[Ramshock]

It's okay. Some people are slow learners and it takes them some 2 seasons to realize what others do in half season.

Yes lets go with that assumption from a perfectly reasonable person.

 

[Patrick08]

I still think we can do better than lingard and Mata for our starting 11. They have their role as quality squad players but doubt as regulars. As for the game, it was one of the best 20 mins I saw us play. Second half was not on Jose but on players Still feel this squad lacks the hungerness , why not just try to for a kill and get some goals. Someone needs to tell pogba that rather than ball hogging and trying to show off, do something better with the ball.

All in all job done and we are going to be 2nd.

Yes , we need to do better than Lingard and Mata in the starting 11. Adding a real quality attacking playmaker like Nabil Fekir would be a great signing who can play multiple positions and roles at 10 at 8 and on the right wing.

Zlatan's space should be filled by a attacking playmaker as he will also reduce our over dependability for creativity on Pogba when he is injured or is out of form having a poor game.

 

[Klopp_De_Klown]

Excellent start, good first half very professional second half. They readjusted in the second half and smalling and Lindelof were caught short once or twice. Apart from that... Total walk in the park.

But on a day where he should have dominated, Pogba was actually quiet(comparatively). Especially when Herrera came on and freed him up. Clearly still suffering from some mental issues when it comes to doing his job at the worlds biggest club. He needs to sort that out and fast! We went on the attack today and he didn't shine like we all would have hoped he would. I will ad for the first 15-20 mins he did sit deep and hold as per the tactics. But in reality, Matic looked more of a threat and that's not the way it should be!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I enjoyed most of the first half. Second half was crap though. I’m bored of agonising over whether the players or the manager are to blame but I’m also getting bored of watching us play football. And that’s a shite state of affairs.

On holiday with extended family this weekend and it took a LOT of negotiation to get some me time to watch the game. Depressing how much of that time was spent feeling bored; watching us play cannon fodder at home. With a full strength team. Feck that for a game of soldiers. This is feeling more and more Van Gaal-esque.

 

[glazed]

I enjoyed most of the first half. Second half was crap though. I’m bored of agonising over whether the players or the manager are to blame but I’m also getting bored of watching us play football. And that’s a shite state of affairs....This is feeling more and more Van Gaal-esque.

Agree. Though hasn't plumbed the endless nil nil depths of despair just yet.

 

[Witchking]

Have we had a game against decent quality where we have played well for the full game and not just one half?

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Have we had a game against decent quality where we have played well for the full game and not just one half?

Don't think so. It seems to be either good first half or good second half and has been for a while. We moaned about this under LvG at times. So is it the manager wanting them to conserve themselves, them being scared of losing or do they just not have the stamina to maintain the energy levels for a whole game.

 

[King Kana]

I enjoyed most of the first half. Second half was crap though. I’m bored of agonising over whether the players or the manager are to blame but I’m also getting bored of watching us play football. And that’s a shite state of affairs.

On holiday with extended family this weekend and it took a LOT of negotiation to get some me time to watch the game. Depressing how much of that time was spent feeling bored; watching us play cannon fodder at home. With a full strength team. Feck that for a game of soldiers. This is feeling more and more Van Gaal-esque.

You should quit watching football. It’s not good for you. That or support City (of this season), Bayern or Barcelona so you can watch teams get steam rolled week in week out as anything lesser than that’s is dirge and unworthy of your preciousness.

Get a grip you lot are 2nd for a reason. You could be us all the way down the table. That’s me 3rd post so can't even reply you until tomorrow. Cheers.

 

[Lentwood]

I was happy with the performance today but when we went 2-0 I said to my mate “here’s an opportunity to thrash a team and appease a few fans/pundits” so it was disappointing that we eased off

I understand if we had midweek games to worry about but since we are out of the CL would have been nice to go for the throat!

 

[matherto]

Have we had a game against decent quality where we have played well for the full game and not just one half?

We haven't had one since Blackburn in 2010-11 (7-1) and not consistently since 2008 I'd argue.

 

[royboy16]

Missed the game,who got man of the match ?

 

[Lawman]

Yes , we need to do better than Lingard and Mata in the starting 11. Adding a real quality attacking playmaker like Nabil Fekir would be a great signing who can play multiple positions and roles at 10 at 8 and on the right wing.

Zlatan's space should be filled by a attacking playmaker as he will also reduce our over dependability for creativity on Pogba when he is injured or is out of form having a poor game.

Would love to see Mahrez on the right instead as I think he is perfect for us.

 

[Ramshock]

Don't think so. It seems to be either good first half or good second half and has been for a while. We moaned about this under LvG at times. So is it the manager wanting them to conserve themselves, them being scared of losing or do they just not have the stamina to maintain the energy levels for a whole game.

so all those 4-0's?

 

[Lawman]

I enjoyed most of the first half. Second half was crap though. I’m bored of agonising over whether the players or the manager are to blame but I’m also getting bored of watching us play football. And that’s a shite state of affairs.

On holiday with extended family this weekend and it took a LOT of negotiation to get some me time to watch the game. Depressing how much of that time was spent feeling bored; watching us play cannon fodder at home. With a full strength team. Feck that for a game of soldiers. This is feeling more and more Van Gaal-esque.

I know but we are picking up wins and not draws at home thank feck. Jose has got us hard to beat and determined but a dire watch. Next season I foresee a left back a midfielder and hopefully a right winger as bare minimum to this 11 and that would boost our attractiveness of our play imo. Keep the faith Pogue.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Thank feck for De Gea

Nah, he set up that danger himself. His shit clearance went straight to a Swansea player and they created two chances instantly.

 

[Lawman]

You should quit watching football. It’s not good for you. That or support City (of this season), Bayern or Barcelona so you can watch teams get steam rolled week in week out as anything lesser than that’s is dirge and unworthy of your preciousness.

Get a grip you lot are 2nd for a reason. You could be us all the way down the table. That’s me 3rd post so can't even reply you until tomorrow. Cheers.

You kind of picked the wrong poster buddy as Pogue is one of the most level headed on here.

 

[7even]

Great first 45 minutes. Creativity and movements. Aggressive defending and excellent back tracking. All in all one of our better performance this season.

For me it’s a couple of reasons that makes the difference.

Lingard and Mata was constantly roaming around and gave the ball holder more passing options. For me that’s the key to unlock tight defensive blocks.

Aggressive of the ball movement when we lost possession.

Very happy with the result. Continue like this.

 

[Snow]

I didn't see the game. How was Tammy Abraham? I heard De Gea made a great save from him but other than that?

Swansea's first shot came after 59 minutes. Abraham did well to get of a shot like he did there and De Gea saved well. His 2nd shot was even better and thus an even better save. He got a 3rd opportunity in the box but was clumsy. Probably didn't notice the space he was in and he fluffed a cross instead of controlling the ball and take the shot from a good position under little pressure.

The manager is going to be pleased with his performance and he might start next game off the back of it. I think he should, the tactics don't suit Dyer as well as it does Tammy.

 

[Oldyella]

Shame we didnt push on at 2-0, but that is kind of a Mourinho thing in recent years, it's why he doesnt seem to rotate as players dont push once a game is won.

Think new Full backs in the summer will make a massive difference.

 

[TMDaines]

Thought we were really good first thirty minutes when we were 100% on it, but it showed that when we drop off a little, we are no where near the same side. Great sides can still dominate whilst coasting, but we are not there yet. We didn’t give Swansea any great chances, but they made a fair amount from the limited opportunites they got.

It too seemed Mata was more central at the start with Jesse on the right, both in midfield in a 4-3-3 when off the ball and in a 4-2-3-1 with the ball. I much prefer that. Mata is a great 10, and ineffectual wide, with neat passing and smart movement. Jesse has the intelligence to move about and pop up wide and then more central. There was a real dynamism and vigor about the team early on and we lost that when Mata stuck more to the right.

Sanchez had his best game since joining with a goal and an assist complemented by real appetite to win the ball back. Pogba had a good game and could well have come away with a couple of assists. Jesse was very influential too.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Very good 1st half.

Completely flat 2nd half.

Should have scored more nonetheless.

 

[NikSab]

Previous 7 title winners of the last decade :

2010-11 champions : 80 points.
2011-12 champions : 89 points.
2012-13 champions : 89 points.
2013-14 champions : 84 points.
2014-15 champions : 87 points.
2015-16 champions : 81 points.
2016-17 champions : 93 points.

Average : 86 points.

Not trying to say we deserve to win the league this season, ofcourse we don't. Manchester City deserve all the plaudits, the credit and the point shattering record they are setting. They have been utterly ruthless, quite magnificent and a statistical improbability with what they will achieve, and I can say they are one of the best, if not the best team English league has ever seen, of all time. Nothing can take away the fact that they look like THE team in Europe right now and It'd be quite a task to beat them in Europe too.

But having said that. We are on course to finish on 85-86 points this season. We are going to have our best league finish in 5 years with the best attacking numbers in the same time frame. We are still very much a team in transition with the mismanagement since 2009 and some absolute garbage bought by our last two managers. The mentality of our club in the past 5 years is of has-been champions rather than any resemblance to a team which can be challenging for major honors. I am pretty sure, this will be a milestone year for us when Manchester United is back as a club which can start challenging for major honors. Ferguson in his 2nd season finished 9 points behind Liverpool in 2nd, but we were never in the title race. But it was our best league finish in 5 years and later that set for him to famously say that he wants to knock Liverpool off the fecking perch. We are still on the perch and we will remain there for the foreseeable future, but with City's squad looking fantastic, we are catching up to them in securing the best kids in England, Belgium and Netherlands to join our academy, something Ferguson fixed in the late 80s while securing players like Irwin, Hughes etc, something Jose has tried to emulate in Matic and Lukaku and that will help us in the long run. Our football might be lethargic at times, our performances in the big games might be a bit negative and we might not be the most exciting team to watch, but Fergie's early teams were hardly fun to watch and I really like how sticking up with him later turned for United.

Personally I have seen a lot of mistakes which Jose has made which he could avoided, but I feel he has done a great job to get out of the rut we were in, in terms of league finishes. Without the fantastic season which City is having, this might have been a title race going to the wire. We are still very much in transition, but with a massive transfer window coming in, I think if we can fill the gaps in our squad, fix some gaping problems, I think we can realistically challenge for the title next season.

 

[Catt]

Congrats on your special day, @Freak. Bet it was a day you won't forget.

 

[MrBest]

Swansea were really really bad. However I saw more desire and attitude in the first half. Loved seeing triple up on there players to win the ball back. We could of been 4 or 5 up in first half, it was that easy. Second half was terrible and boring. We got complacent and poor attitude stepped in again. Mata should of score his chance. Overall decent win at home against a team that didn't show up. We should of won by 5 or 6 which would of helped our goal difference which we will need if we lose to city and Liverpool win. I think top 4 is almost in the bag,3 more wins and we should be fine. To finish second would be incredible based on the average performances this season. City are on another planet and we are miles off them ( as is any Other team in europe).

 

[King Kana]

Previous 7 title winners of the last decade :

2010-11 champions : 80 points.
2011-12 champions : 89 points.
2012-13 champions : 89 points.
2013-14 champions : 84 points.
2014-15 champions : 87 points.
2015-16 champions : 81 points.
2016-17 champions : 93 points.

Average : 86 points.

Not trying to say we deserve to win the league this season, ofcourse we don't. Manchester City deserve all the plaudits, the credit and the point shattering record they are setting. They have been utterly ruthless, quite magnificent and a statistical improbability with what they will achieve, and I can say they are one of the best, if not the best team English league has ever seen, of all time. Nothing can take away the fact that they look like THE team in Europe right now and It'd be quite a task to beat them in Europe too.

But having said that. We are on course to finish on 85-86 points this season. We are going to have our best league finish in 5 years with the best attacking numbers in the same time frame. We are still very much a team in transition with the mismanagement since 2009 and some absolute garbage bought by our last two managers. The mentality of our club in the past 5 years is of has-been champions rather than any resemblance to a team which can be challenging for major honors. I am pretty sure, this will be a milestone year for us when Manchester United is back as a club which can start challenging for major honors. Ferguson in his 2nd season finished 9 points behind Liverpool in 2nd, but we were never in the title race. But it was our best league finish in 5 years and later that set for him to famously say that he wants to knock Liverpool off the fecking perch. We are still on the perch and we will remain there for the foreseeable future, but with City's squad looking fantastic, we are catching up to them in securing the best kids in England, Belgium and Netherlands to join our academy, something Ferguson fixed in the late 80s while securing players like Irwin, Hughes etc, something Jose has tried to emulate in Matic and Lukaku and that will help us in the long run. Our football might be lethargic at times, our performances in the big games might be a bit negative and we might not be the most exciting team to watch, but Fergie's early teams were hardly fun to watch and I really like how sticking up with him later turned for United.

Personally I have seen a lot of mistakes which Jose has made which he could avoided, but I feel he has done a great job to get out of the rut we were in, in terms of league finishes. Without the fantastic season which City is having, this might have been a title race going to the wire. We are still very much in transition, but with a massive transfer window coming in, I think if we can fill the gaps in our squad, fix some gaping problems, I think we can realistically challenge for the title next season.

Excellent post.

 

[Adohega]

You should quit watching football. It’s not good for you. That or support City (of this season), Bayern or Barcelona so you can watch teams get steam rolled week in week out as anything lesser than that’s is dirge and unworthy of your preciousness.

Get a grip you lot are 2nd for a reason. You could be us all the way down the table. That’s me 3rd post so can't even reply you until tomorrow. Cheers.

Nice one

 

[wolvored]

We played ok first half, but for some reasom allowed them to come back in it 2nd half. Was nice to see sanchez score though

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Man Utd 2:0 Swansea - Sanchez (20')

Fixed.

 

[promisedlanchiao]

Our performance in the first half was as good as any city performance this season. Fluid, attacking play with attacking players interchanging and not giving the opposition defence a seconds' rest with wave after wave of attacks on their goal. Shame we dropped off in the second half but it was probably for the best so that we could save energy for a week of good training sessions for the city match and the city match itself.

As for Swansea, the defender letting Lingard's pass through his legs for the Alexis goal summed their day up. Crap performance from them. That Tammy Abraham seems a good player though, I already pointed out during the match that England would do well to take him to the World Cup as a third choice striker.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Good International Friendly break.

Killed the game early, Lingard carry on his form, our FBs attack better today, both Pogba and Sanchez played well, much much better.

How do you feel about 0 yellow cards today?

I felt that there were at least 3-4 possible yellow card moments but it looks like the referee let the players sort the game themselves.

It's a fair competitive physical game. The temperament from both sides today are not that malicious, can't spot any bad tackles or play, but accidental collision, yes. Also, Swansea did a lot of good light tactical fouls, kind of.

Who voted McTominay motm?

Really? Either trolling or someone who hates the 2nd half.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Routine stuff. So good to see Sanchez bang a goal in. Not much to talk about in the second half after we'd crushed them in the first.

I'm happy today.

 

[Water Melon]

.Previous 7 title winners of the last decade :

2010-11 champions : 80 points.
2011-12 champions : 89 points.
2012-13 champions : 89 points.
2013-14 champions : 84 points.
2014-15 champions : 87 points.
2015-16 champions : 81 points.
2016-17 champions : 93 points.

Average : 86 points.

Not trying to say we deserve to win the league this season, ofcourse we don't. Manchester City deserve all the plaudits, the credit and the point shattering record they are setting. They have been utterly ruthless, quite magnificent and a statistical improbability with what they will achieve, and I can say they are one of the best, if not the best team English league has ever seen, of all time. Nothing can take away the fact that they look like THE team in Europe right now and It'd be quite a task to beat them in Europe too.

But having said that. We are on course to finish on 85-86 points this season. We are going to have our best league finish in 5 years with the best attacking numbers in the same time frame. We are still very much a team in transition with the mismanagement since 2009 and some absolute garbage bought by our last two managers. The mentality of our club in the past 5 years is of has-been champions rather than any resemblance to a team which can be challenging for major honors. I am pretty sure, this will be a milestone year for us when Manchester United is back as a club which can start challenging for major honors. Ferguson in his 2nd season finished 9 points behind Liverpool in 2nd, but we were never in the title race. But it was our best league finish in 5 years and later that set for him to famously say that he wants to knock Liverpool off the fecking perch. We are still on the perch and we will remain there for the foreseeable future, but with City's squad looking fantastic, we are catching up to them in securing the best kids in England, Belgium and Netherlands to join our academy, something Ferguson fixed in the late 80s while securing players like Irwin, Hughes etc, something Jose has tried to emulate in Matic and Lukaku and that will help us in the long run. Our football might be lethargic at times, our performances in the big games might be a bit negative and we might not be the most exciting team to watch, but Fergie's early teams were hardly fun to watch and I really like how sticking up with him later turned for United.

Personally I have seen a lot of mistakes which Jose has made which he could avoided, but I feel he has done a great job to get out of the rut we were in, in terms of league finishes. Without the fantastic season which City is having, this might have been a title race going to the wire. We are still very much in transition, but with a massive transfer window coming in, I think if we can fill the gaps in our squad, fix some gaping problems, I think we can realistically challenge for the title next season.

We are not Stoke or Swansea, we are not an Everton we are one of the biggest spenders in World Football. We have spent tons and yet are fighting amoung Tottenham, Chelsea, and Liverpool, and for two years in a row we were out of title race in December. Also we were knocked out of CL by a rookie manager of a team with a tiny budget compared to ours. We did not even properly challenged that team. Scousers have advanced further than us in CL with a squad which is inferior to ours but doing better because of their manager. Times have changed since late 80s, and the task is to deliver here and now. City, Bayern, Juve, PSG, both Spanish giants are here to stay and have tons of money too. If Mou cant win at least a Prem after 3 seasons and having spent half a billion on 10-11 new players (and I am we will be close to these figures at the end of his next season with us), he needs to go. City won't be spending less and their philosophy is clear. We need a manager who will beat City in the prem maraphon with resources that we have.

 

[stepic]

I fail to get too worked up by us taking the foot off the pedal once already 2-0 up. It routinely happens in football. We won the game. Just because we don’t win 4-0 doesn’t mean we’re suddenly a poor or unwatchable team.

 

[NikSab]

We are not Stoke or Swansea, we are not an Everton we are one of the biggest spenders in World Football. We have spent tons and yet are fighting amoung Tottenham, Chelsea, and Liverpool, and for two years in a row we were out of title race in December. Also we were knocked out of CL by a rookie manager of a team with a tiny budget compared to ours. We did not even properly challenged that team. Scousers have advanced further than us in CL with a squad which is inferior to ours but doing better because of their manager. Times have changed since late 80s, and the task is to deliver here and now. City, Bayern, Juve, PSG, both Spanish giants are here to stay and have tons of money too. If Mou cant win at least a Prem after 3 seasons and having spent half a billion on 10-11 new players (and I am we will be close to these figures at the end of his next season with us), he needs to go. City won't be spending less and their philosophy is clear. We need a manager who will beat City in the prem maraphon with resources that we have.

The money we have spent under Jose :

Zlatan - free.
Pogba - 100m.
Bailly - 35m.
Micky - swapped for Sanchez - 30m.
Matic - 40m.
Lindelof - 30m.
Lukaku - 75m.

The money we have made under Jose :

Memphis - 20m.
Schneiderlin - 20m.
Rooney - 10m.
Others(undisclosed) - 10m.

Balance spent - 260m.

Looking at the perspective, PSG spent almost that much on 1 player and they had a better squad to start up. Man City has spent over 350m under Pep and both of them had a better base to start from. I am not saying we have spent small money, but except for Lindelof, we have bought and sold well under Jose and we will do that in the coming window too. The lopsided squad, with low morale, poor coaching and the last 3 years the club had before Jose has a role to play too. You can't suddenly turn a team around with so many issues and I think he has finally turned it around in the league. That's all I am trying to say. He isn't successful, but he has laid good foundations for us to start becoming successful again. The foundations were necessary and that needed money, time and the right manager to fix and Jose has used money well, taken his time but getting us CL and trophies in his first season and thereby being more attractive to players like Lukaku, Matic and Sanchez and needed hard cash to sign Pogba who despite his sketchy form would have cost anyone else the same.

The foundations are laid, the academy is back on track, our league form is the best in half a decade and we are finally looking up rather than down. And like I said, Jose has indeed made mistakes, but I am looking at the larger picture here and that to me looks like a job well done so far. We needed him to do it and I am quite sure Jose(or whoever it is who takes over) will have a far easier job than Jose or LVG had to fix things as the mismanagement has been going on since the departure of Ronaldo and Tevez and not just since Ferguson left. We are being ruthless in the market both for buying and selling players and that will set the tone for future success.

 

[Water Melon]

The money we have spent under Jose :

Zlatan - free.
Pogba - 100m.
Bailly - 35m.
Micky - swapped for Sanchez - 30m.
Matic - 40m.
Lindelof - 30m.
Lukaku - 75m.

The money we have made under Jose :

Memphis - 20m.
Schneiderlin - 20m.
Rooney - 10m.
Others(undisclosed) - 10m.

Balance spent - 260m.

Looking at the perspective, PSG spent almost that much on 1 player and they had a better squad to start up. Man City has spent over 350m under Pep and both of them had a better base to start from. I am not saying we have spent small money, but except for Lindelof, we have bought and sold well under Jose and we will do that in the coming window too. The lopsided squad, with low morale, poor coaching and the last 3 years the club had before Jose has a role to play too. You can't suddenly turn a team around with so many issues and I think he has finally turned it around in the league. That's all I am trying to say. He isn't successful, but he has laid good foundations for us to start becoming successful again. The foundations were necessary and that needed money, time and the right manager to fix and Jose has used money well, taken his time but getting us CL and trophies in his first season and thereby being more attractive to players like Lukaku, Matic and Sanchez and needed hard cash to sign Pogba who despite his sketchy form would have cost anyone else the same.

The foundations are laid, the academy is back on track, our league form is the best in half a decade and we are finally looking up rather than down. And like I said, Jose has indeed made mistakes, but I am looking at the larger picture here and that to me looks like a job well done so far. We needed him to do it and I am quite sure Jose(or whoever it is who takes over) will have a far easier job than Jose or LVG had to fix things as the mismanagement has been going on since the departure of Ronaldo and Tevez and not just since Ferguson left. We are being ruthless in the market both for buying and selling players and that will set the tone for future success.

Those are just assumptions. As I said with the amounts we have spent (and you can check net spent by top 6 in all europes top 4-5 leagues) we are doing pretty average. Having spent much more than Pool we are behind them in CL. They are going toe-to-toe with us in the prem. If we were doing worse than we are now, I'd call it a disaster. For now we are doing okay, far from decent and really far from excellent. Pep is doing a good job, if he wins the CL he will have done excellent. I also do not believe that our squad is really balanced. To stop going in circles, here is my last post on this. If after having spent half a billion and having bought 10-11 players, we still do not win the Prem, then it will show that Mou can't compete with the very best anymore.

 

[MacabbiUnited]

We are not Stoke or Swansea, we are not an Everton we are one of the biggest spenders in World Football. We have spent tons and yet are fighting amoung Tottenham, Chelsea, and Liverpool, and for two years in a row we were out of title race in December. Also we were knocked out of CL by a rookie manager of a team with a tiny budget compared to ours. We did not even properly challenged that team. Scousers have advanced further than us in CL with a squad which is inferior to ours but doing better because of their manager. Times have changed since late 80s, and the task is to deliver here and now. City, Bayern, Juve, PSG, both Spanish giants are here to stay and have tons of money too. If Mou cant win at least a Prem after 3 seasons and having spent half a billion on 10-11 new players (and I am we will be close to these figures at the end of his next season with us), he needs to go. City won't be spending less and their philosophy is clear. We need a manager who will beat City in the prem maraphon with resources that we have.

So you're saying if Mou doesnt win the prem next year he must go, and then try to show Klopp as an example of a successful manager who has won nothing since he came and will probably win nothing this year anyway? At least be consistent

 

[NikSab]

Those are just assumptions. As I said with the amounts we have spent (and you can check net spent by top 6 in all europes top 4-5 leagues) we are doing pretty average. Having spent much more than Pool we are behind them in CL. They are going toe-to-toe with us in the prem. If we were doing worse than we are now, I'd call it a disaster. For now we are doing okay, far from decent and really far from excellent. Pep is doing a good job, if he wins the CL he will have done excellent. I also do not believe that our squad is really balanced. To stop going in circles, here is my last post on this. If after having spent half a billion and having bought 10-11 players, we still do not win the Prem, then it will show that Mou can't compete with the very best anymore.

Liverpool is 5 points behind us in the league and have won 1 FA cup and 1 league cup in 12 years. Being in QF of the CL doesn't make them ahead of us.

 

[Water Melon]

Liverpool is 5 points behind us in the league and have won 1 FA cup and 1 league cup in 12 years. Being in QF of the CL doesn't make them ahead of us.

We have a game in hand and are playing city next. If we win we will be 5 points ahead. So far we are 2 points ahead having spent much more. Also Liverpool have done better than us in CL this season, and it is another fact.

 

[ricky-romeo]

great first half, poor second.

should have won by more goals and it was frustrating to see the players dropping a gear or two for the second half. we could end up with 4 or 5 goals if we continued from the way we played in the first 20-30 minutes or so.

 

[kundalini]

The money we have spent under Jose :

Zlatan - free.
Pogba - 100m.
Bailly - 35m.
Micky - swapped for Sanchez - 30m.
Matic - 40m.
Lindelof - 30m.
Lukaku - 75m.

The money we have made under Jose :

Memphis - 20m.
Schneiderlin - 20m.
Rooney - 10m.
Others(undisclosed) - 10m.

Balance spent - 260m.

Looking at the perspective, PSG spent almost that much on 1 player and they had a better squad to start up. Man City has spent over 350m under Pep and both of them had a better base to start from. I am not saying we have spent small money, but except for Lindelof, we have bought and sold well under Jose and we will do that in the coming window too. The lopsided squad, with low morale, poor coaching and the last 3 years the club had before Jose has a role to play too. You can't suddenly turn a team around with so many issues and I think he has finally turned it around in the league. That's all I am trying to say. He isn't successful, but he has laid good foundations for us to start becoming successful again. The foundations were necessary and that needed money, time and the right manager to fix and Jose has used money well, taken his time but getting us CL and trophies in his first season and thereby being more attractive to players like Lukaku, Matic and Sanchez and needed hard cash to sign Pogba who despite his sketchy form would have cost anyone else the same.

The foundations are laid, the academy is back on track, our league form is the best in half a decade and we are finally looking up rather than down. And like I said, Jose has indeed made mistakes, but I am looking at the larger picture here and that to me looks like a job well done so far. We needed him to do it and I am quite sure Jose(or whoever it is who takes over) will have a far easier job than Jose or LVG had to fix things as the mismanagement has been going on since the departure of Ronaldo and Tevez and not just since Ferguson left. We are being ruthless in the market both for buying and selling players and that will set the tone for future success.

Did you sleep through the year Leicester won the title ? Ranieri arrived that summer.

Or Conte managing to win the title in his first season.

Mourinho inherited a squad that had just won the FA Cup. It had several very exciting young players.

It takes time to lay foundations, except when it doesn't. If the manager gets enough decisions right, with relatively few errors, then winning the title in year 1 of a project is possible for most of the top clubs.