Drawing Chelsea was ok but not great. We need to keep winning all 4 games, including Arsenal. I hope he spank them, we have some revenge to do.Is it that obvious?
the sentiment I do agree with is that there will certainly be no more freak defeats this season: squad is now fit and has good depth all over the pitch.
If Ole and team can get to international break without losing or only one loss, then we are in a very good place for the season.
hope for the best and be kind if it doesn’t happenS
We're about to go on a title run, stop with the negativity
- Thread starter freeurmind
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Right on track 
On a more serious thought. This season is super unpredictable. Especially with the injury of VVD. 6 games into the season and among the considered contenders only Liverpool is in the top 4. Anything can happen.
I still don't think we would but let's come back to this by Christmas.
On a more serious thought. This season is super unpredictable. Especially with the injury of VVD. 6 games into the season and among the considered contenders only Liverpool is in the top 4. Anything can happen.
I still don't think we would but let's come back to this by Christmas.
Just so frustrating that we aren't trying out a midfield of either Matic,Right on track
On a more serious thought. This season is super unpredictable. Especially with the injury of VVD. 6 games into the season and among the considered contenders only Liverpool is in the top 4. Anything can happen.
I still don't think we would but let's come back to this by Christmas.
VDB & Bruno or Matic,VDB & Pogba because Ole is too safety first at times
Well that didn’t happen
we were absolutely not mid table or out the top four near Christmas in 08/09. And it definitely means something. We can’t just write off the start of every season. Even Sir Alex recognised that in the mid noughties that you could no longer start slowly and expect to win the league. Not saying I expect a league title but the mentality should never ever be to see a bad start as meaning nothing. Three points are three points in August and three points are three points in May.Can't blame him after the shows of Matic, Pogba in the first three matches I think. Especially against Spurs.
VDB imo is not ready for the PL yet. In the few minutes he had against Newcastle apart from the pass to Mata he's quite sloppy. A few times he received a pass then lost the ball when being pressed. He needs to think and act faster. The PL is tough and fast, as most of the cases of oversea signings he'd need a bit more time to settle in I think. Very rare cases like Bruno who needed no time to adapt.
We were 3rd with two games in hand at the halfway stage. Not quite mid-table.
I envy the OP's optimism, it must be nice. But we're obviously not winning the league, or getting anywhere near it this season.
The points lost are points gone and nothing guarantees we will go on a similar run as last season during this one.
I don't think we will ever be in a serious title race with these owners, this club structure and this coaching team and these players.
Far too many issues at the same time for me
I don't think we will ever be in a serious title race with these owners, this club structure and this coaching team and these players.
Far too many issues at the same time for me
The days you could lose 6 and still nicely win the league have gone.
How many did Liverpool lose in total last year? Or how many games at home did they drop points in?
We've got one point from nine at home!
The battle will be a tough one for 4th maximum. And that relies on us putting a superb spell in again
How many did Liverpool lose in total last year? Or how many games at home did they drop points in?
We've got one point from nine at home!
The battle will be a tough one for 4th maximum. And that relies on us putting a superb spell in again
I don’t know why but I always remember that we always had slow start and slowly climbing up and back to title race by near Christmas. But the point still stands that being slow in start of season has been common in our case in the past and means nothing because what counts is the end of the season. Even in that 08/19 we were 15th in 4 games after drew to Chelsea 1-1.Well that didn’t happen
Yeah in the late 90’s when we won titles with less than 80 points. That changed with the invincibles and Romans Chelsea. First four games in 08/09 yeah we did win 1/4 but we played Liverpool and Chelsea but the bad start would never go beyond 3/4 games. We were certainly nowhere near mid table in our title wins post 2003 in the winter months or even in non title winning years.
We are too reliant on Rashford, Martial and Greenwood to get us the goals. And they are extremely inconsistent. If two of them step up this season, particularly Rashford and Martial, then we are in with a chance.
It doesn’t change the point that being 15th in the first 4-5 games means nothing when what it counts is actually the end of the season not the first 4-5 games.
It always matters and should matter at Manchester United. My main argument anyway was against the claims that we’d be mid table at Christmas. This may have happened twice in Fergies time.
Important to point that out, because I’m going to assume if we’re 14th in December these sort of comments will be thrown around and it should never ever be accepted at our club. Results in the first half of the season effect the whole season.
Nice not-wumming.
But that’s the point of my argument that I replied to the other poster.
It is also about setting them up in good positions so that they are not dependent on dribbling two players to get a clear shot on goal. Something we are still struggling with. On average, our attackers are more than efficient enough as finishers, it is just that they do not get the chances.
If we win our game in hand we'll only be 3 points off the top after 6 games. Hardly a crisis. the league is wide open at the moment with 10/11 teams all with 4 points.Right on track
On a more serious thought. This season is super unpredictable. Especially with the injury of VVD. 6 games into the season and among the considered contenders only Liverpool is in the top 4. Anything can happen.
I still don't think we would but let's come back to this by Christmas.
When I first seen the title I must admit I did have a little chuckle but thinking about it why not?
I now don't see anyone with a stronger squad than ours in the PL. City look like a spent force, Liverpool will have lost that hunger after winning their first PL and VVD will be a big loss for them. Everton even though they have a great manager won't last the pace because they've no depth in their squad. Chelsea and Arsenal have mediocre managers and Jose is always an unknown.
The big question is does Ole have what it takes to get us there?
I now don't see anyone with a stronger squad than ours in the PL. City look like a spent force, Liverpool will have lost that hunger after winning their first PL and VVD will be a big loss for them. Everton even though they have a great manager won't last the pace because they've no depth in their squad. Chelsea and Arsenal have mediocre managers and Jose is always an unknown.
The big question is does Ole have what it takes to get us there?
On paper with the squad at his disposal top 4 should be nailed on for Ole. Now the ask is does he grow a pair and try to win games to win the league, or does he sit back with 7 defensive players at home against the big clubs and hope to score on the break. It didn't happen against Chelsea and Spurs already turned us over.
This season feels like another club could do a Leicester and we should be doing all we can to win games.
This season feels like another club could do a Leicester and we should be doing all we can to win games.
The league is not really wide open. Liverpool will walk it.
Bruno is good for his share, if only VDB could be integrated into an effective system there'd be even more goals from midfield. Also midfielders making intelligent runs also opens more spaces for the attackers meaning more goals. We have the players, just need the coaching.
What about if we swapped Fred for Matic in there or do you still feel that Donny shouldn't be starting games yet
Imo Matic for Fred is not a good idea since Matic is too slow now and Chelsea has a very good midfield with super quick and flair players. We may use Matic for his passing in matches we know we can dominate the midfield with him and McT for example. A supposedly easier one I think. But imo if for that kind of matches I'd start Pogba over Matic. I hope Matic can regain his form but I have a feeling that Ole has decided to use him as a sub only. It's better for the team and also better for him. At his age it's very important to manage his playing time properly to prolong his career.
VDB should start games but not in the PL yet I think. Imo he should start next match. He has plenty experience in the CL and Bruno can use some rest. That's what we bought him for I think.
Why would anyone believe you when you start a thread and you don't bother reply ?
It seems to me we have players with enough quality to go on a title run. Ole and the coaching staff just need to find the right balance, but they need to do it quickly, we can’t go on dropping points.
We have all criticized Dan James inclusion in the team against Chelsea, but it’s all about trying to find that balance for the team, he is looking for lots of energy from James. Perhaps Ole is also trying to support James and not just be completely ruthless with a forward who hasn’t scored in 32 games. That also requires finding the balance between support and ruthlessness.
We need to start performing quickly in all our competitions, the excuse of no preseason is wearing thin. We know Ole will finally get It right and go on a winning run. But can he do it quickly before the season is gone?
We have all criticized Dan James inclusion in the team against Chelsea, but it’s all about trying to find that balance for the team, he is looking for lots of energy from James. Perhaps Ole is also trying to support James and not just be completely ruthless with a forward who hasn’t scored in 32 games. That also requires finding the balance between support and ruthlessness.
We need to start performing quickly in all our competitions, the excuse of no preseason is wearing thin. We know Ole will finally get It right and go on a winning run. But can he do it quickly before the season is gone?
If we go on a 8/10 game winning run, who is to say confidence alone cannot get us challenging?
Confidence in football does funny things.
Of course we are in a title run. Just like 11 other teams who also seem to be in the run.
Running right against the wall that is. Sorry but 7 years of false dawns have drained all optimism out of me.
I’m being completely honest here, at the end of last season I shared similar thought briefly, since the disruption and tight schedule means this season would inevitably be unpredictable.
The issue here is, we blew our chance by not ditching the Europa to have some rest and a semblance of a pre-season. Now obviously it’s easy in hindsight to say so and most of the fan base would laugh at the notion of ditching a competition when it was only 3 games until silverware, but if we were to have a proper run this season, being well prepared and hit the ground running to build momentum is important, especially as we were running on fumes the last few fixtures the previous season. With the start we had, the transfer activities and the atmosphere around the club at the moment, that’s most likely out of the question, even more so if you are of the opinion that Ole isn’t up to snuff.
The issue here is, we blew our chance by not ditching the Europa to have some rest and a semblance of a pre-season. Now obviously it’s easy in hindsight to say so and most of the fan base would laugh at the notion of ditching a competition when it was only 3 games until silverware, but if we were to have a proper run this season, being well prepared and hit the ground running to build momentum is important, especially as we were running on fumes the last few fixtures the previous season. With the start we had, the transfer activities and the atmosphere around the club at the moment, that’s most likely out of the question, even more so if you are of the opinion that Ole isn’t up to snuff.
We either win the league or get relegated, there is no middle ground this season.
Liverpool will win comfortably, but I fancy our chances for second place. We've been far from full strength yet put some good performances. Goals will come.
It seems like any team that can put together a decent run right now will be in the mix - and why not us? Yes, we had a rough start, but we starting to settle now, and I think the results will come. Liverpool look most likely again to win it, but there's gonna be a lot of upsets this year, we'll hopefully be in the mix at least.
bump
I’m still livid that our totally unnecessary and largely egotistical tilt at the Europa League last season scuppered our start to this. We should have sacked it off, took our well-earned and desperately-needed break and started this season refreshed and full of intent. Instead we looked lethargic for the first four weeks and lost needless ground on the pace-setters in the league. Absolutely infuriating.
There’s no doubting we’d be well in the mix had we prioritised this season instead of fooling around in Germany for 2-3 weeks after last season’s end when the rest of the league had their feet up.
There’s no doubting we’d be well in the mix had we prioritised this season instead of fooling around in Germany for 2-3 weeks after last season’s end when the rest of the league had their feet up.
Absolutely.
I dont agree with this. Whats the point of getting into Europe if your just going to throw the competition so you can get into Europe the next season? Fortunately Leicester fell off a cliff and we were able to beat them on the last day otherwise a loss and we would have been in the Europa league again. We should be going out to win every game.
Oneill got slated when he was the Villa manager for doing just that and admitted he had played a weakened team in the intertoto cup, to increase his chances in the PL to play in the intertoto cup the year after!
At least half of the teams in the PL aren't going to be playing the extreme high line that RBL did last night. The lads turned in a strong performance but we still need to be able to consistently beat sides which set up a low block against us if we hope to at least make top 4.
To put our start into some context , we win our game in hand against Burnley we’re 3 points off the top. It’s all about consistency for this side. We shown last year from January onwards that we can put a run together. We do the same again this year, given how all of the ‘big 6’ seem to be dropping points, surely we’ll be challenging for the title.
I genuinely think we’re set for one of the most open title races for years- Liverpool aren’t a shoe in minus Van Djik and City look vulnerable. Given our squad depth and seeing those options we had to bring on last night, if Ole manages this squad well & we remain consistent, we’ll challenge.
I genuinely think we’re set for one of the most open title races for years- Liverpool aren’t a shoe in minus Van Djik and City look vulnerable. Given our squad depth and seeing those options we had to bring on last night, if Ole manages this squad well & we remain consistent, we’ll challenge.
>We are too reliant on our strikers
What am I reading?! Look at Liverpool's front 3 and the percentage of the team's goals they've scored over the last 2 seasons. Being reliant on 3 strikers isn't a negative. We also have Cavani as a back up
You’d think after PSG and Chelsea that people would wait until Arsenal to post here.