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- Oct 13, 2020
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I'll place my hopes on Cavani bagging 25 in the PL for us instead, less likely to be let down there.If Rashford and Martial kick on and our backline continue to improve sure.
I'll place my hopes on Cavani bagging 25 in the PL for us instead, less likely to be let down there.If Rashford and Martial kick on and our backline continue to improve sure.
My eyes and the xg say different.I read an article on The Athletic a couple of weeks ago and our overall xGA for this season was the worst for all managers and seasons since Fergie
Looking just at our last game against WBA (a crap team) they had about 3 big chances. Completely lucky to win that one.
Yeah we can definitely challenge. If we're still in the race come April then anything can happen, especially this season.OP said league challenge not whether we can win it. Answer is a Yes for me. We cant win but can be darkhorse contenders till around February/ March when the winners traditionally start to pull from the pack. Darkhorse conenders aren't expected to win but have a lottery chance to do so and can push the other contenders
The last couple years have done a number on us trying to keep expectations at the lowest even when hope is at its highest. Darkhorse contention is a modest realistic goal for progress
Again, we just have to fix the first half form. 2nd half, we are always going to finish very strong.If we win the next game, we'll be two points short of the current 1st and 2nd. As far as the table goes, a league challenge is absolutely possible. However, given how this team forgets how to play football every other week, it seems highly unlikely that we'll remain within reach of the top. 3rd or 4th place is the only realistic expectation.
xG is the most pointless stat in existence. It doesn't take many factors into consideration.My eyes and the xg say different.
United: 2.4 WBA: 0.44 according to understat.
Agreed, I dont think people have quite understood the significance yet. They will in a months time, the scheduling is idiotic.No. If you win your game in hand you'll be 2 points from the top. Heck, we've lost 4 of our last 5 and we are still only 5 points from top. The fixture congestion is going to mean that whichever team can ride it the best is going to win the league this year, whether you play well or not.
But the point is that we have improved defensively ever since we lost 6-1 to Spurs and we did it consistently. Why am I not allowed to make this point? Why can you not accept it?You can't just handpick statistics like that . That 6-1 game could statistically due to randomness also just have happened spread out over the cause of the next 9 games. Instead you choose that "this very bad spike cant occur" in your stats. That's not how to do statistics or understand randomness / xG spikes.
Its a narrative everyone loves. A poor summer coupled with a shite start to the season makes for easy articles and headlines.One thing I know for certain is that we are unbelievably underrated in terms of our squad now. I mean you actually have people on this forum saying Spurs have a team close to ours when Only Kane and Son would get anywhere near. It's also amazing that pundits have yet again written us off even when the season has barely started despite the fact we finished third last season and have improved our squad with the right signings. It will never cease to amaze me how short term some people view things.
On the contrary, I think we have the 2nd best pts tally right now since Feb even when you count our 2 defeats this season and when you don't count our win against Southampton.I don’t understand the idea of this thread when the answer is all too obvious. It may be too premature to make such comments after only 9 matches, but United, absolutely, absolutely don’t look like Premier League champions “material” . We are too reliant on moments of individual magic from Cavani/Bruno - Champion teams don’t function like that. Merely subtracting our points-total from the likes of Liverpool’s gives no proper insight into the season.
I’d happily take fourth at the moment and I hope we break into the top-two next season with a couple of sensible summer recruits.
The thread can be closed
Edit: On second thought, the thread can be kept open simply for the dose of optimism that is sorely lacking here.
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You have to look at the season in perspective - Just because 6-1 happens in one of the first parts of the season, it could have happened later too. The 6-1 defeat to Spurs could also have been a 4-1 defeat to City next week (keeping in mind that we were a bit out of form when we met Spurs, hence saying 4-1 here instead of 6-1)But the point is that we have improved defensively ever since we lost 6-1 to Spurs and we did it consistently. Why am I not allowed to make this point? Why can you not accept it?
Because it's putting Ole in a good light, and God forbid! We are actually improving every day. As long as rotation is done well, we should be winning lots of games this season.But the point is that we have improved defensively ever since we lost 6-1 to Spurs and we did it consistently. Why am I not allowed to make this point? Why can you not accept it?
It's interesting, but it's also interesting that the stat starts at February. That's like and oddly strange 9-10 month periodOn the contrary, I think we have the 2nd best pts tally right now since Feb even when you count our 2 defeats this season and when you don't count our win against Southampton.
So we are building up a run right now. We need to keep doing it and it should be a good challenge.
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Cavani and others help us basically reach new heights in term of pts tally on top of that consistency we already have secured.
Isn't the pt that in the last 23-24 games, we are basically the 2nd best team in the league, and have sustained that for now?It's interesting, but it's also interesting that the stat starts at February. That's like and oddly strange 9-10 month period
Taking it a month further back, it would include
Lost 0-2 to Burnley at home
Lost 2-0 to Liverpool away
Won 4-0 over Norwich at home
Lost 2-0 to Arsenal away
Rank | Club | Games | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pts per Game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Liverpool | 69 | 54 | 10 | 5 | 159 | 65 | 94 | 172 | 2.49 |
2 | Manchester City | 68 | 48 | 6 | 14 | 164 | 59 | 105 | 150 | 2.20 |
3 | Manchester United | 68 | 35 | 17 | 16 | 118 | 77 | 41 | 122 | 1.79 |
4 | Chelsea | 69 | 35 | 15 | 19 | 119 | 89 | 30 | 120 | 1.74 |
5 | Spurs | 69 | 32 | 16 | 21 | 118 | 79 | 39 | 112 | 1.62 |
6 | Leicester | 68 | 33 | 11 | 24 | 115 | 80 | 35 | 110 | 1.62 |
7 | Wolves | 69 | 29 | 21 | 19 | 90 | 78 | 12 | 108 | 1.57 |
8 | Arsenal | 69 | 29 | 18 | 22 | 102 | 88 | 14 | 105 | 1.52 |
You have to look in perspective that we lack match fitness which the reason of our poor start & shit performance and we know this is not some kind of point I just came out to suit my argument because we actually have seen thread talking about our match fitness issue months ago before and we weren't the only teams that suffered from it because PSG, City & Inter also had poor start.You have to look at the season in perspective - Just because 6-1 happens in one of the first parts of the season, it could have happened later too. The 6-1 defeat to Spurs could also have been a 4-1 defeat to City next week (keeping in mind that we were a bit out of form when we met Spurs, hence saying 4-1 here instead of 6-1)
You just can't write scripts like this.We definitely have a chance. Woodward has played a master-stroke by being shit at selling the deadwood. His incompetence could mean our first PL trophy in years.
The other poster specifically referenced xg against, which was cumulatively awful after the Spurs game. He cited the WBA game as a further example and that stated we were lucky against them.xG is the most pointless stat in existence. It doesn't take many factors into consideration.
A shot from 25 yards out for one player is not a good chance compared to a player who specialises in long range shots.
We have given up too many chances to the opposition in recent games. We need to tighten up on that. Had Armstrong shown a bit more composure at 2-0, he would have controlled De Gea's parry and tucked it home for 3-0. That's football for you.
Had the referee awarded WBA a penalty, we probably don't go up the other end and get one ourselves. We should have beaten WBA about 4-2. But they could have left with a point had things gone their way instead. Martial and Rashford missed 2 big chances.
Even against Istanbul, they missed some decent chances and didn't get much luck either (Ba free header, Višća cracking the post). 4-1 was slightly harsh.
We're good enough in attack to outscore most opposition, but shouldn't make a habit of giving up as many chances as we have been.
We're winning the league btw. Ole's juju remains undefeated.
Since Bruno Joined us, we're just 1 point behind Pool and have played a game less and 3 points ahead of City. Not too bad I'd say considering how toxic the forum has been over the past year or soOn the contrary, I think we have the 2nd best pts tally right now since Feb even when you count our 2 defeats this season and when you don't count our win against Southampton.
So we are building up a run right now. We need to keep doing it and it should be a good challenge.
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Cavani and others help us basically reach new heights in term of pts tally on top of that consistency we already have secured.
Some people are lucky in life, some aren't. Take you, for example, a peasant like myself who posts on a football forum.The other poster specifically referenced xg against, which was cumulatively awful after the Spurs game. He cited the WBA game as a further example and that stated we were lucky against them.
Against WBA dominated possession, passes, shots taken, shots on target, xg and practically every stat you can think of, hence why I also referenced my eyes. As you say, if anything we were unlucky not to win by more.
You seem to be agreeing and disagreeing at the same time due to what I would consider an irrational problem with xg but I'm not going to get into the merits of it, other then to say it's very useful but not the be all and end all and not perfect by any means. There's a whole thread about that.
We actually aren't giving up many chances at the moment and haven't done in the league since Spurs. We have one of the meanest defences since then in terms of goals conceded and are giving up the least amount of chances according to xgA.
Ole lucky again? Ok, it's funny how he keeps being so lucky.
Yeah, we'll probably get something like two points from the next five games now.I really hate this kind of thread. The Caf never learn.
Ole is free to take up his phone and call Sir Alex for support, I think.This is the campaign that Sir Alex won by default numerous times regardless of the quality he had at disposal. When rival clubs had reached their zenith or were struggling with injuries, he would know how to do just enough to win edge the title. Unfortunately Solskjaer isn’t Sir Alex.