FA Cup Final: United v City

[DickDastardly]

Arsenal pip them to the title by a point.

Real sink them out of europe by a goal.

We beat them in the final with a 93' minute Haaland hand ball penalty.

 

[DJ_21]

UCL Final is the following week on the 10th.

Hopefully they prioritise that then.

 

[2Injurytimegoal]

Seems everyone forgot Cas have a ridiculous win rate in Finals.

Guess Fred will be used for man-marking KDB, they may be better on paper, but to win a Final always down to performance, I also would say no chance if it was last year, but not now anymore!

 

[Bosws87]

Think we win, lack of competitions left in, should have top 4 sewn up with a couple of games left, time to get injured players back.

City could still be fighting in all remaining competitions and have to treat every single game as a cup final, fatigue, a few knocks and the possibility of a champs league final looming straight after.

Motivation for the players is simple to.

 

[Giggsy13]

It’s up to United, Arsenal and Madrid to save football.

 

[AltiUn]

Chance of a domestic double for United, would cap off a pretty solid first season at the club for Erik ten Hag.

 

[AltiUn]

It’s up to United, Arsenal and Madrid to save football.

If the football gods exist then all 3 do their part and City win 0 trophies after Haaland scores 70 goals. Would be hilarious.

 

[Red Star One]

I don't share the defeatism even if we play quite badly lately and City will obviously be huge favourites - in cup finals everything can happen, we are fecking Man United and playing our big rivals, it will surely be a huge and exciting game. If we lose it's ok because City are very convenient villains - playing dirty, hardly respected by anyone and their success means little even to their fans. If we win it will be a fantastic result, domestic double + top 4 + okayish EL run would be an 8/10 first season for ETH.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

It's a final - anything can happen.
Also, long way to go until then too. Plenty of football left to play. We may find better form, they may find worse form. Plenty of time for injuries for key players from both teams.

 

[Mickeza]

Why are people not including Martinez in lineups, could he not feasibly be back by June 2nd?

I think it’s very unlikely. He had surgery and the timeline associated with that was 8 weeks - and that’s just to heal let alone get full fitness.

 

[DJ_21]

The motivation for our players should be to stop them being the only 2nd team after us to win the treble. that should be used as motivation and see who really cares about playing for our badge and us fans.

 

[MancunianAngels]

F**k it. Bring them on.

This is what it's all about. I also think we're due a win against them in a do or die type game. Going back to that semi final in 2011, we've struggled against them when the pressure is on

 

[pauldyson1uk]

what time does the Final kick off, I am reading 5.30pm then reading the Met Police are refusing it at 5.30pm. My football app is saying 3pm.
OK its the Mail
Manchester derby FA Cup final in kick-off row as police demand earlier start | Daily Mail Online

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Seen a few fans of random clubs say that they hope city win, quite desperately

Fair enough. And I prefer that. But why? United are hardly serial winners any more.

I understand that when city win something, it's basically just vacant for a year. So maybe it's that

 

[Maticmaker]

The motivation for our players should be to stop them being the only 2nd team after us to win the treble. that should be used as motivation and see who really cares about playing for our badge and us fans.

I'd rather the motivation for our players was on a positive note i.e. to win the FA Cup as our second piece of silverware in a transitional season.

Sure, stopping City winning the treble might be a bonus... but what if Arsenal beat them this week and keep it up till the end of the season and Real Madrid knock them out of the CL? City's only target is then the FA Cup!

I still think in their heart of hearts City would rather be playing anybody but us at Wembley, its still a Derby, its the first ever Manchester final and the pressure is all on them, whether its to win a third trophy....or win only one!

 

[Raw]

F**k it. Bring them on.

This is what it's all about. I also think we're due a win against them in a do or die type game. Going back to that semi final in 2011, we've struggled against them when the pressure is on

Every time we faced them in the cups in recent times (last 15 years or so):
League Cup, we knocked them out twice (2010, 2016) and they knocked us out twice (2020, 2021)
FA Cup we knocked them out once (2012) and they knocked us out once (2011)

Surprisingly even, we haven't met them that many times though.

 

[Pexbo]

De Gea
Dalot - Varane - Lindelof - Shaw
Bruno - Casemiro - Fred
Antony - - - - - - - - Rashford
Martial​

Honestly not a start 11 that far from City's. What I fear the most is personal errors, as they'll exploit them instantly. De Bruyne and Silva need to be controlled, if we can do that, then we can shut the play to Haaland a bit and then we have a decent chance. I'd play Fred instead of Eriksen for that reason alone.

Martial is injured

 

[groovyalbert]

Seen a few fans of random clubs say that they hope city win, quite desperately

Fair enough. And I prefer that. But why? United are hardly serial winners any more.

I understand that when city win something, it's basically just vacant for a year. So maybe it's that

Hated, Adored.... but who the feck are Man City?

It's an interesting one though. My colleague is a Palace fan and he openly likes City/prefers them to the traditional big clubs. I think it's due to the lack of history and the underlying hope that the same sort of investment may one day befall them.

 

[groovyalbert]

Martial is injured

And Casemiro is suspended

 

[padzilla]

City might be distracted by playing in front of a full capacity stadium.

 

[bringbackbebe]

And Casemiro is suspended

So Maguire plays striker again?

 

[red.knight]

Anything can happen in one off game, but we will have to play a hell of a lot better than we have recently to win the FA Cup final. Well at least by FA Cup Final day, City will have had more matches in the preceding weeks, haven't said that much this season. Some big ones too for City, hopefully Arsenal can keep them fighting util the very end while United might get to rest players for the last couple of league games. Which might level things up, at least a little. Need Rashford, Casemiro and Eriksen to recover their form of earlier though. And Varane back. Maguire up against Haaland doesn't bear thinking about.

 

[RuudTom83]

If the football gods exist then all 3 do their part and City win 0 trophies after Haaland scores 70 goals. Would be hilarious.

Not that we give a shit about what happens in Germany, but it would be comical if Dortmund won the league for the first time in years without Haaland's goals.

 

[RedorDead21]

If we have all the players that played today fit and available again and we play with energy and aggression, why the feck can't we beat them?! We've already beaten them once this season anyway.

Like Eriksen a lot but hope Fred plays in the final.

Because it’s generally accepted we can’t pass a ball twice without losing possession? Their ability to impress in this regard and to win matches is night and day to ours and within 10 mins of most games every comment is why are we so bad at it…..

 

[BorisManUtd]

Will be extremely difficult to beat City in this final and it would've been the same for Brighton, if not even harder. But 40 days to go until this one so we have PL to worry about now anyways.

 

[Irwin99]

Because it’s generally accepted we can’t pass a ball twice without losing possession? Their ability to impress in this regard and to win matches is night and day to ours and within 10 mins of most games every comment is why are we so bad at it…..

As stated in another post, we're not likely, under any circumstances, to boss possession against City and we'll look to play the same way we have under EtH, Ole and Jose's victories over City which is to cede possession, and hit with ruthless counter attacks and then defend for our lives. Say what you want about Ole but his counter-attacking style provided excellent results against City and we'll likely do something similar again.

If we're fit and we have energy and we have most of our players back i don't see why we can't win. The likes of Bruno, Casemiro, Rashford and Shaw are vital though (Martial too has an excellent record against City)

These counters, if we get them right...

 

[MancunianAngels]

Every time we faced them in the cups in recent times (last 15 years or so):
League Cup, we knocked them out twice (2010, 2016) and they knocked us out twice (2020, 2021)
FA Cup we knocked them out once (2012) and they knocked us out once (2011)

Surprisingly even, we haven't met them that many times though.

The cup semi final in 2011 and title decider in 2012 were pivotal moments in them becoming more of a force. Who knows Ole's time as manager might have turned out differently if we'd beaten in the League Cup semi final in 2020 or 2021. Sure, we have beaten them in that period but when it really mattered, we've always lost.

 

[VP89]

I think its a game to play Sancho - Rashford - Antony as a trip. We'll need fully fit players across the entire XI, no more hobblers.

 

[Eurotrash]

If we show as much heart as we did in the final vs Newcastle, I think we have a chance.

 

[peridigm]

If Sancho can't be up for this he needs moved on.

 

[cpresc]

And Casemiro is suspended

Case is suspended for the final?!

 

[Red Star One]

Case is suspended for the final?!

He isn’t

 

[Gavinb33]

If this is anything like 2011 semi final it'll be a bit dicey outside the ground, running skirmishes all over the place

 

[Adamsk7]

We have a chance if Varane is back and Martial can get in some sort of form (both unlikely). Otherwise, don't see how we do it with them chasing a treble.

 

[Siorac]

He isn’t

But there's still enough time to pick up a red for something that other players might get a talking to.

 

[OleTheGreat]

Going to get absolutely slaughtered.

I feel the same way unfortunately!

 

[groovyalbert]

Case is suspended for the final?!

Expect him to be seeing out a 10 match ban for sneezing in the direction of an opposition player by the time the final comes around.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

City might be distracted by playing in front of a full capacity stadium.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Depends how we set up. If it's eriksen/case mid and we try to go at them we will get battered. If its old school counter then we have a chance

 

[RedDevil@84]

We are not ready for City yet. Besides we know how players like to shit the bed in a big game. Getting Newcastle in EFL was one thing, but City is completely different level.

But stranger things have happened in football, so lets goooooooooooo for it.