No, we were always playing free flowing football and scoring 4 a game under Fergie while recording 25 shots on target.
That's what half of this forum seem to think.
Premier League table since Ole took over
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
No, we were always playing free flowing football and scoring 4 a game under Fergie while recording 25 shots on target.
That's what half of this forum seem to think.
Did you know Sir Alex in all his years here never managed to win back to back away games against Arsenal? But that's apparently the standard that we expected out of Ole now?
More consistent with much better all-round performances.
Much better like win every single game? What is really much better than this? 115 points a season?
I think these stats show what most of us believe which is that Ole has improved us since he took over but that we are still a level below top two. We have been lucky in some games, however we have also been unlucky with injuries.
Yeah that's stupid. The fact that we actually put up title winning form for 16 games that keeps pace with City and Liverpool should be sign of encouragement, rather than bashing Ole and 90% of the squad.
Well indeed. Remember when Mourinho's cheerleaders were blaming it all on a bad preseason? Well, this is that same season and the players have been asked to work even harder.
The expectation vs reality on here can be maddening.
You both know I said nothing of the sort but dont let that get in the way of your hysterics
Going through the run of games for the other teams in that table was interesting. They've all had sketchy runs of form/results in 2019. Ours is the most recent but if all those other teams could turn things round there's a good chance we can too.
Liverpool have an extra game in there too, which with such a small points difference shouldn't be overlooked.
I think it's pretty clear he's doing a great job and recent stumbles have had a lot to do with injury problems and the squad looking generally bolloxed.
There's work to be done, obviously, but we're not a million miles away and with a few key positions hopefully to be addressed and some fitness improvements as a starting point I'm reasonably optimistic for next season.
I think it's pretty clear he's doing a great job and recent stumbles have had a lot to do with injury problems and the squad looking generally bolloxed.
There's work to be done, obviously, but we're not a million miles away and with a few key positions hopefully to be addressed and some fitness improvements as a starting point I'm reasonably optimistic for next season.
Tough luck Ole, good luck next season.The past few games have been sobering for sure, for me more about the state of the squad than Ole and his coaching team, but there is no doubt in my mind Ole has done well given the circumstances here when he arrived. The table in the OP proves that much, whether he's the right man for the job long-term is still debatable, of course.
I agree with this sentiment. Major reason why I have been disagreeing with all of the ‘we can’t challenge next year anyway so...’ declarations I’ve seen in the TF. Some have even been saying ‘we can’t challenge for the next 3 years’.
Liverpool finished 4th last season, but their form in the second half of the season was seen as enough to install them as joint favourites this season - above us who finished 2nd. As soon as the season was done, there was an expectation that they would challenge next season. The expectation, and criticism is always higher with us. This is why we need particularly strong mentalities in the squad as the pressure is just too much for many I reckon, even the manager at times. Jose was bullied out of it by the press, and towards the end, he was clearly struggling to come to terms with the witch hunt (which he described as ‘manhunt’). I suspect Ole may have a little more room to work with and next season he will want to take it quickly to keep the narrative positive.
Liverpool finished 4th last season, but their form in the second half of the season was seen as enough to install them as joint favourites this season - above us who finished 2nd. As soon as the season was done, there was an expectation that they would challenge next season. The expectation, and criticism is always higher with us. This is why we need particularly strong mentalities in the squad as the pressure is just too much for many I reckon, even the manager at times. Jose was bullied out of it by the press, and towards the end, he was clearly struggling to come to terms with the witch hunt (which he described as ‘manhunt’). I suspect Ole may have a little more room to work with and next season he will want to take it quickly to keep the narrative positive.
Does this mean we need no new players in the summer? 
The playing badly and winning thing uncovers a classic football fan bias. When it's other teams doing it you despair at how good they are at grinding out results even when they're not on form and it's only a matter of time before they're through this dip and smashing teams again. When it's your own team doing it you despair about how you'll get shown up the moment you play a decent side. It's a bit like imposter syndrome.
We may have been lucky in some games but we're not the only side who have that. Half Liverpool's goals have been either offside or from dodgy penalties, and City have scraped through a few games too.
Well i think that's the source of contention isn't it. Some are worried about what might follow given our current form as they've seen it from these players before where as the other side is optimistic we'll turn it around considering the longer trend since Ole arrived. I think both are valid
For me i see a difference in mentality which is why I'm worried and discount those early games in my judgement. Nothing to do with Ole.
Those matches we lost to Brighton and West Ham beginning of the season.
Nice one for starting a positive thread about Ole @Pogue Mahone
the main criticism Ole seems to get is the line-ups lately, but he's working with a lot of dross and dealt with an injury crisis too
the squad looks knackered and I don't think it's any coincidence that some of our best performers recently (Fred and McT) are relatively fresh
I'm going to go against the grain (judging on the match day threads, at least) and say I'm happy with Ole tactically too. He's showed a lot of variation in his tactics as he attempts to get the most of the squad. Sometimes it hasn't worked, but come on just at the Ole table and then look at how gash we were before he took over - he's done an incredible job
the main criticism Ole seems to get is the line-ups lately, but he's working with a lot of dross and dealt with an injury crisis too
the squad looks knackered and I don't think it's any coincidence that some of our best performers recently (Fred and McT) are relatively fresh
I'm going to go against the grain (judging on the match day threads, at least) and say I'm happy with Ole tactically too. He's showed a lot of variation in his tactics as he attempts to get the most of the squad. Sometimes it hasn't worked, but come on just at the Ole table and then look at how gash we were before he took over - he's done an incredible job
Well... back to back away LEAGUE games. In May 2009 we beat them in the CL and then in January 2010 we beat them in the Premier League. Both ended 3-1 at the Emirates.
Those matches we lost to Brighton and West Ham beginning of the season.
How the alarm bells didn't ring for Woody after this at West Ham I'll never know:
De Gea
Young - McTominay - Smalling - Lindelof - Shaw
Fellaini - Matic - Pogba
Lukaku - Martial
Young - McTominay - Smalling - Lindelof - Shaw
Fellaini - Matic - Pogba
Lukaku - Martial
Disgrace of a man.
More consistent than 2.4 points per game?
Those matches we lost to Brighton and West Ham beginning of the season.
Yeah and you have people slagging Ole for only beating West Ham 2-1 at home when we were absolutely murdered in the away leg half a year ago.
That line up isn't that different to what we play now if you tell Young and Shaw to get forward. Matic and Lukaku were in particularly awful form then though.
Oh look, another thread filled with Jose and Poch fanboys crying their eyes out, bitxhing and moaning about Ole. People seems to have forgoten where we were mid December and how depressed we all were. I guess winning all those games made people think we have brilliant players who will win PL this season. What he has done is nothing short of mirace with overpayed and over hyped dros we have. How many of us thought we will knock PSG out?
I guess playing FM makes people think they know it better than managers, and maybe what Ince said is in the back of lot of people minds.
Remember when Jose said we wont get to top 4? Look where we are now. And if don't get ther it will be Ole's fault, right? But hey, we don't don't play wonderful heavy metal, rock and rool, blues, hip hop, turbo folk, blah, football that we all remember playing under top top managers like LVG, Jose and David "needed more time" Moyes. Not to forget all those 26 years when we had 385 shot on and of targer while scoring 45 goals every game...
I guess playing FM makes people think they know it better than managers, and maybe what Ince said is in the back of lot of people minds.
Remember when Jose said we wont get to top 4? Look where we are now. And if don't get ther it will be Ole's fault, right? But hey, we don't don't play wonderful heavy metal, rock and rool, blues, hip hop, turbo folk, blah, football that we all remember playing under top top managers like LVG, Jose and David "needed more time" Moyes. Not to forget all those 26 years when we had 385 shot on and of targer while scoring 45 goals every game...
Not losing 4 games in 6 and playing terribly with no identity for weeks.
Maybe I'm being harsh but I don't think he should have been given the job based on what he had done. There was always going to be bounce after Mourinho left, and he had an incredibly easy 5 game run at the beginning. They should have waited until the summer. If we finish 6th and get knocked out in the quarter finals of the Champions League does he honestly deserve the job?
Surely we would have got 6th with Mourinho. And in last few weeks the football has been just as bad as under Mourinho. We haven't had a shot at a keeper for 180 minutes in two home games.
Surely we would have got 6th with Mourinho. And in last few weeks the football has been just as bad as under Mourinho. We haven't had a shot at a keeper for 180 minutes in two home games.
Of course he deserves the job even if we finish 6th as it wasn't a level playing field. He started with -11 points.
Getting to QF itself is an achievement considering the gulf in quality between PSG and ManUtd.
Glad to see someone like you say it, Pogue. I agree Ole has worked wonders, and the recent stint hasn’t been devoid of positives in terms of our play and handle on the matches. I also think it’s not fair to judge him when he took over in the middle of the christmas rush, got no signings, and has had no pre-season. I am feeling really optimistic, myself
Glad to see someone like you say it, Pogue. I agree Ole has worked wonders, and the recent stint hasn’t been devoid of positives in terms of our play and handle on the matches. I also think it’s not fair to judge him when he took over in the middle of the christmas rush, got no signings, and has had no pre-season. I am feeling really optimistic, myself
Not only that he lost Fellaini and had every midfielder get injured at once! He’s done a phenomenal job!
Good thread @Pogue Mahone. Puts things in perspective.
The last line is daft.
So you assume that a good manager would never ever go through a bad 3-week period?
Care to name a few managers who have never had any bad period in their careers?
Obviously teams do have periods where they struggle to get good results, but when the team has been playing like crap for about two months with next to no identity and organization on the pitch, then it's genuine cause for concern I would say.
League wise though like I said he had 5 very easy, winnable games at the beginning. The only big games he had in the league.
Liverpool H - 0-0, could have gone either way
Spurs A - 1-0, one shot and we scored, De Gea got man of the match, Spurs should have won
Arsenal A - 0-2, we were awful
We have Everton (A), City and Chelsea at home still to play. He could potentially end up with 1 unjust win and a home draw against the top 7 sides in the league.
I'm not saying he's done a bad job, not at all but if we lose all our big games to the end of the season I personally don't think he warrants the job.
He could potentially lose every single game next season and get us relegated. Shocking stuff from future Ole.
Arsenal away we created plenty of chances. If we were lucky to win vs spurs then we were unlucky to lose vs Arsenal.
It's better to check the points per game and where we stand compared to others.
Ah yeah true technically. Also last time before that was between 84/85 and 85/86 I think. It's still incredibly rare, for all our "dominance" over Arsenal, it's incredibly rare to win successive away games against big teams.
Nice, positive thread, a potential safe heaven.
Wont survive though.
You have people saying we should look at only last 6 games, games in the future and even that losing CL quarters would be an underachievement.
Oh and we had just one shot vs Spurs (which isn't true) and we should have lost. We'll tell you what, we should have won at Arsenal so there's that.
Wont survive though.
You have people saying we should look at only last 6 games, games in the future and even that losing CL quarters would be an underachievement.
Oh and we had just one shot vs Spurs (which isn't true) and we should have lost. We'll tell you what, we should have won at Arsenal so there's that.
What?
1. Vs Liverpool he had 6/7players missing and forced into 3 changes just before half time and still comfortably kept the leaders at bay.
2. Spurs game we had more than one shot. We had opportunities to extend our llead
3. We were not awful vs Arsenal but wasted cclear chances to score.
And you left out the FA Cup wins at Chelsea and Arsenal I see.
You literally said we should be able to win away to Arsenal and wolves without saying they're tough games, seemingly ignoring that Arsenal at home is almost as hard as it gets in the premier league and Wolves have gotten results against pretty much every big team this season bar probably City?
Great thread @Pogue Mahone