Team for the Europa League

pascell

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Not until August 30th and our first match won't be until September 19th.
Thanks mate! I'm actually looking forward to the draw, I want some teams that'll give us a test. A group with the likes of Torino, PSV & Eintracht would be brilliant and a good test for any of the youngsters that play, it'd also allow Ole the chance to try and control games from midfield against very solid technical teams. We want to avoid any Russian or Ukrainian teams because of the travel distance.
 

R'hllor

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Playing strongest XI on Thursday and then playing them on Sunday in PL, that will be one of dumbest shit ever. Our squad might not be long enough in CL to get used to Wend. -> Saturday, players saying them self its different to adapt for what ever reason.

Besides, wasnt there like a stats from 2 years ago showing the amount of points dropped by PL teams after taking a part in EL game.
 

crossy1686

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Seeing as we've already won this I feel like we've 'completed' this competition and no longer need to win it. However, in saying that, I was Solskjaer to win something tangible just so people give him a break.

I'd start the likes of Chong, Greenwood, Tuanzebe and maybe even Gomes and Garner in some games, maybe not all at the same time but certainly give the likes of Maguire and Pogba a rest. If we get to the knockout rounds then we can start taking it more seriously, but I honestly wouldn't until we draw a team that got knocked out of the Champions League.
 

stevoc

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The team for Europa League games should be the best players available and suited to the opposition.

Playing a mid week game on Thursday and then Sunday won't exhaust the players any more than it would if we were in the Champions League on Wednesday and then Saturday, thats a load of nonsense.

We should be going all out to win this competition because A, its a European Trophy and B, it qualifies you for the Champions League.
 

Hackman2210

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I'd go all out second string - unless we plan on winning this we should concentrate on the league and 4th - I dont think we are strong enough to do both this season. Romero, Tuanzebe, Jones, Smalling, Young. Gomes, James, Fred, Matic, Greenwood and Linguard. Give the kids a regular run of games and get them ready for the champions league next year.
 

Vissy

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This would be the sort of squad I want to see for Europa League:

Romero
Dalot, Tuanzebe, Jones, Williams / Laird
Garner/Levitt, Fred
Chong, Mata, Gomes
Greenwood

I would give Williams and Laird first team minutes here no problem, at the very least against weaker opposition. Garner and Levitt as well. Rest are obvious.
 

Kostov

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We should rotate and give youngsters plenty of game time. Greenwood, Gomes, Chong, Garner, O'Connor, Laird and Brandon Williams, should all get minutes and experience.
 

dileno

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We need a B team with a mix of experience and youngsters. Some games will be hard, specially with inexperienced players I think.

Romero
Dalot Smalling Jones Young
Matic Fred
Chong Mata Pereira
Greenwood

Pereira/Grant Rojo Tuanzebe James Gomez McTo Sanchez

Fosu-Mensah Rojo Darmian Garner Bailly stand by
 

rotherham_red

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Ole has already said that the young players will be used in the EL, and it's most likely the precise reason why the likes of Greenwood, Gomes and Chong weren't sent on loan.

It certainly won't be overkill, but I'd say the following would be an exciting team to see:

-----------------Romero---------------------

Young---Tuanzebe/Bailly---Jones/Smalling---Dalot

---------Matic------Pereira/Fred-----------

------James/Chong-----Mata------Gomes--------

---------------Greenwood/Sanchez--------------

With the odd first teamer in as an insurance policy.

I'd say that's a strong enough line up with right blend of experience and youth, with at least one experienced head in each action area to compliment the energy of the kids, with the engine room having a lot of experience to balance out the youthful attack.

EDIT - Forgot about Sanchez.
 

Canagel

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Romero
Dalot Tuanzebe Smalling Young
Garner
Mata Gomes
James Greenwood Chong​
 

Class of 63

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I'd love us to win this again. but if we're going to use the competition just to give the youngsters much needed first-team experience i'd prefer if we got a Group of Death to start with as opposed to a easy group.

Pot 2

PSV
Sparta Prague
Krasnodar
Viktoria Plzen
Braga
Gent
Borussia Monchengladbach
BATE Borisov
Young Boys
Ludogorets
APOEL
Legia Warsaw

Pot 3
PAOK
FCSB
Saint-Etienne
Qarabag
Eintracht Frankfurt
Feyenoord
Slavia Prague
Getafe
Espanyol
Malmo
Maribor
Partizan

Pot 4
Standard Liege
Wolves
Red Star Belgrade
Maccabi Tel-Aviv
FC Sheriff
Rennes
Istanbul Basaksehir
FC Oleksandriya
F91 Dudelange
LASK
Wolfsberger AC
FC Lugano

Group #
Manchester United
PSV
Eintracht Frankfurt
Standard Liege
 

Mibabalou

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I’d like to see a balance of youth / experience but rest whoever establishes themselves as first choice in the PL until maybe the knockouts.

Romero
Dalot - Smalling - Tunezebe - Young
Garner - Fred/Matic
Pereira/James - Mata - Alexis
Greenwood
 

Annihilate Now!

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It'll be a mix of experienced squad members and youth, as it should be.

If we go full youth, especially away from home, then there's a decent chance that won't go well.
 

Water Melon

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PL and EL are the two main competitions to focus on. Winning the EL guarantees CL and allows our players to taste a bit of European football. Do not care much about FA or Carling cups.
 

Sandikan

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See how we draw first.

If it's some 13th ranked league farmers, mess with the lineup.
If it's some Spanish or Italian midtablers - we'll have to go stronger.
 

jackal&hyde

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I don't know about the full team, but players like Gomes, Greenwood, Tuanzebe, Dalot and maybe even Garner should be key players. To this i think you have to add so experience and a good time to give minutes to Mata, Matic and Fred.
 

SirAF

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Realistically we'd only get 3rd or 4th in the PL so why the hell would we give the Europa such low priority? We should be aiming to win the thing, but obviously rotate against the weaker teams.

i'd take the Europa + CL footie over 4th + CL footie any day.
Agreed.
 

davidmichael

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Romero, Dalot, Tuanzebe, Smalling/Jones, Young, Fred, Matic, Chong/Mata, Gomes/Pereira, James, Greenwood/Sanchez in a 4-2-3-1 is what I’d expect in the easier group games.
 

lysglimt

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We should play a B-side for the first few matches - as it looks, the following teams will be seeded (in addition to us) and we can't meet them.
Sevilla, Arsenal, Roma, Besiktas, Sporting, Cska, Wolfsburg, Lazio, Borussia M, Saint Etienne and Getafe - and then there are a few teams that are still in the qualifiers so maybe they can push St.Etienne and Getafe down into seeding 2.

At the moment Standard Liege and Rennes are the best ranked non-seeded sides - so basically as it stand now, they are the best sides we can meet. And with all due respect - I don't mind using Fred, Jones, Smalling, Sanchez, Greenwood, Romero, Tuanzebe etc against them
 

RedDevilRoshi

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Depends who we draw.

If it’s one of the smaller ranked oppositions, then give the youngsters a chance.

If it’s someone like a PSV, Borussia Monchengladbach etc, we will need to field a strong side.
 

Roboc7

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DDG, AWB, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Pogba, Rashford and Martial shouldn’t be kicking a ball in the group stages. Team should be picked from rest of squad but Axel, Greenwood and Gomes should all be starting.

If we get through then assess it from there, this squad probably is going to struggle to be good enough to finish 4th or win Europa let alone compete for both.
 

VeevaVee

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Personally, I'm not arsed about winning it again. I doubt Ole will see it that way though, and will want to win a trophy with us. Hope it doesn't affect our league position.
 

matherto

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If we win, we get CL football and surely it's easier to win than maintaining a good challenge through 38 league games with the squad we've got.

Plus it's a trophy. Why wouldn't any United fan want us to win a trophy?
 

CM10

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It's a good opportunity to blood some youngsters properly.

I'm sure Solskjaer intends to give players like Greenwood minutes here and there anyway but starts for youngsters in the Europa group stages is a great bridge between youth and Premier League football, with the added bonus of resting first-teamers for the more important games.
 

Stobzilla

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A lot will depend on how well we end up doing in the EFL trophy. If those mid week games fall on the same week as Europa's then we won't see much of Gomes, Chong or Garner in the EL.
 

UnitedWA

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I really don't care about this cup, only want to see our youngsters in the first team. That would be fun to watch, plus resting our main squad for the hard EPL matches.
 

lex talionis

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We definitely don't go with a Team A and a Team B. It will be a mix and match our "top" and middling players in both competitions depending on circumstances. But we will see Ole exploring who his best XI is early in the PL and take it from there.

Who's in form? Who needs a rest? How strong is the next opponent, but in the PL and the EL.

We absolutely want a long run in the EL and it's worth the stretch to go for the trophy lift. There are limits to how far we'll stretch as we head into the latter stages of the season. If we're battling for fourth and are in the EL final against a tough opponent, we field our best XI for both.

EFL and FA games will feature of younger/Plan B players by design.
 

Ikon

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We should be trying our best to win the EL in my opinion!
I absolutely agree with you, 100%
I want Manchester United to win every competition that we are involved in.
The Europa League is still the UEFA cup in my eyes, and its a major European trophy that I'd definitely want added to the club's honours list.

To me its a Wengerism, to turn your nose up at winning a trophy because you deem it beneath you somehow.
The Europa League is our current level, it's the biggest prize that we can realistically win this season, and can you just imagine the euphoria of Solskjaer winning a European trophy for us..??
 

Adam-Utd

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I absolutely agree with you, 100%
I want Manchester United to win every competition that we are involved in.
The Europa League is still the UEFA cup in my eyes, and its a major European trophy that I'd definitely want added to the club's honours list.

To me its a Wengerism, to turn your nose up at winning a trophy because you deem it beneath you somehow.
The Europa League is our current level, it's the biggest prize that we can realistically win this season, and can you just imagine the euphoria of Solskjaer winning a European trophy for us..??
Nobody said we won't be trying to win it, but a 2nd string team should be more than good enough to get out of the group stage.

We also CANNOT use the first team twice a week Thursday and Sunday, have them travel to far away countries and still expect them to have remain fit and energetic for the league. It just won't happen.

Eventually once we get into the knock out stages we can start taking it more seriously.
 

Ikon

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Nobody said we won't be trying to win it,
We also CANNOT use the first team twice a week Thursday and Sunday..
And also, nobody said use the same first team twice a week..! :rolleyes:
 

R'hllor

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None starting PL team/squad is strong enough regardless of a group, i just dont wanna see players for next PL game be on the plane to travel, dont wanna see them on the bench at home either. Make them train like there is no Europe and focus on PL opponent.

Romero- Dalot- Axel (if VL is starting next to HM)- Jones/Smalling/Rojo - EL (feck Young) - Matic - Fred - Greenwood - Mata - Gomes/Chong - Sanchez.
 

GBBQ

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For sure we should rotate but this was our route to CL in Mourinho's first season so I think it should be seen as a viable option and not take it likely.
 

Mainoldo

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Hopefully UEFA fix it nice for us and all the teams are in west Europe.
 

KirkDuyt

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Not a bad idea to go all out in the later stages since winning the EL Qualifies you for the CL. Doubt the likes of Tahith Chong will get you that far though. I really liked him at Feyenoord, but he hasn't really developed that much since.
 

Havak

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Unless we get to the last 16, I wouldn't want de Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, or Shaw involved in this competition at all. I'd say the same for McTominay, Pogba, Martial, and Rashford as well, but I just have a feeling that at least occasionally (while we're not guaranteed to go through) Ole may decide to include Pogba and one of Martial/Rashford on the bench. He may also use Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, and McTominay in the odd game pre-last 16 purely to give them a bit more European tournament exposure as they're obviously limited in experience in that regard. Still, I hope that we can get away with not having to use these first-team players until we look like we have a strong chance of winning the tournament. We shouldn't be playing close to our first XI in the group stage unless we went and failed to win our opening two games or something.

I want to see Dalot, Tuanzebe, Gomes, Chong, and Greenwood given starts, accompanied by Smalling, Young, Matic, Fred, Mata, and Sanchez for example so it's a mix of youth and experience.

Romero
Dalot Tuanzebe Smalling Young
Fred Matic
Mata Gomes Sanchez
Greenwood
---
Grant; Rojo, Jones; Garner, Chong, James; Rashford​

I think this is something that should see us win a good four group games regardless of opposition we draw.
 

Red4Life_#7

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Romero
Dalot Smalling Jones Young
Fred Matic
Periera Mata James
Sanchez

Subs:
Grant
Tunezebe (starts some games)
Rojo (starts some games)
Garner
Gomez (starts against weaker opposition)
Chong
Greenwood (starts some games)