Will we finish top 4?

P-Nut

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Entitled to a moan at least once per week especially when our main rivals Liverpool and City put teams away with ease. If we’d have got Porto or Basel we would have struggled to get 1 past them. We play the worlds most boring football for the money we’ve spent and as the thread is about the top 4 I’ll stick with prediction of a tight battle for 4th with Chelsea.
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsl...ches/round=2000881/match=2021588/index.html#/
:smirk::wenger:

Or did you mean 1 less than City?
 

gajender

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The next six will decide if we do or not.

Chelsea (h)
Palace (a)
Liverpool (h)
West Ham (a)
Swansea (h)
City (a)

Anything less than 12 points in these games and I could see us struggling to finish in the top 4. Besides Swansea (are in good form themselves), who will be relatively easier, there are no free meals in those six. Palace and West Ham away will be tough fixtures with two dogged teams having two dogged managers incharge who'll park the bus and make it as tough for us as Rafa and Newcastle did last weekend. There is also the CL tie against Sevilla three days before the Chelsea game and the return leg sandwiched between the Liverpool & West Ham (a) games.
Win next two and I don't see us dropping out of top 4. We seem to stuttering at the moment but league schedule is such that if we manage couple of wins on the bounce we should be alright.
 

TRD

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Second: No chance.
Top 4: Yes. Its Mourinho. He will get results somehow except one or two odd matches which we had against Newcastle.
 

meamth

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Jose will scrap the league and focus on CL, thus us winning it with 1-0 park the bus every game and went on the CL next year.
Classic Jose.
 

Coops73

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It’s a difficult one, the Chelsea game will be crucial, I think we will but the form of Liverpool and Spurs is very worrying.
 

minoo-utd

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After our game against Chelsea. If we beat them it will be crucial for us securing top four. Sometimes I can't believe we are talking about can we get top four again this season, fecking disappointing:confused:
 

Sing you a song

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I think we have a real fight on our hands to finish top 4.
City have walked the league.Chelsea have had there blip but I feel that they have the team to do it when it matters.Liverpool are just awesome going forward and seem to be now sorting there defence.The way they played at Porto was outstanding ( our team couldn't put in a performance like that )and there front 3 make ours ( with the exception of Sanchez ) look decidedly 2nd rate there pace and drive to attack is just incredible.The champs lge form will boost them.Spurs are similar to Liverpool and now really beginning to get it together.
Next to these we look one paced,timid going forward,no real pace ( please don't shout out Martial because he only plays well one game in 4 ) and completely lacking in terms of creativity.
Shaw must come back,Pogba and Sanchez must play in there best positions and Baily must come back soon to give us any chance.
I think Jose has lost interest in the Prem
And like last season he is pinning his hopes on a European win. I have a feeling that City or Liverpool will humiliate us in Champs lge as we will not be able to cope with them flying at us and we will end the season desperately trying to stay in the top 4
 

NJM78

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I would have been happy with 4th place beginning of season. Now it looks like we may have a struggle to stay in top 4.

If (and a big if) we get turned over by Chelsea and Liverpool at home then we wont make it imo, think City Liverpool Spurs Chelsea United Arsenal.

We are in for a nervous and stressful few months I reckon.
 
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ThatAsianChap

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I am reasonably positive on normal days, but the last two results have been a massive massive downer. It is all fun & games mocking Che and Pool for their results , but we have not done great ourselves . It is irritating that the rest are still in with a chance to finish second considering we should have been home and dry by now. I dread the last 10 games, I really do :(

City
Liverpool
Spurs
Che
United

sorry
:(
 

LFCKop

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I think united fans are worrying too much after a little wobble. Mourinho is a top manager and your early season form will ensure you top 4 position not sure about 2nd spot though.
 

Marcky411

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Unless Jose pulls his finger out of his @rs and for once rips up the blueprint he is using now we could end up outside the top 4.
I really hope not, but our performances have been dire, totally frustrating to watch. After watching RM vs PSG in the CL, it saddened me as we are so far behind those teams and that after having the 3rd most expensive team in the world. That just proves funds aren’t the problem but at the same time it also proves we are paying way over the odds for mediocrity.
 

charlenefan

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Unless Jose pulls his finger out of his @rs and for once rips up the blueprint he is using now we could end up outside the top 4.
I really hope not, but our performances have been dire, totally frustrating to watch. After watching RM vs PSG in the CL, it saddened me as we are so far behind those teams and that after having the 3rd most expensive team in the world. That just proves funds aren’t the problem but at the same time it also proves we are paying way over the odds for mediocrity.
That doesn't just apply to us, you think Real/Barca/PSG or Bayern would pay 75m for VVD?

All PL clubs are getting shafted with transfer fees
 

Marcky411

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I think united fans are worrying too much after a little wobble. Mourinho is a top manager and your early season form will ensure you top 4 position not sure about 2nd spot though.
I wish I had your confidence, Mourinho was a top manager I really think he has lost his edge and desire.
 

charlenefan

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Having looked at the remaining games only a combination of Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea all going the rest of the season unbeaten/winning almost every game and for us to fail to win less than 5 more games would see us finish outside of the top 4

Our remaining games are

Chelsea (H)
Palace (A)
Liverpool (H)
West Ham (A)
Swansea (H)
Man City (A)
West Brom (H)
Bournemouth (A)
Arsenal (H)
Brighton (A)
Watford (H)

If we cant get 5 or 6 wins from Palace, West Ham, Swansea, West Brom, Bournemouth, Brighton and Watford then lets be honest we don't deserve to finish top 4

And lets be honest what's really the likelihood of Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea not slipping up themselves?
 

Jig1234

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I think the next two games will tell if we will finish in the top 4. Liverpool and Chelsea at home. If we don't win both these games I think it's gone. Hard to optimistic about games vs LFC, CFC or any or top 5-6 with Mourinho in charge. His conservative approach makes these games unbearable and nervy. After that toothless display I went and saw at Wembley, I'm not confident about getting into the top 4.

I am going to West Ham away March 18th. Dreading to think what our league position will be on that day.
 

Infra-red

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I wish I had your confidence, Mourinho was a top manager I really think he has lost his edge and desire.
He's obviously some way past his peak, and certainly further from his peak than Guardiola, but he's still decent and with our squad I think we'll just do enough to scrape in to 4th position. I don't see us putting a title challenge together in the next 2-3 years though.
 

gajender

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I think the next two games will tell if we will finish in the top 4. Liverpool and Chelsea at home. If we don't win both these games I think it's gone. Hard to optimistic about games vs LFC, CFC or any or top 5-6 with Mourinho in charge. His conservative approach makes these games unbearable and nervy. After that toothless display I went and saw at Wembley, I'm not confident about getting into the top 4.

I am going to West Ham away March 18th. Dreading to think what our league position will be on that day.
If we don't lose against Chelsea and Liverpool then I am fairly confident we won't be finishing behind both of them and that should enough for top 4. You are being overly pessimistic about our chances Chelsea have some very hard fixture remaining and they are also struggling and despite our poor form Liverpool have gained grand total of one point and Tottenham nothing on us in Last six games. Schedule is such that if we string couple of wins on bounce we should be alright.
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

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With all our remaining big games being at home, barring City, I'm confident Top 4 is nailed on, and I still think we should do enough to finish 2nd. We still have a better GD than the 18 teams below us, we've won more games than the 18 teams below us, and we have the best defence in the league statistically. Plenty is in our favour.

Chelsea still have City and United away back to back and Spurs at home. They go straight into the Manc double-header right after playing Barca.
Spurs have Chelsea away and City at home.
Liverpool have Chelsea, United and Everton all away.

Lots of points to be dropped. All of the top 4 will drop points, City included. I believe we will get better as we find balance with Sanchez in the attack. He gives us a boost, but it was never going to be an immediate impact.
 

YouOnlyLiveTwice

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He has to play a team where every player follows the tactical instructions, we don’t want any passengers for the rest of the season if we want to stay in the top 4.

Squeaky bum time has arrived.
 

Ikon

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I did a points prediction that came out as:
Liverpool 83 points
United 82 points
Spurs 81 Points
Chelsea 77 Points

Obviously the games against Chelsea and Liverpool are 6 pointers, if we win those, we'll finish as Runners up I reckon.
 

1tsaMessi

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I am not sure about that. Jose openly admits he goes into big games with the intent of playing not to lose, rather than trying to win them. The big games have to be one and Man Utd have the hardest run in out of the top 6 clubs. Unless he can stop the rot it spells big problems for Jose's team.
 

PepsiCola

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Wouldn't be surprised to see us drop out the top 4.

But the inconsistent Liverpool make this unlikely. We will finish 3rd behind City and Spurs, I think. Liverpool 4th.
 

charlenefan

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I think the next two games will tell if we will finish in the top 4. Liverpool and Chelsea at home. If we don't win both these games I think it's gone. Hard to optimistic about games vs LFC, CFC or any or top 5-6 with Mourinho in charge. His conservative approach makes these games unbearable and nervy. After that toothless display I went and saw at Wembley, I'm not confident about getting into the top 4.

I am going to West Ham away March 18th. Dreading to think what our league position will be on that day.
Urgh is this ever going to stop? Jose got his tactics massively wrong against Chelsea and Spurs away but it's not because he had a conservative approach, if you honestly think that look up the word conservative in the dictionary
 

Fracture90

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We are certainly good enough on paper to do so, but then again so are Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea. Imo Chelsea game will be the turning point, whether for good or for worse is yet to seen.
 

Thunderhead

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I am not sure about that. Jose openly admits he goes into big games with the intent of playing not to lose, rather than trying to win them. The big games have to be one and Man Utd have the hardest run in out of the top 6 clubs. Unless he can stop the rot it spells big problems for Jose's team.
does he? can't recall ever hearing him claim that
 

groovyalbert

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The next six will decide if we do or not.

Chelsea (h)
Palace (a)
Liverpool (h)
West Ham (a)
Swansea (h)
City (a)

Anything less than 12 points in these games and I could see us struggling to finish in the top 4. Besides Swansea (are in good form themselves), who will be relatively easier, there are no free meals in those six. Palace and West Ham away will be tough fixtures with two dogged teams having two dogged managers incharge who'll park the bus and make it as tough for us as Rafa and Newcastle did last weekend. There is also the CL tie against Sevilla three days before the Chelsea game and the return leg sandwiched between the Liverpool & West Ham (a) games.
Can't see us getting anything out of the City game - given our away record against the bigger clubs, it's as close to a write off a Utd game can be.

We need to beat Chelsea to prevent immediate pressure being heaped on us. 10 days ago I was very confident about the Liverpool game, now I wouldn't mind a draw if we beat Chelsea.
 

JK-27

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It’s a difficult one, the Chelsea game will be crucial, I think we will but the form of Liverpool and Spurs is very worrying.
What form? Out of their last 5 games Liverpool have lost one and drawn 1. Spurs have drawn 2. Too many people see Liverpool score a few goals and think it means they're on fire. Scoring 5 in one game and losing 1 nil in the other is not form.
 

Devil may care

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I thought Chelsea were about to implode but they seemed to steady the ship the other night, while Spurs and Liverpool are playing well, I think it's going to be tight to make top 4, don't really fancy us in any of the big games coming up but the crucial one is Chelsea at Old Trafford, we need a repeat of last season.
 

Craig Bellendy

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We will finish second but it will go down to the wire, Expect a nervy ending to the season.
 

Coops73

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What form? Out of their last 5 games Liverpool have lost one and drawn 1. Spurs have drawn 2. Too many people see Liverpool score a few goals and think it means they're on fire. Scoring 5 in one game and losing 1 nil in the other is not form.
Liverpool and Spurs top the premiership form table for the last 8 games and have taken 19 and 18 points respectively where as we have taken 14 and Spurs have beaten us, Arsenal and drawn with Liverpool, sounds like pretty good form to me.
 

RedMane

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That doesn't just apply to us, you think Real/Barca/PSG or Bayern would pay 75m for VVD?

All PL clubs are getting shafted with transfer fees
I think United have no real plan when they go in transfer market, I feel their first priority every season is to sign atleast one star player to keep the fans happy, if not by trophy then by marquee signing. I mean look at Sanchez, was he really needed? Ofcourse he is very good player but he wasn't needed and United paid over the odds for a player who is at the age after which his performance level is only going to drop, ofcourse he is very skilled player but his playing style also relies on his engine and work rate which gets effected the most with the age and especially if you are playing under Jose. If we add up the transfer feevof sanchez, transfer which United would have received for mkhitaryan and salary paid to Sanchez, you guys could have easily afforded three real good players, I believe Liverpool paid close to 100 million (+/- 10 millions) for Firmino, Salah and Mane. All of them are young atleast compared to Sanchez and we are not even sure if those three have already hit their peak or not. This is not a dig at Sanchez or UTD but opinion that if UTD and Mourinho stop taking the easy route and concentrate on scouting players which they really need like a quality midfielder to improve midfield and unleash Pogba, fullbacks and maybe a defender? For the money UTD spend on Sanchez they could have bought a very good midfielder( with money in pocket to buy atleast one very good fullback) and unleash Pogba which could have improved the team. I am sorry but i fail to see how Sanchez have improved the team. Jose hadn't answer the question "How to use Pogba to get best of him?" And now he has one more question at his hand "How to use Sanchez, to get best out of him.".
 
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RedMane

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Hard to say. Chelsea are definitely better, but I think there's very little difference between Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal and us. Will largely depend on form, injuries and who does what in January.

Given the general standard of our play in the previous two months and the nosedive in results since the derby, there's every reason for Liverpool & Spurs to be confident of finishing ahead of us at the moment.
I think at the moment Liverpool is in much better position to finish in top 4 compared to any other team as they have to play only UTD and Chelsea out of top 6 rivals while UTD have to play 4 out 6. Which is most matches against direct rivals than Spurs, Pool and Chelsea. Mourinho usually excel against top teams when opposition needs points more than his team, as then he can sit back , frustrate the opposition and hit them on counter but he struggles when his team has to take the initiative which is exactly the situation, he is finding himself in. Liverpool can afford a draw at OT but UTD can't afford a draw against Liverpool and Chelsea. Basically UTD not only have to score points but also take away the points from their direct rivals at this point. A win against Chelsea will put UTD in strong position but a loss or draw against them will force UTD to attack Liverpool and if that happened only God and De Gea can save you from Salah, Mane and Firmino.
 

Offside

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Wherever we finish we will be miles off the league yet again. Very disappointed with this season. If we finish any lower than 2nd it’s a disgrace to be honest. Outside the top 4 and I don’t see how Mouriniho could stay on.
 

IRELANDUNITED

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Second: No chance.
Top 4: Yes. Its Mourinho. He will get results somehow except one or two odd matches which we had against Newcastle.
No chance? According to the bookmarks we are still favourites for second position and they rarely get it wrong so I would say there's a reasonable chance we will finish there.

I don't really care if we finish 2nd or 4th tho tbh, I think Mourinho will focus the lions share of his energy on winning us the champions league and as a result our league form may suffer a bit, but I still expect us to finish top 4 comfortably.
 

hn4manunited

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We will but don't want us to just so that we can see this forum get filled with only the fake-supporters posting and whinging among themselves. That way these posters can post their lives away into obscurity!
 

RMD83

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We will but don't want us to just so that we can see this forum get filled with only the fake-supporters posting and whinging among themselves. That way these posters can post their lives away into obscurity!
Fake supporters! I take it that you consider yourself a “real” supporter even though you would rather see a meltdown on a fan forum than the team that you support playing in the champions league.
 

Jig1234

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Urgh is this ever going to stop? Jose got his tactics massively wrong against Chelsea and Spurs away but it's not because he had a conservative approach, if you honestly think that look up the word conservative in the dictionary
Is that why he prefers Young over Shaw in literally every big game away from home?