We're in a fight for 2nd

[Web of Bissaka]

It is a weird situation, Mourinho's inability to organise us and have us playing as a team. I agree with what a lot of people have said, that we look like a collection of talented individuals, but not much of a team. It is meant to be his biggest strength - his organisation and team spirit building - in the short term at least. We are in the second-season-sweet-spot but it just isnt happening.

Ive said this before but I think its because he is trying to do it differently to how he has done it in the past. He is trying to take "the United way" on board and is struggling to synthesise what he is good at with what he knows we want. The good news, if Im right, is that he is at least trying to adapt to be what the club wants him to be. He is an intelligent and experienced guy so maybe he will get it right - I certainly feel we have little choice but to back him and hope for the best. But my worry is it means we end up with neither: it isnt the swashbuckling football many fans want, but it isnt his own ruthlessly efficient brand of anti football either. Its a hybrid, but it doesnt always look like it is taking the right elements of its component parts.

Most likely this is off-topic, but anyway.

1st para,
Attacking department: Lukaku and recently Sanchez (two of the 4 starters) just joined us this season so.. still disjointed is expected. Early season Lukaku just joined so the chemistry is still building up there. Throwing in Sanchez straightaway unsurprisingly half way this season disturb the chemistry and balance of the whole team slightly. Lukaku early season and Sanchez 2nd half of this season. Highly Promising, imagine once they've all clicks i.e. developed good chemistry.

Midfield department: Injury to Pogba early on and then his hit-and-miss on/off form since then plus Herrera's bad patches of form.

Defence department: unsettle back four, CB chop and change a lot, as the context of injuries mainly and performance demands it. Not enough gaming times to develop proper understanding between back four. Lindelof also just joined and still adapting to EPL.

Those "problems" in all 3 departments except GK mean our disorganization and chemistry is still as it is.

Team spirit is fine, despite the dramatic stories many press loves to build about our team.

2nd para, the integration of his hybrid football (Mourinho's football + some of the United's way) is still incomplete considering the 'problems' that he's dealing this season, so the team does not straightaway clicks is as expected. We are at where we are atm, which is still impressive considering. Also, the type of players he had with this current squad he's managing is a lot younger in comparison to his usual more veteran squad full of experienced players. Inconsistencies and ineffectiveness of young players is a lot more common than the older experienced players. We didn't do that bad though.

 

[Adebesi]

Most likely off-topic, anyway.

1st para,
Attacking department: Lukaku and recently Sanchez (two of the 4 starters) just joined us this season so.. still disjointed is expected. Early season Lukaku just joined so the chemistry is still building up there. Throwing in Sanchez straightaway unsurprisingly half way this season disturb the chemistry and balance of the whole team slightly. Lukaku early season and Sanchez 2nd hald of this season. Highly Promising, imagine once they've all clicks i.e. developed good chemistry.

Midfield department: Injury to Pogba early on and then his hit-and-miss on/off form since then plus Herrera's bad patches of form.

Defence department: unsettle back four, CB chop and change a lot, as the context of injuries mainly and performance demands it. Not enough gaming times to develop proper understanding between back four. Lindelof also just joined and still adapting to EPL.

Those "problems" in all 3 departments except GK mean our disorganization and chemistry is still as it is.

Team spirit is fine, despite the dramatic stories many press loves to build about our team.

2nd para, the integration of his hybrid football (Mourinho's football + some of the United's way) is still incomplete considering the 'problems' that he's dealing this season, so the team does not straightaway clicks is as expected. We are at where we are atm, which is still impressive considering. Also, the type of players he had with this current squad he's managing is a lot younger in comparison to his usual more veteran squad full of experienced players. Inconsistencies and ineffectiveness of young players is a lot more common than the older experienced players. We didn't do that bad though.

All sounds very plausible. I like your optimism.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

I’ll say it again to others who seem to think I’ve made a reactionary post, I’ve stood by this position since November.

A scrappy yet admittedly spirited clawback, against relegation candidates, isn’t going to make me eat my words.

I can’t see United back to their best under him, 18 months on and still play like a bunch of individuals who struggle to pass 5 yards forward. The fact that people seem to think these performances, where we’re absolute dogshite for 60+ mins, are a one off, is astounding.

Players need to take responsibility but the buck stops with the man at the helm. They don’t seem to enjoy the football and surprise surprise neither do a lot of the fans.

I gave Van Gaal no love for the absolutely tumescent football we turned out under his spell. Mourinho is roughly at the same point now and the football is just as dire, better results aside, it still feels as if we desperately scramble and cling on rather than comfortably see a game out. The team can play a lot positively than this, it doesn’t mean they have to be City/Liverpool gung ho about it.

Also there’s 9 games left, stop thinking 2nd is a foregone conclusion. Top 4 should be safe.

Actually, some of those are fine and you're entitled to your perspective.

I agree that we should be a lot more dominating, especially against the small teams whom we should dominate and win comfortably. Still, are we forgetting the fact that this is the most exciting league, English Premier League? Only in England where you can find this giant killing gamesss, small teams beat the top teams, even frickin Wigan beat the title leader MCity.

I have to disagree with the statement of our players doesn't enjoy the football. Seems to be in contrary to a lot of games. Obv no players enjoys losing games. Believing the dramatic stories by press about our players too much?

Additionally, emotion such as hatred (or love for that matter if anyone wants to go that far and relate) can be blinding and affects our thinking and evaluation. It sounds like you're not a fan of Mourinho, which is fine, no need to be a fan of the manager to support this club. So perhaps, just maybe your hatred towards the manager, influence you unconsciously to not try and see the promising development we i.e the whole squad (players, manager and coaches) have been and are still making?

 

[JG3001]

Actually, some of those are fine and you're entitled to your perspective.

I agree that we should be a lot more dominating, especially against the small teams whom we should dominate and win comfortably. Still, are we forgetting the fact that this is the most exciting league, English Premier League? Only in England where you can find this giant killing gamesss, small teams beat the top teams, even frickin Wigan beat the title leader MCity.

I have to disagree with the statement of our players doesn't enjoy the football. Seems to be in contrary to a lot of games. Obv no players enjoys losing games. Believing the dramatic stories by press about our players too much?

Additionally, emotion such as hatred (or love for that matter if anyone wants to go that far and relate) can be blinding and affects our thinking and evaluation. It sounds like you're not a fan of Mourinho, which is fine, no need to be a fan of the manager to support this club. So perhaps, just maybe your hatred towards the manager, influence you unconsciously to not try and see the promising development we i.e the whole squad (players, manager and coaches) have been and are still making?

I wouldn’t go as far to say as I hate him, but his “everyone else’s fault but me” attitude really does grate on me.

I would never wish a loss upon the team to get rid of him, I’m not that far gone. I just think he’s not a good fit.

I’m not trying to be psychology/body language expert, but I sometimes get the general vibe from watching the players that they get frustrated from the restricted tactics implemented. Against the top 6 candidates I can understand it even if I don’t agree, but the other teams I feel (most of the time) we should be able to play our own game rather than waiting for others to make a mistake.

I don’t think if we played this fast paced high press game we’d all of a sudden be top of the league, but at the same time I still think we’d be in a very similar position to where we are now playing a more attractive brand of football.

Sure there maybe a few more uncomfortable 3-2, 4-3s in there, but you need that kind of excitement from time to time.

For the record, I was a fan of the appointment, but that’s because I though Mou would be a bit more flexible in his approach to us, it appeared he was going to but then reverted to type very quickly.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Pulling away at the right time. At the beginning of the year, we were 3rd (for one game), 1 point behind Chelsea, 3 ahead of Liverpool and 7 ahead of Arsenal (5th).

Now, we're 12 ahead of Chelsea (5th) and 5 ahead of Liverpool. 21 points from a possible 27.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

I think we're starting to peak at the most important time of the season as the title is long over, but everything else there to be won.

 

[breakout67]

The worst team in the top 6 pulling away again

 

[SalfordRed18]

4 points from our last 4 games gets us 2nd I think? Unless we have a feck up of epic proportions, it Should be all ours.

Highest finish in the league post fergie, and an FA Cup final to come. Anyone still disappointed with the season?

I'm satisfied.

 

[Damien]

My only disappointment is with how we approached the Sevilla game. As nice as it was to have signed Sanchez I think trying to integrate him into the team took us off the rails a bit as we were in good form beforehand.

 

[Castia]

4 points from our last 4 games gets us 2nd I think? Unless we have a feck up of epic proportions, it Should be all ours.

Highest finish in the league post fergie, and an FA Cup final to come. Anyone still disappointed with the season?

I'm satisfied.

There’s improvement for sure but it’s not been great. Second this season whilst so far behind and not putting up a title challenge feels a bit shallow.

 

[AltiUn]

My only disappointment is with how we approached the Sevilla game.

Agreed, apart from that it's been generally quite a good season.

 

[JohnnyKills]

There’s improvement for sure but it’s not been great. Second this season whilst so far behind and not putting up a title challenge feels a bit shallow.

I'm more than happy with 2nd. Was hoping for 3rd at the start of the season.

But the football has been dire, so it all feels rather unsatisfactory.

 

[MoXoM]

4 points from our last 4 games gets us 2nd I think? Unless we have a feck up of epic proportions, it Should be all ours.

Highest finish in the league post fergie, and an FA Cup final to come. Anyone still disappointed with the season?

I'm satisfied.

I believe it is 5 points.

If we only manage to get 4 points from our last 4 games and Liverpool win their last 2 matches then we'd be equal on points.

It would then go down to goal difference. Liverpool currently have a better goal difference than us...

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

My only disappointment is with how we approached the Sevilla game.

Same. Other than that, a good season.

 

[breakout67]

There’s improvement for sure but it’s not been great. Second this season whilst so far behind and not putting up a title challenge feels a bit shallow.

So you expected us to challenge and be on 90+ points this season after the shitshow we have seen post SAF?

Just for reference, Chelsea's title winning team last season would be 9 points behind this City team right now and they finished on 93 points at the end. City are on for 100 points, no one was going to challenge this City team this season.

 

[Ish]

Kudos to the team and players for continuously pushing and going - even though city set an unprecedented pace and they were basically nailed on champions before the halfway mark (maybe a tad bit of a hyperbole)....

Bit disappointed that the league was over so soon, but kudos to city for their record breaking form. Also highly disappointed we didn’t get past Sevilla in the UCL.

Hopefully we end up with second and the fa cup.

 

[zenith]

I'm ok with it too, expected more of a title fight and at least the quarter finals of the CL, but this not bad either

 

[sullydnl]

I hoped for a title challenge this year. We didn't really get that but given we finished second and City were unusually dominant this year it's probably close enough.

The Sevilla games (and particularly our approach in them) were the real dissapointment this season.

If we win the FA Cup I'll be happy enough, though more will be expected next year.

 

[haram]

Something to build on. Next season will be better, I’m sure of it!

 

[Varun]

No complains about the league this season. Only disappointment was the manner of the CL exit.

 

[AgentP]

My only disappointment is with how we approached the Sevilla game. As nice as it was to have signed Sanchez I think trying to integrate him into the team took us off the rails a bit as we were in good form beforehand.

Same feeling. But atleast we can now see signs of how good Sanchez can be from next season.

 

[el3mel]

Win the Fa Cup and it'll be a successful season no doubt. Lose it and I'll say it was average season tbf with some improvements to carry for the next one but wouldn't be able to label it as pure success.

 

[El-Manos]

My only disappointment is with how we approached the Sevilla game. As nice as it was to have signed Sanchez I think trying to integrate him into the team took us off the rails a bit as we were in good form beforehand.

This. Sevilla game(both legs) were awful. Apart from that solid season.

 

[Damien]

This. Sevilla game(both legs) were awful. A part from that solid season.

Yeah, first leg was bad that we didn't score away. In the second leg we played more like we had an away goal and us scoring wasn't urgent. Gave all the impetus to Sevilla with them just needing that goal and once they brought Ben Yedder on they got the goals they deserved.

 

[Castia]

So you expected us to challenge and be on 90+ points this season after the shitshow we have seen post SAF?

Just for reference, Chelsea's title winning team last season would be 9 points behind this City team right now and they finished on 93 points at the end. City are on for 100 points, no one was going to challenge this City team this season.

I don’t know what I expected but second in the current circumstances isn’t getting me excited.

Second or fourth with City having no challenge all season makes little difference to me, I won’t celebrate coming second.

 

[Paxi]

We've did well. It's just overshadowed by how freakishly good the Berties have been.

 

[Sterling Archer]

4 points from our last 4 games gets us 2nd I think? Unless we have a feck up of epic proportions, it Should be all ours.

Highest finish in the league post fergie, and an FA Cup final to come. Anyone still disappointed with the season?

I'm satisfied.

Very satisfied. Truth is, we have won leagues on similar form before. This season we have a record breaking side ahead of us...one that has been in the works for several years and is finally living up to the hype. United, however, are a more newly minted side and I expected a few seasons to truly grasp our worth. But a strong 2nd place finish, a nice victory over every other top 6 side, fa cup semi final make for a pretty good season when considering where we were post SAF.

Let's cement second and win the cup.

 

[breakout67]

I don’t know what I expected but second in the current circumstances isn’t getting me excited.

Second or fourth with City having no challenge all season makes little difference to me, I won’t celebrate coming second.

I don't think anyone is celebrating 2nd. Sometimes you just have to admit that another team is doing something crazy and work on improving and working out how to get better.

I'm excited about the FA cup final, and that is important. Having something to play for at the end of the season is important IMO.

 

[Adisa]

Predicted 3rd at the beginning of the season because I didn't think Chelsea would be such a disaster.
Very satisfied with our league position but I think 16 points behind City exaggerates the gap in quality. I feel we dropped points in a lot of games because we weren't aggressive enough in our approach and feel Mourinho needs to go for games in a more aggressive fashion next season.
The Sevilla games will be a stain on the season. Our approach to both games against a team we are easily better than was inexcusable.

 

[Castia]

I don't think anyone is celebrating 2nd. Sometimes you just have to admit that another team is doing something crazy and work on improving and working out how to get better.

I'm excited about the FA cup final, and that is important. Having something to play for at the end of the season is important IMO.

Yeah true the cup final is something to look forward too. It’s not been all doom and gloom we’ve made progress that’s for sure, let’s hope next season we can go one step further.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Looks like we've secured 2nd now. Even if we slip up against Arsenal, we have a tidy run-in. In fact though, I expect us to win tomorrow and drop points at Brighon on Friday night.

 

[Kapardin]

I don’t know what I expected but second in the current circumstances isn’t getting me excited.

Second or fourth with City having no challenge all season makes little difference to me, I won’t celebrate coming second.

Yep, I think the reason we don't recognize the merits is because 1st was so far ahead. We have been stuck in a sort of no-man's land in 2nd the whole season, which made the league games a bit flat.

 

[edgar allan]

Certainly a big improvement on last year and I would have settled for second place at the start of the season for sure.
The lack of a challenge and the poor style of our play at times takes the gloss of it a bit for me and Liverpool have definitely been distracted by the CL in the run in.

The result in the cup final will determine if our season was a success or not.

 

[P-Nut]

Certainly a big improvement on last year and I would have settled for second place at the start of the season for sure.
The lack of a challenge and the poor style of our play at times takes the gloss of it a bit for me and Liverpool have definitely been distracted by the CL in the run in.

The result in the cup final will determine if our season was a success or not.

2nd season in a row a successful season will be determined by 1 game.

 

[Handré1990]

My only disappointment is with how we approached the Sevilla game. As nice as it was to have signed Sanchez I think trying to integrate him into the team took us off the rails a bit as we were in good form beforehand.

So true, and those games broke the season for me. A Mourinho team on song could have made it to the Semis this year, at the very least. Objectively it is a good season.

Edit: @Adisa agree with your point about the gap of 16 points being less telling than many seem to think. We’ve become more stable, and if we were a little more stable in games we’d normally win it’d be 6-8 points between us.

 

[edgar allan]

2nd season in a row a successful season will be determined by 1 game.

Very true.

 

[Adisa]

2nd season in a row a successful season will be determined by 1 game.

Tbf, this could be said of any season we don't win the league.

 

[willhse456]

Sevilla still hurts, especially when watching Liverpool do so well in the Champions League. Sevilla have only won once in their last eleven games, their win being the game at Old Trafford.

 

[Rajma]

Sevilla still hurts, especially when watching Liverpool do so well in the Champions League. Sevilla have only won once in their last eleven games, their win being the game at Old Trafford.

when you put it that way...wow. It really is daunting and until scousers get knocked out I can't get excited about 2nd, even though it is admirable position of course. I'm depressing piece of shit in that sense though.

 

[el3mel]

2nd season in a row a successful season will be determined by 1 game.

Don't find any problem with this. Except for City, all other English teams are similar, they all have 1 competition to secure their season as a successful or just an improvement (or not for some).