Final will be played exactly a month from now. 26 February 16:30 GMT.
United will be wearing home kits.
United will be wearing home kits.
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United - Soton | EFL Cup Final Build-up Thread
- Thread starter Samid
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Will need to play a lot better.
Do we get the end with The Torch pub?
Going to be tough. Southampton are sluggers. Hard to break down, but if I was a gambling man i would bet on us to see it through.
Fantastic. What are our thoughts on the impact in the league? Game against City will be changed to much later in the season in a congested fixture schedule (possibly being around the time of the Spurs and Arsenal away fixtures) and being one game behind the teams above us except for City obviously. Not ideal but suppose depending on how the others do we'd know whether to focus on the league or put our efforts into the Europa.
Tough game but I think we'll win, just.
Romeu and van Dijk will be difficult to play against. Hope Mou can make it 4/4 wins in League Cup finals.
What are we looking at in terms of fixtures before and after this?
RAWK will be supporting us.
This poor guy got slaughtered:
Don't League cup finalists typically have a bad end/second half of the season?
16th Feb - United v AS Saint-Étienne
22nd Feb - AS Saint-Étienne v United
26th Feb - United v Southampton (EFL Cup Final)
4th Mar - United v Bournemouth
12th Mar - Southampton v United
Hopefully we can win the EL tie in the first leg and prepare for the final.
Not in 2005, 2009, 2014, 2015.
Think Van Dijk will definitely miss the game with his ankle injury.
Two teams who have struggled scoring goals. Two teams who at times this season have been very happy and at times very angry at what's going on.
Can see us winning on pens or something.
Can see us winning on pens or something.
Inferiority complex sounds right. If we win we will have won as much as they have since 2006.
And in 9 months too
. Compared to 11 years. Must be galling for them to see us so shit and still picking up the trophiesAs in the post match:
Saints vs Devils!
Expect that marketing in the build up
Saints vs Devils!
Expect that marketing in the build up
Should be a good game, reckon Southampton will give you a good run for your money, they'll be up for it.
Although they'll have to play a lot differently to how they played against us.
2-1 United.
Narrow win.
Mourinhos first cup?
Although they'll have to play a lot differently to how they played against us.
2-1 United.
Narrow win.
Mourinhos first cup?
Merseyside will be watching.
They haven't conceded yet in the tournament. Van Dijk will be a big loss for them, let's see what business they do over the next week.
Any Premiership team in a final will be a tough match. City lost V Wigan, we made hard work of Palace last year.
Have to get the job done, get Jose's first trophy under his belt here and let's build a proper winning mentality. Trophies help players buy in to things.
Any Premiership team in a final will be a tough match. City lost V Wigan, we made hard work of Palace last year.
Have to get the job done, get Jose's first trophy under his belt here and let's build a proper winning mentality. Trophies help players buy in to things.
Is the thread title supposed to be funny?
This is far from a foregone conclusion. Expect a tight, tense affair. Similar to the FA Cup final against Palace last season. In fact, wouldn't be surprised if this went to extra time.
Need all our big game players to turn up.
Need all our big game players to turn up.
Going to be a tough game, we'll do well to match Southamptons desire for this. You can't go on and downplay certain competitions always and then suddenly motivate yourself for it. So hopefully the players show the desire. Southampton deservedly beat liverpool twice, so they're well capable of causing upsets as they are a very decent side.
Saying all that, I'm still glad we are playing them and not Liverpool. Would've been awful having to play liverpool because if we lost, then it would probably just derail our season. Like this, eh, it's a loss, but not to our biggest rivals in a final.
Saying all that, I'm still glad we are playing them and not Liverpool. Would've been awful having to play liverpool because if we lost, then it would probably just derail our season. Like this, eh, it's a loss, but not to our biggest rivals in a final.
With Van Dijk out and Fonte away we should be able to get at that centre defence. Zlatan up against the inexperience Stephens should bring joy. Romeu is a beast in midfield and Redmond is their dangerman going forward but we should have too much
Before this we have Hull (H), Leicester (A), Watford (H), Saint-Etienne (H/A). I know we're not playing fantastically well but neither are any of those teams, we should be looking for five wins (or at least three league wins and progression in the EL) to set us up for Wembley. We could really get our season going in the coming weeks, and despite a poor display earlier on I am confident we'll do just that.
Quite contrasting February for both teams.
United:
01.02 Hull (H)
05.02 Leicester (A)
11.02 Watford (H)
16.02 St Etienne (H)
19.02 FAC 5th round
22.02 St Etienne (A)
26.02 Soton (N)
Soton:
04.02 West Ham (H)
11.02 Sunderland (A)
26.02 United (N)
We desperately need a favourable draw tonight. Something shit like Sutton or Lincoln at home. We've been helped a bit by UEFA moving the second leg to Wednesday (because St Etienne and Lyon can't play at home on the same day) but ideally we put the tie to bed in the first leg.
Nothing against Soton, they deserve a breather after having a fecked up schedule but hopefully they turn up rusty on the 26th.
United:
01.02 Hull (H)
05.02 Leicester (A)
11.02 Watford (H)
16.02 St Etienne (H)
19.02 FAC 5th round
22.02 St Etienne (A)
26.02 Soton (N)
Soton:
04.02 West Ham (H)
11.02 Sunderland (A)
26.02 United (N)
We desperately need a favourable draw tonight. Something shit like Sutton or Lincoln at home. We've been helped a bit by UEFA moving the second leg to Wednesday (because St Etienne and Lyon can't play at home on the same day) but ideally we put the tie to bed in the first leg.
Nothing against Soton, they deserve a breather after having a fecked up schedule but hopefully they turn up rusty on the 26th.
I thought we had City away, has that been moved then?
Can't play a cup final and City away on the same day unfortunately.
That's a bit unfair to say the least. They'll be well rested.
I'd like to win the Europa League too, might not be worth throwing out a weakened team against St.Etienne.
Ah was that when it was, bit of a fixture pile up.
We have a massive squad. We'll be fine. Mourinho prefers it this way. If we're winning games, this won't be an issue.
France is a quick trip and we will hopefully have a good lead heading into the away leg.
Southampton will definitely be lacking match sharpness. Ibrahimović, Pogba, Rooney and Carrick are used to this kind of fixture congestion. Their experience will see us through the final. I'll be amazed if we lose a League Cup final under Mourinho. It's his tournament.
Redmond, van Dijk, Romeu and co are good players but won't be used to this kind of anticipation. They can make history, but I expect us to see them off in a tight game. They don't concede many.
France is a quick trip and we will hopefully have a good lead heading into the away leg.
Southampton will definitely be lacking match sharpness. Ibrahimović, Pogba, Rooney and Carrick are used to this kind of fixture congestion. Their experience will see us through the final. I'll be amazed if we lose a League Cup final under Mourinho. It's his tournament.
Redmond, van Dijk, Romeu and co are good players but won't be used to this kind of anticipation. They can make history, but I expect us to see them off in a tight game. They don't concede many.
I think we'll go for a clean sheet win vs Saint Etienne. If FA cup is favorable would make it much easier for us. However, if we do our job 1st leg, we shouldn't have much to worry about resting players.
Van Dijk ruled out for between 2-3 months which should mean he will miss this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38845372
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38845372
Good news for us. We'll still make it easy for their defence though.
Inferiority complex.
Not going to be enjoyable at all is it?
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Oh shitting death
I hope we come out quick. Take them by surprise.
Probs be the other way around though.
Probs be the other way around though.
Lots of football to be played between now and then.
Plenty of time to rediscover our form
Plenty of time to rediscover our form