The elephant in the room….. could this club face a relegation battle in the 22/23 season?

VivaRonaldo85 said:
27 points in the last 22 PL games from January 1st. What’s that? Bottom 6 form? Not far off relegation form?

Of course people will say, “we’re only two games into the season, stop over reacting.” But I look at this as a long term endemic issue riddled throughout this squad of players.

The lack of first XI quality, the lack of squad depth, the abundance of overhyped/overrated players, the volume of poor signings, and a weak decrepit mentality throughout.

If we wake up on 1st September post transfer window with this squad, or something very similar, are we sleep walking into something more sinister than ‘not finishing in the top 6’?
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We’re only two games into the season, stop overreacting.

Should we beat Liverpool, which I admit is not likely (nor was it likely we’d lose to both Brighton and Brentford), we’d be above them in the table and could, depending on other results, put Liverpool at the bottom of the table.
 
Not a chance. We simply have too much quality for that, regardless of how spineless these players are. Imagine Cristiano Ronaldo getting relegated :lol:
 
I don't think it's an elephant in the room. People have been openly saying and thinking about it.

However reality is we can always get conservative and get enough points. We are in no real danger ( even if we are not to good to go down)
 
pocco said:
If certain factors lined up then I'd say it's entirely possible.

Lose Vs Liverpool
Fan unrest
No more signings
Continue with the team as it is and ETH sticks with this system
Struggle for next 10 games which look tough
Get hammered by City after the world cup, to set the second part of the season off badly
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Damn.. that's grim.

And entirely possible. :(
 
Its no longer an elephant in the room if you ask me. The good news is relegation form is very similar to bottom 12 form though, so perhaps we will yo-yo between bottom 3 and bottom 10. For us it is not a matter of ability, it is purely mental (to stave off relegation). Who knows how long it takes to dig us out of the hole and start playing like top 10 that we actually really are, while being paid top 3.

Over react or not - we are performing poorly, and there is not much to indicate an upturn is around the corner. Something like if you sail into a sea of icebergs eventually you will sink Titanic.

I'm seeing far too many icebergs and nothing of the sort that will generate confidence.
 
Cannot be ruled out. Hopefully we have a good run sooner rather than later when ETH's strategy is properly executed.
 
If we are involved in a relegation battle, even if we survive it, then this regime is over. That's the positive thing.
 
It seems possible at the moment however I cant see us playing this badly all season.
Looking back to when we were relegated in 1974 that was the culmination of a few poor seasons. The seasons before relegation we'd finished 18th ( out of 22) ,8th and 8th.
If Ten hag didnt know how bad the whole club was run , he certainly does now and has a huge job in turning this shitshow round.
 
Probably not, but I remember the suggestion of finishing outside of the top 4 under David Moyes was laughed at at the start of that season, and it happened comfortably.

We do have the worst midfield two in the league, and a manager who is going to try and play possession football with that midfield. Unless we buy at least two midfielders in the next couple of weeks (and probably a forward too), it definitely won't be a good season. Probably not likely to the depths of 18th-20th place, but midtable is definitely possible.
 
Given the absolute media circus we’ve grown into this last week, the players must be feeling it. They are already a fragile bunch, but with all the goings on and the media pile on, their heads will be in hits.
I don’t honestly see where our next win comes from.
 
4 points from 9 away games since Greenwood got suspended.

In that run we’ve lost 4-0 three times, to Liverpool, Brighton and Brentford and 4-1 to City.

This is relegation form. We are not only losing to the top teams, but also being turned over the relegation candidates.

I would imagine we will do something and not actually go down, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
 
MalaysianRed7 said:
Not a chance. We simply have too much quality for that, regardless of how spineless these players are. Imagine Cristiano Ronaldo getting relegated :lol:
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Personally I hope that our fortunes will changes soon because right now I just cannot see where our next win is going to come form.
 
Blood Mage said:
We didn't for one second look like scoring against Brentford and we can't defend to save our lives so it's fecking possible yes.
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Exactly, the reaction is no 'just because'. If Leicester could win the league, this United side could certainly go down.
 
We could get Big Sam in to save the day if we're in danger of relegation so I think we might be okay.
 
its very very unlikely. But not beyond impossible which is very depressing

I would not be surprised at all if no more signings arrive. I think we could be in for our lowest finish since the 80's
 
People saying its very unlikely are deluded imo.

The bookies have us as 25/1 to get relegated.

We have lost our last 7 PL away games which is relegation form.

We lose by 3-0 or more against teams in the top 4, relegation standard

I can see us finishing below 15th this season easily.
 
You know, looking at all the teams in the league, I'd say only Everton are comparable to us. All the other teams in the league could do better than us, even the newly promoted teams:
  1. Fulham: got a point against Liverpool - we couldn't even do that in our wildest dreams
  2. Nottingham Forest: beat West Ham - could we even beat a quality side like West Ham in our current state?
  3. Bournemouth - beat Villa 2-0 - we couldn't even beat Villa when we were on hot form in pre season and we all know what happened last season in our matches against them
 
I don't understand posts stating we've too much quality to go down. Where is this quality? A wantaway Ronaldo aside. I would expect a lot of Championship sides to give us a tough game currently, we are completely devoid of form, confidence and in some players case, ability.
 
The Leeds team that got relegated was arguably better than our current squad.

I can see us in the bottom half if signings aren't made. Squad is waifer thin
 
We need a flood for the Ark to float. Relegation could be that cleanser the club needs, but it won't happen.
 
on current form anything is possible. You would hope Ten Hag can turn it around.
we finished 2nd just 2 seasons ago ago and also went undefeated away from home forever.. The fast slide down coincidently started when Ronaldo signed. Whilst his goals were most welcome last season his return trashed the rest of the team, not sure why that happened but the evidence is there fir all to see.
 
LInkash said:
You know, looking at all the teams in the league, I'd say only Everton are comparable to us. All the other teams in the league could do better than us, even the newly promoted teams:
  1. Fulham: got a point against Liverpool - we couldn't even do that in our wildest dreams
  2. Nottingham Forest: beat West Ham - could we even beat a quality side like West Ham in our current state?
  3. Bournemouth - beat Villa 2-0 - we couldn't even beat Villa when we were on hot form in pre season and we all know what happened last season in our matches against them
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I wouldn't even say Everton, they actually fought against Chelsea. Last season when Everton were worse, we went and lost there too. I actually do not think the current team can beat any PL team.

The problem is, regardless of the quality in these other teams, they have fight and are hard to beat. We are a completely open team that cant defend, pass, create or score.
 
Every club could fall in a spiral of depression, where players completely lose any confidence and they can't escape the downwards trend, which means, yeah it is possible. Do I think it likely, no. I think we will turn a corner after a bad start and end up in midfield of the table.
 
To all the people saying no chance I bet most of you wouldn`t believe we`d never win another PL Title after 2013 if you were told it would be the case or that we`d be this bad
We`re literally ranked 19th form wise in the PL in the last 20 games, 3 wins since the turn of the year, a mentally broken squad who`ve faced excessive criticism and humiliation that`s seemingly got to them,no major improvements to a starting 11 that had it`s worst ever PL season in club history after losing over 7 players and a manager that needs time and structure to perform which we don`t have
We`ll probably make a flurry of signings in the next 2 weeks which will give us a top 10 finish but if we don`t make any more signings relegation is VERY possible
 
I would say no, but we have a team of complete bottlers who will panic as soon as things look bad. Imagine how they will react when they seem to be on a downward spiral. If they do end up in that position for a while, the meltdown of these mentally weak players, combined with the complete lack of options in the squad will make it very difficult for them to stay afloat.
 
This is one of those ideas that seems absurd and almost like drivel at first.

But, if you look at it on an individual basis in the sense of "can Man Utd beat x team?" it starts to become a little alarming. We're easily carved open, we're making individual and collective errors, and we're struggling to score goals. If you take away the Man Utd name and look at the performances, the performances are of a team who are more likely to be fighting to stay in the league rather than pushing for Europe.

There's no confidence in this team and there's no fight. Look at how the team crumbled after the second Brentford goal. All over the place. There was no response and no determination to get back into the game at 1-0 or 2-0 down. We never even came close to scoring. The goal we scored against Brighton wasn't even scored by us!

Our next 5 fixtures.

Liverpool (h)
Southampton (a)
Leicester (a)
Arsenal (h)
Palace (a)

The results for those fixtures last season were:

Man Utd 0 - 5 Liverpool
Southampton 1 - 1 Man Utd
Leicester City 4 - 2 Man Utd
Man Utd 3 - 2 Arsenal
Palace 1 - 0 Man Utd

So if we match the results from last season, that will be 4 points from our opening 7 games. Yes, we are in trouble.
 
I think it’s more likely than a lot of people think. If we don’t make signings I can easily see us finishing out of the top ten, the players we have aren’t as good as we think and their confidence is shot.
 
TBH I cannot realistically see which teams we are better than this season, I think our midfield and defense is the worst in the league (as units) our attack has some bite if it can click but it will not be enough to rescue us from the debacle at the back.

IMO only 2 things move us away from a relegation dogfight this year;

4+ solid signings in the next week, or
We play our youth and they make the step up

I plan on mostly following the womens team this year, they are far better than the mens team, TBH I think we would be in less trouble playing the womens squad in the prem, they are a much more cohesive unit and in many areas better players.
 
What gives anyone the impression we are 8th to 12th based on our current form and continuing form from last season? Considering we've lost the likes of Pogba, Matic, Linguard, Greenwood et al.

We wasn't performing at an 8th - 12th pace then so what's changed to make anyone think that?

It's crazy to think but we are in a potential dangerous position. I wouldn't think relegation zone but you never know. I can't see us winning back to back games. I see us losing from winning positions, leaking in goals for draws. Not knowing how to apply pressure on teams we'd usually win and letting in a heap load of goals against well drilled teams.

When was the last time any of our players actually performed? What happened to that new manager bounce?
 
I was around in 1974 and the 'we are too good to go down' was something a section of the fans told themselves then, but it doesn't matter how good you are 'on paper', its whats on the pitch that counts, if we play sh*** , we will go down..... unless there are three teams worse than us!
There is nothing good about going down, nothing, not even if it means the end of the Glazers. In today's football world the 'mighty fallen' can stay fallen for a long long time... and if the Glazers are still making (their) money, they are likely to stay, even if the club is getting deeper into both sporting and a commercial mire!
 
It's an unanswerable question currently, as with the situation as it is now we would lose to the Dog and Duck FC. Anyone basically.

But a semblance of normality and confidence would see us rack up plenty of points and probably still semi comfortably get 6th.
 
RedIan said:
on current form anything is possible. You would hope Ten Hag can turn it around.
we finished 2nd just 2 seasons ago ago and also went undefeated away from home forever.. The fast slide down coincidently started when Ronaldo signed. Whilst his goals were most welcome last season his return trashed the rest of the team, not sure why that happened but the evidence is there fir all to see.
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I have a theory about this: its difficult to explain because of the ridiculous money involved, but let me try. Assume I was earning £200 a day - I was quite happy with it and the people I work alongside earn similar amounts, the younger employees less & perhaps someone who has often been employee of the year a bit more.... but I accept it. Suddenly the higher-ups employ a new worker on £450 a day, he is very experienced, but he doesn't work as hard as the rest of us. However the job he does, he does well and management think he is the golden boy. In addition the owners of the company see financial benefits just having this employee at our company. We used to be the number one on our field, now 4 or 5 other companies are better than us, but partly because of this one employee the money is still rolling in and the owners don't care about being number one.

Meanwhile my colleagues and I are getting fed up that he is getting all the attention and more than double our wages, so we start to meet in the coffee room and we start to grumble and moan. Finally it starts to impact on our jobs and the whole firm suffers. We aren't 5th or 6th anymore, we are looking at going out of business.

I think something like that has happened at Man United.
 
Crazy, if we beat Liverpool we will be above them. Are they getting relegated too? It’s too damn early guys. Not the best right now but this is a way way over the top reaction.
 
Ldn FanBoy said:
What gives anyone the impression we are 8th to 12th based on our current form and continuing form from last season? Considering we've lost the likes of Pogba, Matic, Linguard, Greenwood et al.

We wasn't performing at an 8th - 12th pace then so what's changed to make anyone think that?

It's crazy to think but we are in a potential dangerous position. I wouldn't think relegation zone but you never know. I can't see us winning back to back games. I see us losing from winning positions, leaking in goals for draws. Not knowing how to apply pressure on teams we'd usually win and letting in a heap load of goals against well drilled teams.

When was the last time any of our players actually performed? What happened to that new manager bounce?
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Exactly. What are people seeing that we'll turn around the long term form (17 points from 17 games) with the same players? I look at the league and there's only maybe Bournemouth I'd be confident of beating (at home).
 
Nope. Mid table at the absolute worst.

We can sit back and counter attack our way into top half if things look bad.

We'll beat Liverpool monday though, it's written in the stars.
 
I don't think so. That would harm the Glazer's investment which is what they care about the most. If during the WC break we're below 12th, I can see them opening up their purses massively to get in a manager/players to make sure we improve immediately.
 
It won't come to this, but seeing as we were planning to get back into top 4, it's not looking that we'll be achieving our target. We won't finish lower than last season.
 
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