Realistically, yes. We are more likely to finish 6th than win the league at this point.
Would you accept 3rd here and now?
- Thread starter Sky1981
- Start date
I wouldn't accept second even though it would be a fairly decent result. You never know...
Can't see anyone but city winning it tbh so I guess with 2nd and 3rd guaranteeing champions league I probably would take 3rd now. What really is the difference between 2nd and 3rd?
What happened to "Believe"?! Let's do our best. Get some good performances in a row and watch us go.
City will drop points. December and January are crucial.
City will drop points. December and January are crucial.
I’d accept 3rd with the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup treble.
Is that allowed?
Is that allowed?
Still a bit early, I at least expected a title challenge not quite sure if we are really doing that but still a long way to go. Game against them is going to be massive. It’s a must win, a draw just won’t be good enough. Lose and then the task looks impossible for a turn around win and it’s back on.
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Yes without a doubt.
We are not going to catch City, they are already 8 points lose and their football is just on another level as ours. I'am pretty sure we are going to lose 2 times against them and the deficit will be even bigger. So winning the title, I don't believe in that anymore, City are too good and we dropped too many points already for that.
So yea realistically I'd say we can get 2nd place if things keep going our way. But there is also a real chance if we run into some problems we might get overtaken by Chelsea or Arsenal or even Liverpool.
I'd say the chance of us overtaking City and winning the title is alot smaller than the chance of us dropping out the top 4. So I would sign for 3th place no doubt.
We are not going to catch City, they are already 8 points lose and their football is just on another level as ours. I'am pretty sure we are going to lose 2 times against them and the deficit will be even bigger. So winning the title, I don't believe in that anymore, City are too good and we dropped too many points already for that.
So yea realistically I'd say we can get 2nd place if things keep going our way. But there is also a real chance if we run into some problems we might get overtaken by Chelsea or Arsenal or even Liverpool.
I'd say the chance of us overtaking City and winning the title is alot smaller than the chance of us dropping out the top 4. So I would sign for 3th place no doubt.
On 6th November 1985 our record was P15 W13 D2 L0 - would you have taken 3rd place then - should have done - we finished 4th.
Exactly one year later we had a new manager.
Exactly one year later we had a new manager.
Yeah probably. There's no way we're winning the league, so guaranteed qualification in to the CL would be fine.
YES
Not happy with anything other than first. Don't care of it's unrealistic it's what we should be aiming for. Always.
The people still saying 3rd ain't good enough still overestimate this squad.
Forget the money spent, that's in the past and nothing we can do about it now.
If you look at starting XIs(imo, the best indicator of how good a team is), I think we are still the 4th best in the country.
Our squad still has too many holes and there's nothing to say things don't go tits up.
I would take 3rd now, no doubt about it.
Forget the money spent, that's in the past and nothing we can do about it now.
If you look at starting XIs(imo, the best indicator of how good a team is), I think we are still the 4th best in the country.
Our squad still has too many holes and there's nothing to say things don't go tits up.
I would take 3rd now, no doubt about it.
I'm guessing the OP is saying this because we are closer to the teams beneath us than City. That said, it's a no. That would be a failure. Finishing 2nd with a gap as big as 8 points is a flop imo.
No i wouldn't accept third place right now.
And i think it is pretty pathetic that everyone seems to have handed the title to city already.
And i think it is pretty pathetic that everyone seems to have handed the title to city already.
This is a shambles of a thread.
2nd I might understand but panicing over finishing above Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool at this stage of the season?
Have a word with yourselves.
2nd I might understand but panicing over finishing above Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool at this stage of the season?
Have a word with yourselves.
Not much difference in 2nd and 3rd admittedly, you've still lost (but at least avoid play off games). However, I wouldn't accept anything other than the title as of right now. If we don't take at least 4/6 points from the next two and fail to beat City, then I'd start 'accepting' 2nd or 3rd. With two big games coming up and the chance to put a dent in City at Old Trafford where we've been excellent, it would be nonsense to say you'd accept 3rd place... Especially when I would still argue we are the second best side in the Premier League.
No.. Compete for first, second is minimum..
As Jose said, lets try to win our matches one by one. The title is for City's to lose. We have seen that there is some kind of slip up mostly. We should just be ready for that. The slip up looks unlikely as City's backups in most positions also look solid, but it is not even Xmas and there is time
If you made this thread on the 13th August, I'd have said yes. But were 2nd and have been either there or 1st for 3 months. What makes you think we're going to drop a level? Regardless of performances, we rarely look like losing and have won majority of our games this season. We're in the race for title no matter how much our fans, or a section of, dislike or deny it.
These players wouldn't accept 3rd in November so why should we?
Or something like that.
From what I’ve seen so far, I’d be disappointed if there wasn’t some distance between 2nd and 3rd.
Spurs have still struggled to adapt to Wembley, Liverpool’s backline, Arsenal are Arsenal and Chelsea don’t look half as domineering last season, largely due to their midfield looking weaker for one big Serbian reason.
We started well, and in recent weeks we’ve been 5 out of 10 at best but still getting some results. If we go back to that instinctive play earlier in the campaign and settle down again, I’m convinced we can stay up there.
City look great, can’t take anything away from them from a footballing perspective. Pep seems to have finally have stamped his authority and this season the likes of Stones, Sane and Sterling have stepped it up, and they have decent full backs to aid what was already a formidable attacking unit.
Spurs have still struggled to adapt to Wembley, Liverpool’s backline, Arsenal are Arsenal and Chelsea don’t look half as domineering last season, largely due to their midfield looking weaker for one big Serbian reason.
We started well, and in recent weeks we’ve been 5 out of 10 at best but still getting some results. If we go back to that instinctive play earlier in the campaign and settle down again, I’m convinced we can stay up there.
City look great, can’t take anything away from them from a footballing perspective. Pep seems to have finally have stamped his authority and this season the likes of Stones, Sane and Sterling have stepped it up, and they have decent full backs to aid what was already a formidable attacking unit.
I think we're clearly the second best team in the league and will finish 2nd with a bit if a gap over 3rd or 4th. Why would I take 3rd? Not to mention that I don't think there is much risk of falling out of the top 4. City will have a gap at the top so it doesn't make a huge difference anyway, but United should get back to being used to finishing top 2.
No, we have a decent chance to compete for the title and a very good chance to get at least 2nd.
Aren't we currently 2nd? 
City are quite likely to finish 10+ points clear of the chasing pack, but 2nd is very much up for grabs. No particular reason to settle for 3rd as there's very little difference in quality between the sides 2nd - 6th and we therefore have as good a shot as any at 2nd.
Accept nothing, fight for everything.
Was this thread started by Moyes, feck that. We are united, aim for the best or just forget about it.
These kind of premature threads are
Absolutely disappointing.
Absolutely disappointing.
No way.
I don't think we're going to win the league but there's still a chance, and seeing as we're 2nd now it should be the least we're aiming to maintain.Keep going for every point and see what happens.
At the end of the season I might be ok with 3rd but even that depends. 20 points behind the champs and 10 points behind 2nd with 3,4,5 and 6th all close together would be very different to a couple of points separating the first 3 and a gap to the rest. They're extreme sorts of examples but there's plenty in between too.
I don't think we're going to win the league but there's still a chance, and seeing as we're 2nd now it should be the least we're aiming to maintain.Keep going for every point and see what happens.
At the end of the season I might be ok with 3rd but even that depends. 20 points behind the champs and 10 points behind 2nd with 3,4,5 and 6th all close together would be very different to a couple of points separating the first 3 and a gap to the rest. They're extreme sorts of examples but there's plenty in between too.
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That is not an outlandish statement, it's actually an accurate one.
Would I accept 3rd? No obviously not, I'm expecting a top 2 finish and a cup win. Lord knows why in November anyone is settling for a lower position than we're in currently.
If you feel that city are going to finish so far ahead and there's not much of a gap between 2nd -6th then surely guaranteeing 3rd might be the best option?
Skybet current odds of us winning the league 14/1. Finishing outside of the top 4 7/2.
If you think there's little difference between 2nd to 6th then it stands to reason there's a decent chance we'll finish 4th 5th or 6th, so settling for 3rd would be the safe bet.
The safest bet, yes, and that is the logic of my position. It just seems a bit defeatist to accept a place in the table lower than the one we currently hold, when we still have the opportunity to finish ahead of last season's best two sides (a sign of real progress).
I wouldnt accept anything other than 1st to be honest with the money we have spunked and the size of the squad.
Only teams geared up to survive in the Premiership would wish for such end of season scenarios where they survive a relegation battle. Top teams keep fighting and believing.
That's a fair point.
But our spending under Van Gaal should largely be ignored imo. Of the players he signed in his last season, most flopped.
With Jose, we have spent but in a market with grossly exaggerated prices. That context is important.
The should be expectations. But also realism.