The looming spectre of.....The Conference League

[RuudTom83]

If that is the best the players can qualify for then it tells you a lot about the team.

I'm sure a good number of players will think they are too good for the conference league. But any player thinking that, should look at their performances over the last 18 months, you get what you deserve.

 

[brian017]

Does this tournament have music?

Yes. It's the same anthem as the Europa League

 

[P-Ro]

United could finish 6th and play Chelsea in the FA Cup final. If United lose then Chelsea will take the spot in the Europa and United will be playing in the Conference League.

 

[P0GBA]

Our squad is 100% good enough to compete in both EL and Conference. Jose managed to win EL with a squad no stronger than this one and Ole got us to a final in EL as well, so that is certainly not above us.

I would say our squad is nowhere near the level it was at in Final with Ole. We had Cavani, Greenwood, Pogba etc.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Yes. It's the same anthem as the Europa League

How weird. Does the Europa League know that? Might have just recorded it in the stadium and brought it over in a boom box.

 

[Gordon S]

I would say our squad is nowhere near the level it was at in Final with Ole. We had Cavani, Greenwood, Pogba etc.

I am going to stick my neck out and say that our players are not as bad a portrayed this season.
Just as an example, Brentford have maybe 1 player that would be interesting to add to our squad, 2 at a stretch, yet they bullied us for 60 min straight. This has been the case for most games this season. Fulham, Wolves, Bournemouth…
Whatever Erik tries to do this season, it doesn`t seem to help many players shine.
Regarding the older guard. Cavani was on his last legs and not quite the same, good for chasing goals last 15 at least.
Greenwood was a kid that just started his senior career, promising as feck but still raw.
Pogbas good moments was ridiculous but his bad moments was unfortunately also ridiculous.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

Guys, I'm scared.

 

[Veni_Vidi_Vidic]

Guys, I'm scared.

Edit: Wikipedia lied to me.

 

[LordSpud]

Would rather come 8th and avoid it altogether

 

[DevilRed]

feck sake. Are we out of this thing then?

 

[KiD MoYeS]

7th is looking likely now in my opinion. Newcastle will definitely overtake us - we're now hoping that Chelsea or West Ham have a late push and overtake us. I would be content with being in the Europa League, it is our level after all, but the Conference would be really, really embarrassing.

 

[thisisnottaken1]

7th is looking likely now in my opinion. Newcastle will definitely overtake us - we're now hoping that Chelsea or West Ham have a late push and overtake us. I would be content with being in the Europa League, it is our level after all, but the Conference would be really, really embarrassing.

Meh. I’d rather have the Conference League than no European football at all.

 

[TheLord]

It is most likely that we will finish seventh this season.

Will that be the worst PL finish for us, ever? Especially given that our GD is close to zero. Some bad records will definitely be shattered by Eric et al this season, notably the dreaded goal difference.

Worst Finish	7th	2013/14
Fewest Points	58	2021/22
Fewest Goals Scored	49	2015/16
Most Goals Conceded	57	2021/22
Fewest Wins	16	2021/22
Most Losses	12	2013/14, 2021/22, 2023/24

 

[TheLord]

Even Moyes had managed a goal difference of +21 when we finished seventh

 

[GledTheRed]

Don't worry, we confirmed our place in the Europa league when we got to the FA cup final. Even if we lose, we still get City's place as they are in the Champions League.

Not exactly our proudest moment, mind.

Is that confirmed yeah?

 

[K Stand Knut]

Don't worry, we confirmed our place in the Europa league when we got to the FA cup final. Even if we lose, we still get City's place as they are in the Champions League.

Not exactly our proudest moment, mind.

I’m a bit gutted by this.

The Conference League is definitely our level and it would, in theory, have allowed us to play our strongest XI in just the PL until Christmas and use the squad for the ECL and the league cup.

Never mind, we can just get embarrassed by mediocre teams in the EL instead f

 

[FortunaUtd]

Is that confirmed yeah?

Nope. It is actually wrong.

 

[FortunaUtd]

Don't worry, we confirmed our place in the Europa league when we got to the FA cup final. Even if we lose, we still get City's place as they are in the Champions League.

Not exactly our proudest moment, mind.

That is not correct. If we lose the FA cup final, 5th and 6th place in the PL will get EL.

 

[Kasper]

Don't worry, we confirmed our place in the Europa league when we got to the FA cup final. Even if we lose, we still get City's place as they are in the Champions League.

Not exactly our proudest moment, mind.

It's not like that anymore. If City win, it'll be the 6th place in the league that gets in. They changed that a couple of years back.

 

[Fully Fledged]

If we get it we deserve it.

 

[Telsim]

We are on our way to absolute rock bottom. I can easily see us pick 0 points from the last 4 games, then get demolished by City in the final to top it off.

And then... Conference League.

 

[Rightnr]

We might still 'beat' the 58 points of Rangnick and easily finish below 6th as well.

We have 4 games left.

Away to Palace who are doing well, so could easily be a draw.

Home to Newcastle who are in good form, chasing us and earlier in the season smashed us at home with their 3rd string defence.

Home to Arsenal. I know we usually are a pain in the backside for them but right now and with them trying to keep the title race alive....

And finally away to Brighton against whom we've not even gotten so much as a point in two years in the league. Could easily see us finishing on 57 points and 8th.


Absolutely criminal.

 

[Veni_Vidi_Vidic]

That is not correct. If we lose the FA cup final, 5th and 6th place in the PL will get EL.

It's not like that anymore. If City win, it'll be the 6th place in the league that gets in. They changed that a couple of years back.

The first result when I googled it was wikipedia which says what I said but I just looked again and it says the current holder is Leicester so I guess it's not been updated. My bad.

I guess my UK VPN wasn't on when I searched hence it give me the simple English wiki.

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Cup#:~:text=If the winner of the,won the Football League Cup.

 

[Banana Republic]

After today’s and tonight‘s late result, the Conference looks almost a certainty now.

Chelsea are currently losing, and if it ends up that way, they’d have to win 3 of their last 5 to move above us.

WHU have only 3 games left, the last away at the Etihad, so that’s a max of 6 points if their lucky.
So their only chance of overtaking us is winning 2 games and Utd losing all 4 remaining fixtures.

Newcastle have the easiest run in and if we don’t secure at least 2 wins out of our remaining 4 games, they are very likely to take the 6th spot.

I’d say, barring a miracle, we’re currently 90% certain of going into the Conference next season.


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[DRJosh]

If we beat City in the cup final, we qualify for the Europa. I much rather see us battle it out on Thursday night than be stuck in the conference.

 

[Nicolarra90]

Would be an interesting opportunity to play some youth players from the u18.
And it's the only cup we have a real opportunity to win with our first team.

Not worried if we get it.

 

[Partridge]

Guys, I'm scared.

Breath...breeeaaaatttthhh. let me get you a piping hot Bramley apple pie. That'll put the smile back on your little face.

 

[Bondi77]

Would be an interesting opportunity to play some youth players from the u18.
And it's the only cup we have a real opportunity to win with our first team.

Not worried if we get it.

Three Cup finals in two seasons.
Definitely got the Newbie thing right this time

 

[Nicolarra90]

Three Cup finals in two seasons.
Definitely got the Newbie thing right this time

Yeah right...

Finals we've reached by playing against 2nd division, non Europe, and conference level mostly.

We had to fluke a double red card vs Fulham to go through last year. And a last minute goal to a crappy EL team and a penalty shootout vs a 2nd division team this season.

The conference has a higher level than most of our rivals.

 

[kouroux]

I ain't watching a single minute of that shite

 

[Banana Republic]

With Chelsea coming back to draw with Villa last night (Chelsea had an injury time winning goal overturned by VAR), there’s a little bit of hope they can scrape enough points to catch up and finish above us.
They just need to win 3 of their 5 remaining games and Utd only getting 1 win and 1 draw from our last 4 games.

Similarly, Newcastle have only got to win 2 out of their last 4 games, with Utd only reaching a max of 57 points.

At a guess, that 90% certainty of going into the Conference has gone down to about 60% (assuming finished 8th gets us out of it).


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[AdamColeBebe]

Yes. It's the same anthem as the Europa League

Lazy

 

[Insanity]

Would be an interesting opportunity to play some youth players from the u18.
And it's the only cup we have a real opportunity to win with our first team.

Not worried if we get it.

We keep hoping for that and it never happens. All our managers like to run our main players into the ground and then complain about fixtures, lack of squad depth or what not. Jose and Ole played our starters in game in Europa when they were not required. ETH is the same and kept playing the starting XI even in lowly Carling cup games. It would be the same when we are playing in the Europa Conference next season.

Although, I don't want to be out of Europe completely next season. I thought not dropping down to Europa this season will give ETH time to implement his playing style and give us a good chance to finish in the top 4. However, as we have seen, we have played the same stupid way for the entire season, right from the start till now. We have been making the same mistakes and we show the same tiredness & laxity in closing out games. Being out really doesn't make much difference to our football, but we as fans miss out on the excitement of midweek games.

 

[Banana Republic]

Champions League for next season is long gone and now mathematically impossible.
The only realistic chance of Europa League will be to win all our remaining games, or win the FA Cup, but how realistic is the likelihood of either of those?
If we can only get 4 or fewer points from our remaining 4 league fixtures ….and Newcastle and Chelsea leapfrog us, we can escape the Conference.

Whatever the financial loss, I think it would be far better to be out of all European competitions for next season.
The scale of the rebuild needed, whether of not ETH stays, would require a concentrated effort to get a revamped Utd playing a consistent style. New players will have to be bedded in, etc.
The Conference or the Europa would be a distraction we won’t be ready for.


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[Dan_F]

If we beat City in the cup final, we qualify for the Europa. I much rather see us battle it out on Thursday night than be stuck in the conference.

What night do you think they play conference league games?

 

[Remember the geese]

I hope we use this competition to play our under 18's.

 

[Moriarty]

Breath...breeeaaaatttthhh. let me get you a piping hot Bramley apple pie. That'll put the smile back on your little face.

And incinerate his vocal cords.

 

[stevoc]

If we beat City in the cup final, we qualify for the Europa. I much rather see us battle it out on Thursday night than be stuck in the conference.

What night is the Conference played?

 

[stevoc]

Would be an interesting opportunity to play some youth players from the u18.
And it's the only cup we have a real opportunity to win with our first team.

Not worried if we get it.

I hope we use this competition to play our under 18's.

This has been suggested for years with regards to the Europa League and now this competition. But it's never actually happened. And it won't happen as UEFA would fine the club for playing an understrength team, you can't just play your youth team in a senior European competition.

 

[MancunianAngels]

Champions League for next season is long gone and now mathematically impossible.
The only realistic chance of Europa League will be to win all our remaining games, or win the FA Cup, but how realistic is the likelihood of either of those?
If we can only get 4 or fewer points from our remaining 4 league fixtures ….and Newcastle and Chelsea leapfrog us, we can escape the Conference.

Whatever the financial loss, I think it would be far better to be out of all European competitions for next season.
The scale of the rebuild needed, whether of not ETH stays, would require a concentrated effort to get a revamped Utd playing a consistent style. New players will have to be bedded in, etc.
The Conference or the Europa would be a distraction we won’t be ready for.


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Chelsea are evidence against this.