We finished 3rd: PL 2019/20

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Despite having a couple of sub-par performances, I think people have forgotten how well we've done to reduce such a big gap, which has seen us jump to third place.

Balls in our court come Sunday. Hopefully, we can get the job done.

 

[Sad Chris]

I understand the dissatisfaction with the last 2 games. I also understand that some people are even disappointed with a third place, feeling we should aspire to more.

But, and this is a big but, looking at the whole picture since Ferguson retired and the awful drop and mismanagement we‘ve had to endure, I feel like we are developing and growing back into a contender. We have a young, hungry team who are on the verge of making the next step. As soon as this team gets a taste of winning things, I have no doubt we‘ll develop a killer instinct and start to overcome our mental issues and win these kind of games.

I‘m bloody happy with our catch-up and with most of our performances in 2020. I‘m excited about our offensive setup and capabilities. We have so many young and homegrown players in our squad. I‘m sure that we‘re at the beginning of an exciting time for Utd.

Fully deserved 3rd place so far, with or without the struggle. I‘m loving it and can‘t wait for more!

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Weakest the league was in a long time.

For example, Liverpool in 07/08 finished 4-th with 76 points, while three teams had more than 80 points.

Pretty incredible how terrible in comparison this 3rd/4th race has been. Best loser takes the spoils.

 

[The Original]

Weakest the league was in a long time.

For example, Liverpool in 07/08 finished 4-th with 76 points, while three teams had more than 80 points.

This means the league as a whole was stronger not weaker.

 

[Class of 63]

Third ain't bad for a side that was gonna drop like a stone and get relegated.

 

[shahzy]

This means the league as a whole was stronger not weaker.

Or the top teams are weaker apart from the top 2 as what the person you replied to is alluding

 

[always_hoping]

I can't believe how we are not comfortably in 3rd by now.

Dropping points to Southampton and West Ham ffs.

Wouldn't be giving out too much about what points was dropped in the 13 game unbeaten run. I'd look more at the form before February, injuries and not signing Bruno in summer as the reasons for not comfortably in 3rd by now.

 

[Eli Zee]

Because.. we have high standard?

3rd is good?

3rd is the best possibility so yes, it is good.
20 games ago you wouldn't expect us to get near third.

 

[Revan]

Don't think so ? We were before Christmas but went on a nuts run then, unlikely we still are

We are. We need a draw next match in order to match Moyes' season.

 

[Revan]

The obsession with points totals are mental. Modern football. Couldn’t give a feck if we had less points than when Derby were relegated if we’re finishing 3rd compared to 6th that’s serious progress.

It is a very good way of measuring progress. Obviously 4th is 4th, and 4th is higher than 5th, everyone knows that. However, looking at the points total, you can easily see if there is progress season to season. Obviously, comparing now to 10 years ago would be a bit of a madness, considering that the game has changed and so has the league. But it can be easily compared with the last 2-3 seasons to see if we are better or worse.

Compared to Moyes' season (our worst record) it is probably a bit too far, though if we don't beat that record, then it is gonna be one of those bad historical records. It probably does not say much though. What says more instead is that at best possible case, we will finish with the same amount of points as last year when for half of the season we had a manager sabotaging the club, and during the fight for UCL spots, we won 2 points in the last 5 matches. So over the course of the entire season, it has been absolutely awful. Of course, it might be a happy ending cause the others fecked up even more, but there is not much to build for the next season, same as how it wasn't for Chelsea when they won UCL (they won it primarily cause other teams fecked up, not cause they played well).

The only silver lining is that it has been a story of two halves, with the second half being actually very good, arguably the best since SAF left. Unfortunately, we seem to be in a mission to feck it up in the end. And unfortunately, the season gets evaluated in the entire season, as do the UCL spots.

 

[Galactic]

...despite being turd

Turd, but third.

 

[Amadaeus]

Don’t we have the same point as Moyes when he finished 7th?
I don’t understand how we are in 3rd, but Ole is very lucky to be in that position.

The stars are aligning for Ole to finish in the champions league spot and take the coveted “finish in the top four” trophy from Pochettino who he took from Wenger.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Don’t we have the same point as Moyes when he finished 7th?
I don’t understand how we are in 3rd, but Ole is very lucky to be in that position.

The stars are aligning for Ole to finish in the champions league spot and take the coveted “finish in the top four” trophy from Pochettino who he took from Wenger.

Are you on a contract whereby you are obligated to mention Pochettino in every single post?

As for 3rd place, let's see what happens on Sunday. It would obviously be a job very well done in the second half of the season but at the same time our actual results this season as a whole have been terrible, as is reflected by the points total. I'm still skeptical about our managers ability but he will get another year so one just has to hope he flourishes.

 

[Vernon Philander]

In what way?

Feels like we have no business finishing there, given the first half of our season. Also, kinda just wanted to s*** on Spurs

 

[Web of Bissaka]

3rd is the best possibility so yes, it is good.
20 games ago you wouldn't expect us to get near third.

Ok, in that context, fair enough. Cheers.

 

[sport2793]

Are you on a contract whereby you are obligated to mention Pochettino in every single post?

As for 3rd place, let's see what happens on Sunday. It would obviously be a job very well done in the second half of the season but at the same time our actual results this season as a whole have been terrible, as is reflected by the points total. I'm still skeptical about our managers ability but he will get another year so one just has to hope he flourishes.

I sometimes suspect he's one of Pochettino's children.

 

[sport2793]

Weakest the league was in a long time.

For example, Liverpool in 07/08 finished 4-th with 76 points, while three teams had more than 80 points.

There's no way the league in 07/08 was stronger as a whole than now.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Considering where we were at lockdown this is very good. High standards should also match reality.

Good post, agreed.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Feck Chelsea. They have pretty much secured top 4 haven't they?
Feck them I hope we'll finish 3rd.

Not even close.

Chances% of them qualified is similar as us.

 

[Redplane]

Good to see some folks don't use every mediocre or bad performance to jump off the deep end. Perhaps it ll be squeeky bum time against Leicester, but as Maguire said - if they can't charge themselves for that game they shouldn't be on the pitch. In other words - I'm expecting our lads to run rampant and make it very clear that that top 4 spot was always ours.

 

[Revan]

Are you on a contract whereby you are obligated to mention Pochettino in every single post?

As for 3rd place, let's see what happens on Sunday. It would obviously be a job very well done in the second half of the season but at the same time our actual results this season as a whole have been terrible, as is reflected by the points total. I'm still skeptical about our managers ability but he will get another year so one just has to hope he flourishes.

 

[Revan]

There's no way the league in 07/08 was stronger as a whole than now.

The top teams were stronger (3 times in a row 3 EPL teams reached semi finals, with the fourth team being knocked out by an English team). That made qualifying for UCL harder than it is now.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Good to see some folks don't use every mediocre or bad performance to jump off the deep end. Perhaps it ll be squeeky bum time against Leicester, but as Maguire said - if they can't charge themselves for that game they shouldn't be on the pitch. In other words - I'm expecting our lads to run rampant and make it very clear that that top 4 spot was always ours.

Sure hope so. But I'd also warn against being too intent on showcasing bravado and "going for the jugular". Patience, focus, precision and composure will also be key this Sunday. With us, it's a dichotomy - off the ball I feel we don't press in as good or organised a manager as we should, and then on the ball we can rush things. People here love risk taking. And yes, it's better to be aggressive than timid. But being careless with lame half baked aggressiveness isn't the need of the hour.

Seems I went on a bit of a tangent/rant there. Let's just hope we put on a performance this Sunday.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

There's no way the league in 07/08 was stronger as a whole than now.

It's the only way as it most definitely was.

 

[meamth]

Excellent achievement. What do we win?

More money into the club, more pulling power into the club, more investors, more sponsors, whatever the feck we can get after 3rd place finish.

Basically, we win more money.

 

[RedRonaldo]

If we win our last game, we will finish 3rd.

We can still do it, can we? Our form is starting to turn bad.. its getting a bit worrying.

 

[The Urban Goose]

Third ain't bad for a side that was gonna drop like a stone and get relegated.

And with the worst manager in the league.
Sell Bruno sack Ole, sign Messi. Or something.

 

[Nickelodeon]

Man this thread will be depressing if we lose on the final day. Title will be edited to ‘We were third’

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

There's no way the league in 07/08 was stronger as a whole than now.

It easily was.

The standard of the league then was supremely high. You had 3 teams fighting for the title til Arsenal collapsed in the end.

 

[hungrywing]

Man this thread will be depressing if we lose on the final day. Title will be edited to ‘We were third’

Don't forget, technically it should be depressing period.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Celebrating the top 4 trophy while falling way behind not one but two arch rivals. Oh!! how the mighty have fallen.

We are Man Utd. Nothing short of title challenge should be celebrated here.


Just paraphrasing the arguments made when some posters said getting 2nd was a decent achievement in that season under Jose Mourinho.

 

[cyril C]

Man this thread will be depressing if we lose on the final day. Title will be edited to ‘We were third’

The good thing is, it will be settled between 2 teams fighting for CL slot. If Leicester City is better rested and better prepared, and "lucky" enough to beat us in the final game, it only tells me Rogers is a better manager.

In another thread about how we break the record to score >3 goals in 3 games etc., I have said people are reading too much into it. It only meant Leicester had easier 1/3 of the schedule but we have the easy 1/3 at the end. It will all come back to us, if we are good enough for CL, or not, despite spending far much more than Leicester and Chelsea.

 

[USREDEVIL]

If we lose I reckon the axe comes out.

 

[sport2793]

The top teams were stronger (3 times in a row 3 EPL teams reached semi finals, with the fourth team being knocked out by an English team). That made qualifying for UCL harder than it is now.

It's the only way as it most definitely was.

It easily was.

The standard of the league then was supremely high. You had 3 teams fighting for the title til Arsenal collapsed in the end.

My argument was about the whole league (top, mid, and lower table). You had the likes of Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Fulham, Bolton, none of these teams produced anything memorable and lingered in mediocrity for a long time before being relegated. Derby Country got 11 points that season, with 1 win and 29 defeats! Think of all those freebie points that went to the top half of the table. Don't give me some bs argument that the teams above them were just that good.

I think the reason that fans here would want to argue that the league was stronger back then is because they want to believe/hold onto the idea that the United 07/08 team was superior than the current Liverpool and Man City sides. I'm not interested in letting my bias cloud me that much, the standard of football was much poorer then in the league as a whole. If we want to be brutally honest, the performances that United and Chelsea served up in the 07/08 CL final would not be good enough in the present for the same level of match.

 

[Micky Targaryen]

I was in the Ole out camp throughout the season, but even if we get 3rd or 4th come Sunday, I will say Ole deserves another season to make us contenders.

 

[Hoboman]

My argument was about the whole league (top, mid, and lower table). You had the likes of Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Fulham, Bolton, none of these teams produced anything memorable and lingered in mediocrity for a long time before being relegated. Derby Country got 11 points that season, with 1 win and 29 defeats! Think of all those freebie points that went to the top half of the table. Don't give me some bs argument that the teams above them were just that good.

I think the reason that fans here would want to argue that the league was stronger back then is because they want to believe/hold onto the idea that the United 07/08 team was superior than the current Liverpool and Man City sides. I'm not interested in letting my bias cloud me that much, the standard of football was much poorer then in the league as a whole. If we want to be brutally honest, the performances that United and Chelsea served up in the 07/08 CL final would not be good enough in the present for the same level of match.

Yeah, CL final between Liverpool and Tottenham was clearly a pinnacle of modern football.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

My argument was about the whole league (top, mid, and lower table). You had the likes of Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Fulham, Bolton, none of these teams produced anything memorable and lingered in mediocrity for a long time before being relegated. Derby Country got 11 points that season, with 1 win and 29 defeats! Think of all those freebie points that went to the top half of the table. Don't give me some bs argument that the teams above them were just that good.

I think the reason that fans here would want to argue that the league was stronger back then is because they want to believe/hold onto the idea that the United 07/08 team was superior than the current Liverpool and Man City sides. I'm not interested in letting my bias cloud me that much, the standard of football was much poorer then in the league as a whole. If we want to be brutally honest, the performances that United and Chelsea served up in the 07/08 CL final would not be good enough in the present for the same level of match.

That CL final between Tottenham-Liverpool sure was a football marvel.

Give me a break.

Derby were awful, but you had 4 teams make the quarters in Europe and 3 make the semi-finals. When the top of the table is that good, of course the standard is higher.

There's plenty of awful teams now too.

There's awful teams in every league campaign.

The current league is a joke. 3rd place is 63 points at the moment. 63 points. A pitiful amount.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Yeah, CL final between Liverpool and Tottenham was clearly a pinnacle of modern football.

Was just going to say that. Fecking Spurs made the final. Ajax made the semi finals. Oh how United and Chelsea would shake in their boots at the idea of facing Spurs and Ajax. Standards.

 

[dal]

Points totals, nobs.

If you finish third you’re better than 17 teams throughout the season, it does not matter about the points you have ffs.

It’s all relative.

 

[Dan_F]

Celebrating the top 4 trophy while falling way behind not one but two arch rivals. Oh!! how the mighty have fallen.

We are Man Utd. Nothing short of title challenge should be celebrated here.


Just paraphrasing the arguments made when some posters said getting 2nd was a decent achievement in that season under Jose Mourinho.

It is possible to be happy to get in the top four this year, whilst not being happy that we’re not challenging for the title again.

For the club to get anywhere near the title over the next few years, we simply have to get in the Champions League this season. Especially given the financial circumstances. It’s the difference between signing Jadon Sancho +2, or £75 million on 3 players.