[Rightnr]

Meh, we won and that is all that was needed. We can save the pretty football and attacking stuff for Chelsea.

 

[cacs]

couldn't give a donkeys how bad it may have looked. we are into the knockout stages!! get in

 

[Eckers99]

Wasn't exactly his most showbiz performance (if he actually 'does' showbiz) but Matic is such a good player. Consistent 7/8 out of 10 this season. Makes a difficult role look totally effortless. Class fecking act.

 

[SirAF]

That grin before his «specialists» comment (which was clearly meant for the media, even though a bunch on here would have deserved it..)

How can anyone be unhappy with that interview?

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

couldn't give a donkeys how bad it may have looked. we are into the knockout stages!! get in

Not yet though, but well right now it feels like we have won the group. Basel could potentially challenge our goaldifference though.

 

[carlosp]

Is it not goaldifference though? Also a big defeat against CSKA can feck us anyway.

We won't lose. We have Mourinho. He is not going to lose. Draw maybe. Lose! No ways.

 

[Jacko21]

Barcelona - Draw
Chelsea - Loss
Manchester United - Win

Some United fans - unhappy. Go figure.

And results elsewhere have what bearing exactly? That Europe is tough?

The result was good, the performance left a lot to be desired - anyone who says otherwise is either lying to themselves or has very low standards.

 

[arthurka]

Lukaku is in shocking form... We are grinding out results.. Job done.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

We won't lose. We have Mourinho. He is not going to lose. Draw maybe. Lose! No ways.

Well we did talk hypothetical right. I don't feel any nerves about it. Think we will go through no doubt, but so far it is not done yet. I think we will probably play for 1 point against Basel and get it.

 

[BennyBlanco]

We won, we move on..
Im grateful we win these games comfortably now after the last few seasons.

 

[spontaneus1]

"they should have scored so it's a fake scoreline"

Reminds me of the Liverpool fan who claimed if you took out the scoreline they won the game.

 

[Raoul]

Lukaku is in shocking form... We are grinding out results.. Job done.

We could use a good dose of Ibra right about now.

 

[Dobbs]

Meh, we won and that is all that was needed. We can save the pretty football and attacking stuff for Chelsea.

I'd like to think we can switch it on and off like that.

Not sure in reality this team is able to switch through the gears lime that. More likely is these stodgy performances will stick and at some point we get caught out.

 

[arthurka]

We could use a good dose of Ibra right about now.

Agree... Hope Martinez gives him a break for those friendlies.

 

[Rightnr]

I'd like to think we can switch it on and off like that.

Not sure in reality this team is able to switch through the gears lime that. More likely is these stodgy performances will stick and at some point we get caught out.

While this was definitely the case for LvG, you feel with Mou's teams there's a lot more resilience in the team and they can keep doing this for much longer but you are right that we may struggle to overturn bad starts like against Huddersfield.

We definitely lack depth in the attack as well as quality because our main #10 cannot pass the ball atm (he was OK today, to be fair but it was only Benfica).

 

[alsabi]

Is it not goaldifference though? Also a big defeat against CSKA can feck us anyway.

It's head-to-head goal difference, then H2H goals scored and away goals, so losing 4-1 in Basel would have us level on the first two but ahead on the third, meaning we'd finish ahead of Basel regardless of the CSKA result. As for CSKA, we can afford to lose 3-0 to them at home and still be guaranteed to finish ahead of them on the head-to-head. So a 4-1 defeat followed by a 3-0 defeat and we'd still win the group.

 

[Dobbs]

While this was definitely the case for LvG, you feel with Mou's teams there's a lot more resilience in the team and they can keep doing this for much longer but you are right that we may struggle to overturn bad starts like against Huddersfield.

We definitely lack depth in the attack as well as quality because our main #10 cannot pass the ball atm (he was OK today, to be fair but it was only Benfica).

Agree and to be fair we're doing that right now. A month or so of poor performances and only one bad result. Impressive in its own way.

It's not just us I doubt can switch performances on or off. Very few teams across the world have that ability. Teams generally need momentum, a set way of playing etc.

I'd be surprised if after a game like that we suddenly play brilliantly against Chelsea.

 

[Camilo]

Hope we get to stop saying "job done" soon enough. There's only so many "job done" performances I can watch. Still, job done.

 

[hn4manunited]

Good win and solid professional performance from the team. Not sure what else some of our fans on these threads want.

 

[carlosp]

And results elsewhere have what bearing exactly? That Europe is tough?

The result was good, the performance left a lot to be desired - anyone who says otherwise is either lying to themselves or has very low standards.

The results wasn't the point, it was there to show that we won while other top teams didn't yet some fans are still not happy. Unbelievable. We won and we are on top.

 

[Baby Groot]

So our Europa League hopes hangs on us failing to get 1 point form last 2 matches.

 

[Raoul]

Good win and solid professional performance from the team. Not sure what else some of our fans on these threads want.

No one is complaining about the win. We would however like to see some traces of the cut throat attack we displayed during the first few league fixtures this year.

 

[Android1974]

So our Europa League hopes hangs on us failing to get 1 point form last 2 matches.

And that's if there's no draws whatsoever in the other games.

 

[Foxbatt]

Good man Berba. What a player. I like the fact that he said pointing to Scholes and saying We want to win everything. He is the kind of player we miss.

 

[Rojofiam]

So, if the groups ended right now, we could get one of Bayern Munich, Juventus, Leipzig and Shakhtar in the Round of 16. Although, Liverpool may top their group and Napoli should go through instead of Shakhtar as well.

 

[alsabi]

So our Europa League hopes hangs on us failing to get 1 point form last 2 matches.

It's not that simple, to finish third we'd actually have to get thrashed twice! 3-0 and 4-0/5-2 at an absolute minimum

 

[carlosp]

Haha, having another dig at people/media saying that he doesn't give the Youth a chance.

 

[P-Nut]

Good to get through at a stroll. Should have plenty in the tank for Chelski at weekend.

 

[wolvored]

A win but the football once again was mainly dire. Martials aside for his dribbles De Gea for his saves, and to a lesser extent De Lukaku and Rashford, everyone else seemed like the ball was a hot potato. The defence looked like it was their first time together at times.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Agree and to be fair we're doing that right now. A month or so of poor performances and only one bad result. Impressive in its own way.

It's not just us I doubt can switch performances on or off. Very few teams across the world have that ability. Teams generally need momentum, a set way of playing etc.

I'd be surprised if after a game like that we suddenly play brilliantly against Chelsea.

Well not many people predicted we’d beat Spurs after losing to Huddersfield, so...

 

[el3mel]

So, if the groups ended right now, we could get one of Bayern Munich, Juventus, Leipzig and Shakhtar in the Round of 16. Although, Liverpool may top their group and Napoli should go through instead of Shakhtar as well.

Have a strong feeling we'll get Bayern.

 

[carlosp]

Well not many people predicted we’d beat Spurs after losing to Huddersfield, so...

And I see people predicting Chelsea will beat us.

 

[Dobbs]

Well not many people predicted we’d beat Spurs after losing to Huddersfield, so...

We didn't suddenly switch from a poor performance to a brilliant one though. Which after all is the point I made.

If I'd said we can't go from a loss to a victory your argument might have been relevant.

 

[Rojofiam]

Have a strong feeling we'll get Bayern.

That would be a huge, but not impossible test for us.

 

[el3mel]

That would be a huge, but not impossible test for us.

They're strong team but definitely not the Bayern of some years ago as they declined a bit. It can be a proper test for us at this stage. Will take them above Juve of course.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

We didn' suddenly switch from a poor performance to a brilliant one though. Which after all is the point I made.

I thought we were very good against Spurs, despite the histrionics from many of our fans. I also thought we were better tonight than we were against Huddersfield. So we’re clearly capable of upping our performance level for a big game, following a lacklustre game against weaker opponents.

Admittedly, “brilliant” performances from us at Stamford Bridge are as rare as hen’s teeth (Could you remember the last one? I’m guessing pre-Abramovic?) so you wouldn’t be taking a huge gamble to say we won’t see one this weekend. I’m just hoping for a performance that’s “good enough”.

 

[dbryan]

Well if we end up winning the PL or the ECL who's going to complain about how we did it?

Mate it would not surprise me on bit if people did moan, it's not the United way after all...that's what they will say!

I am happy.

Top of the group, last 16 of the Champions League. 11 out 15 cleans sheets (pretty sure Championships etc are built on a solid defense)

Bring on Chelsea, I trust in Jose. Park the bus and get the result, or go for it. I couldn't care less. I trust our manager and am glad to have him here. Proven winner.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Meh, we won and that is all that was needed. We can save the pretty football and attacking stuff for Chelsea.

Rightnr- meet Jose Mourinho...

 

[Dante]

The head to head for United, Basel and CSKA:

          F    A      GD        Points
United    7    1      +6           12
Basel     3    5      -2            6
CSKA      3    7      -4            6

United still have to play both Basel and CSKA. We'd need to lose both by a combined total swing of a minimum 6 goals (depending on who we concede most against) in order not to qualify.

0-1 against Basel and 0-5 against CSKA would do it. So would 0-10 against Basel and 0-1 against CSKA.

Basically:

2x(number of goals we lose by to CSKA) + (number of goals we lose by to Basel) needs to equal at least 11.

Long story short, not gonna happen.

 

[Will Absolute]

And I thought we had touched the lowest depths of boredom under LVG. As I found today, there was still another level ....

We've a ways to go yet. Spontaneous zombiefication is our ultimate aim. Our new ethical partners WorldPopulationControl are targeting a complete loss of life function in all those at OT, and in 50% of people watching on TV. I believe they're happy with our progress so far.