up top 4 on Thursday then just give the players 5 days off, play reserves in the last game, recharge and come back and prepare for 5 days to give it 100% here. If we can match their energy we have a chance, like we did in the second half at OT in the league game. Recently however we’ve just looked so lethargic.
 

Oscar Bonavena

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Looking at how they demolished Real Madrid, it's hard to see a pathway to us winning. They're going to have 70% possession, probing for openings or else feeding it in directly to Haaland to try and physically bully Lindelof and Varane.

For us, it's going to be defend deep, defend well and try use the pace of Rashford and Antony (and Garnacho when he comes on) on the break. Sancho is not quick so he's not a counterattacking threat, and Martial has lost whatever pace he once had.

Madrid and Bayern got destroyed trying to play the ball out from the back, and they're better teams than us. So if we try that, expect a similar result.
 

colombianmancunian

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United need to wrap up top 4 on Thursday then just give the players 5 days off, play reserves in the last game, recharge and come back and prepare for 5 days to give it 100% here. If we can match their energy we have a chance, like we did in the second half at OT in the league game. Recently however we’ve just looked so lethargic.
Totally agree, with the injuries we have had, and with our form not being the best, we need to wrap up top 4 as soon as possible, rest the players and then go all out at the final.

We have already beaten them, and they still have to be freshfor UCL. We have a chance, let’s fight for it.
 

Charles89

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I trust that ETH is already working on a plan to stop city. It is probably his biggest test of the season considering what is on the line for both teams, hope he can pull something out of a hat for this.
 

PaulRich

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Maximum effort for the Chelsea game and then fully rotate for the Fulham game. That should give the final squad as much chance as they possibly have of being prepared.
 

tenpoless

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Since this'll be Weghorst's last game.... it's time to put a chip containing GPT model that was trained with all the top CFs' knowledge inside his brain. Let him be our football cyborg.
 

Gopher Brown

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I hate to be so negative, but if United win it’s because we have been incredibly fortunate and defended nonstop for 90 min. City can win if they play at half intensity.

I would play Weghorst and McTominay at 10 if fit and play it long every time because if we start passing out from the back we will be slaughtered. Clog up their passing and share the tactical fouls around to prevent them getting any rhythm - every player on our team will be booked.
 

RedCurry

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The only way we win this is if we show quality. Our spine is DDG, Varane, Casemiro, Bruno and Rashford. They’ll all have to be at the A game. It’s not nearly impossible as people are saying, but we have to earn the trophy.
 

gajender

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I hate to be so negative, but if United win it’s because we have been incredibly fortunate and defended nonstop for 90 min. City can win if they play at half intensity.

I would play Weghorst and McTominay at 10 if fit and play it long every time because if we start passing out from the back we will be slaughtered. Clog up their passing and share the tactical fouls around to prevent them getting any rhythm - every player on our team will be booked.
Last time we played we did just fine without being incredibly fortunate or defending non stop. .
I just hope Ten Hag has more confidence in himself and his team than some of the supporters otherwise it would just become self fulfilling prophecy .
 

mitchmouse

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Just have to hope that we are Treble-busters as we were in 1977. That final was far from great, in fact it was pretty much downright dull and two of the three goals should have been stopped by the keepers. But we won and b@ggered the Scousers' treble dream even though we didn't play even close to well on the day - and the winner was a bizarre goal
 

Blackbeard

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Would have to be classed as a great first season if top four is secured and two cups. You never know in a one off final.
 

cheekybackheel

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The state of this thread.

Man United fans giving up before a ball is even kicked...fans bowing their heads, assuming the inevitable...putting City on a pedestal of greatness we can't achieve...losing the mental battle with negative thoughts...it makes me sick!!

We FIGHT!!! WE'RE FECKING UNITED!!!! WE AINT DONE YET!!!!

Did Sheffield Wednesday give up last week being 4-0 down to Peterborough?? NO THEY DIDNT!!!

Did Nottingham Forest give up against Arsenal at the weekend fighting relegation?? NO THEY DIDNT!!!

We NEVER GIVE UP...we're William feckin Wallace...we're 16yr old lads storming the beaches of Normandy...we're Charlie Sheen on an all night bender!!!

We're UNITED!!!!!!!!! We get behind the lads and we.... FFFFFFIIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Adamsk7

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I mean it is possible - they have lost and drawn games this season. Hell, we’ve beaten them already.
The likelihood is they are gonna win the treble but I’m not gonna stop being positive about our chances until it’s impossible.
 

RuudTom83

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Lets hope winning the league early has a negative effect and they all come off the boil just in time for the Final.

C'mon United...Love it!
 

JJ12

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Massive pitch at Wembley suits them down to the ground. They can spread the field and pass us to death.

That said we can definitely win but it will have to be a defensive and counter attack masterclass.
 

cheekybackheel

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Massive pitch at Wembley suits them down to the ground. They can spread the field and pass us to death.

That said we can definitely win but it will have to be a defensive and counter attack masterclass.
I believe we have the advantage.

For us it's our last game of the season. We can throw everything at it, energy, tackles, aggression. We can go in hard and mix it up.

For their players it's not the last game. They will have the Champions League in their heads a week later. They'll be pulling out of tackles, not wanting to get injured. It will be in the back of every players mind that the CL final is a bigger game to lose.

So we go in hard against Haaland, we go in hard against Grealish, we put them in a fight they won't want to get involved with.
 

Josh 76

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I believe we have the advantage.

For us it's our last game of the season. We can throw everything at it, energy, tackles, aggression. We can go in hard and mix it up.

For their players it's not the last game. They will have the Champions League in their heads a week later. They'll be pulling out of tackles, not wanting to get injured. It will be in the back of every players mind that the CL final is a bigger game to lose.

So we go in hard against Haaland, we go in hard against Grealish, we put them in a fight they won't want to get involved with.
It’s a shame the CL final is 7 days later. In 99, it was 4 days!
 

cheekybackheel

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It’s a shame the CL final is 7 days later. In 99, it was 4 days!
Agree.
Also the teams we played in '99 were all top notch. Barca, Bayern etc were way better than the dross in this year's CL. It's been a walk for City in the CL this year. It wouldn't have been back in '99.
 

Pintu

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Looking at how they demolished Real Madrid, it's hard to see a pathway to us winning. They're going to have 70% possession, probing for openings or else feeding it in directly to Haaland to try and physically bully Lindelof and Varane.

For us, it's going to be defend deep, defend well and try use the pace of Rashford and Antony (and Garnacho when he comes on) on the break. Sancho is not quick so he's not a counterattacking threat, and Martial has lost whatever pace he once had.

Madrid and Bayern got destroyed trying to play the ball out from the back, and they're better teams than us. So if we try that, expect a similar result.
I think both produced something we rarely see against City. Bayern for most of the time. While Madrid only did it in the 2nd half of the first leg… What they missed (especially Bayern) was a forward line capable of scoring goals. Bayern missed too many of their chances... I have doubts about wether we can create as many chances as Bayern did, but I‘d give us better shot at scoring them if we have Rashy.
 

groovyalbert

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I know we're massive underdogs, but I'm buzzing for this.

I remember the last time we were in the FA Cup final (17/18), it honestly barely registered for me. The mood around the squad, the football, the inevitability. It was such a negative time for the club.

Now, going in with CL all but secured and a trophy already under the belt, this is honestly a bonus that would mark an incredible and expectation defying first season under ETH.

Who the feck would have thought we'd be in this position after Brentford away? Who would have thought we'd be here as we were following the news around the Arnautovic links? Madness.
 

Gabriel Djemba-Bebe

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I hate to be so negative, but if United win it’s because we have been incredibly fortunate and defended nonstop for 90 min. City can win if they play at half intensity.

I would play Weghorst and McTominay at 10 if fit and play it long every time because if we start passing out from the back we will be slaughtered. Clog up their passing and share the tactical fouls around to prevent them getting any rhythm - every player on our team will be booked.
Weghorst is awful in the air. That gameplan would go up smoke very quickly. Also, we tried Mctominay and Weghorst as the furthest men forward vs Newcastle and it produced one of our worst attacking performances under Ten Hag.
 

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At the bear minimum, we should go hard against their players. Throw caution to the wind.if we can't beat em, let's at least give em some bruised shins and rough tackles. Keane would have Feckin loved it..
 

always_hoping

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So Haaland should be suspended for this FA Cup final? Wayne Rooney was once suspended from a Manchester derby FA Cup tie for swearing at a Sky Sports camera, in similar scenes to Erling Haaland yesterday
 

Oscar Bonavena

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I think both produced something we rarely see against City. Bayern for most of the time. While Madrid only did it in the 2nd half of the first leg… What they missed (especially Bayern) was a forward line capable of scoring goals. Bayern missed too many of their chances... I have doubts about wether we can create as many chances as Bayern did, but I‘d give us better shot at scoring them if we have Rashy.
What they missed was a forward line capable of scoring goals?!

Mate, have you seen us this season??