Top 4 race 2016/17
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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.
It's possible though. I really, really, really fail to understand how we didn't manage to beat that shower of shite this season. They are shambolic. Their form since 2017 began has been almost relegation level form and that is no exaggeration. If you made a league table of games played in 2017, they would probably be in the bottom half.
It's not loss/win, it's what i see as difficult games
I'm surprised so many people think Spurs will collapse, I don't see it at all. I assume we're going to have to go to their place and win to have any chance.
Don't United have postponed games vs City and Southampton, both away? You'll have to fit them in there, too. Plus you're still in the EL, so your European fixtures will be sandwiched between the league matches. And you start May with two away games at the Emirates and White Hart Lane. It's not going to be easy.
Ever heard of RAWK? You'll fit right in with these kind of posts.
Still even on that basis you've probably not distributed enough points in the head to heads. Can I get the breakdown of City's 12 points from the 9 games please, just out of interest.
Edit: Arsenals 9 from 9 (relegation form) would also be interesting.
I think at this time of the season it is not important how they do but just Utd getting the top 4, so no comparison with others, just go out and score points, moment is favourable but schedule is hard as well and no complacency to be allowed.
City's next 5 games look tough. Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea back to back with the last two being away games.
Silly boy.Still even on that basis you've probably not distributed enough points in the head to heads. Can I get the breakdown of City's 12 points from the 9 games please, just out of interest.
Edit: Arsenals 9 from 9 (relegation form) would also be interesting.
You should know that United will be judged by many posters on their best form and others on their worst.
City, for example, are bad against top teams and vulnerable against lower teams as well. Surprised they've not been relegated yet.
Arsenal won't do their usual strong finish but Spurs will do their usual drop off.
Liverpool are now finished on the basis of a loss against a team experiencing a dead cat bounce.
Their victories against Chelsea, City, Spurs etc. are now irrelevant.
Plenty of twists and turns left in this season still to come, folks.
Fasten seat belts it's going to be a wild ride.
Because they are game raisers against the top teams. Its unbelievable really, they have yet to lose to any of the top 6. But its after our match that their form spiralled downhill.
I think we'll be in 4th place with a game in hand come the beginning of April.
Still even on that basis you've probably not distributed enough points in the head to heads. Can I get the breakdown of City's 12 points from the 9 games please, just out of interest.
Edit: Arsenals 9 from 9 (relegation form) would also be interesting.
I think you misunderstood Bobcat's point according to me what he has done is divided all top four contenders next nine games into easy and difficult games and made points predictions for easy games only so United as per him could get 18 from 18 from what he considers our easier games, Liverpool 12 from 12 , Arsenal 9 from 9 , Tottenham 15 from 15 and City 12 from 15 .
We have to win all five.
The next 5 games have 3 home games and 2 away. The two away are at Boro and Sunderland.
We have 7 away games left, Boro, Sunderland, Southampton, City, Spurs, Arsenal and Burnley. The easiest three away games in that list are the ones at Boro, Sunderland and Burnley. I feel we need 14 points from these away games. Winning those three games is the only realistic way of getting 14 points from those 7. Hence Boro and Sunderland are must wins.
Plus, if we don't win home games against Bournemouth, West Brom and Everton, then we have no chance.
If we are not at least 3 points clear of the team placed 5th after these 5 games(regardless of the games in hand), we could be in trouble.
The next 5 games have 3 home games and 2 away. The two away are at Boro and Sunderland.
We have 7 away games left, Boro, Sunderland, Southampton, City, Spurs, Arsenal and Burnley. The easiest three away games in that list are the ones at Boro, Sunderland and Burnley. I feel we need 14 points from these away games. Winning those three games is the only realistic way of getting 14 points from those 7. Hence Boro and Sunderland are must wins.
Plus, if we don't win home games against Bournemouth, West Brom and Everton, then we have no chance.
If we are not at least 3 points clear of the team placed 5th after these 5 games(regardless of the games in hand), we could be in trouble.
Because they are game raisers against the top teams. Its unbelievable really, they have yet to lose to any of the top 6. But its after our match that their form spiralled downhill.
Naaah.
I remember you being heavy favourites because of Liverpool's form. Liverpool drew against Sunderland and Plymouth, and lost to Southampton before playing you. Also it was at OT.
I think it will end up as Chelsea, Spurs, City, United, Arsenal, Liverpool. I think it will be very close between us and Arsenal though and an injury could swing it either way.
They are.
We also have Boro and Soton away, United at home. 6 tough games plus potentially 2 Cup runs to fit in.
I feel confident that we'll be OK but there will be bad days along the way.
Still even on that basis you've probably not distributed enough points in the head to heads. Can I get the breakdown of City's 12 points from the 9 games please, just out of interest.
Edit: Arsenals 9 from 9 (relegation form) would also be interesting.
Not a very deep analysis, just but the "easy" games in green and the hard ones in red. Not saying that City will get 12 points from 9 games, which would be catastrophic form, but they do have a tricky run of fixtures coming up
Fourth place doesn't really matter if we win the Europa League. Not only does it give us a CL place, it also enables to skip the qualifying round and be placed in Pot 1 in the seedings. It would also greatly improve our European rankings / coefficients, which is abysmal at the moment - we are ranked 19th in Europe due to the season we finished 7th. And of course it comes with an actual trophy and a chance to make history as only the 5th club ever to win the European triple crown. Not the Wenger fourth place "trophy".
With the easy route to the Europa League final and the fact that we are massive favourites, hopefully that takes some pressure off the players and enables them to play without any stress - which should see us do even better. We are certainly not the fourth best team in England anyway. We should aim as high as possible, second or third, but we should play without pressure and the players should express themselves. No fear, no nerves.
The way things are going now, I believe Zlatan could well end the season on 40+ goals in all competitions, we are extremely tough to beat and it is not really possible to see any games left where we will struggle - the guys freaking out over Boro, Everton and Burnley away are having a laugh. We do not need to fear those games and even 7 points out of those three fixtures would be a disappointment. Marking them down as games where we will lose is insane - a bit like how people are freaking out over Rostov. We are playing better than anyone else at the moment and we should not be worried.
It's time that UTD fans started being optimistic. Things are different now. The momentum and the vibe surrounding the club is completely different. We should dare to dream instead of fearing for the worst all the time. Time to start believing and backing the team and manager. Here's to another 2 trophy wins this season and second place in the league.
With the easy route to the Europa League final and the fact that we are massive favourites, hopefully that takes some pressure off the players and enables them to play without any stress - which should see us do even better. We are certainly not the fourth best team in England anyway. We should aim as high as possible, second or third, but we should play without pressure and the players should express themselves. No fear, no nerves.
The way things are going now, I believe Zlatan could well end the season on 40+ goals in all competitions, we are extremely tough to beat and it is not really possible to see any games left where we will struggle - the guys freaking out over Boro, Everton and Burnley away are having a laugh. We do not need to fear those games and even 7 points out of those three fixtures would be a disappointment. Marking them down as games where we will lose is insane - a bit like how people are freaking out over Rostov. We are playing better than anyone else at the moment and we should not be worried.
It's time that UTD fans started being optimistic. Things are different now. The momentum and the vibe surrounding the club is completely different. We should dare to dream instead of fearing for the worst all the time. Time to start believing and backing the team and manager. Here's to another 2 trophy wins this season and second place in the league.
So you disagree with the original content of my post? Do you think that Hazard's conduct as a professional was acceptable in any way? You don't agree that being a top player means being a true professional? Not just silky skills, backheels and dribbles? Hazard's conduct was shameful (even more than Vardy's).
Mourinho should stick it in his face with one of his famous touchline celebrations. Why not?
I've said since a month into the season that I don't think we'll get top 4 and despite recent form and results I stand by that.
I think we'll actually find ourselves in a situation where we have to win every league game from now until the end of the season except for dropping points in about 3 or 4 games. You would think given our form against the big teams this season that those games would be the City, Spurs and Arsenal away and probably Chelsea at home. That leaves absolutely no room for error in the other games.
I'm slightly more optimistic compared to the beginning of the season about getting the job done against lesser teams at home (Bournemouth, Swansea, Palace, West Brom, Everton) given that we seem to finally be able to score goals and finish chances. What I'm worried about are the away games at Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Southampton and Burnley. I think those will be massively important games.
Taking one game at a time is absolutely key.
I think we'll actually find ourselves in a situation where we have to win every league game from now until the end of the season except for dropping points in about 3 or 4 games. You would think given our form against the big teams this season that those games would be the City, Spurs and Arsenal away and probably Chelsea at home. That leaves absolutely no room for error in the other games.
I'm slightly more optimistic compared to the beginning of the season about getting the job done against lesser teams at home (Bournemouth, Swansea, Palace, West Brom, Everton) given that we seem to finally be able to score goals and finish chances. What I'm worried about are the away games at Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Southampton and Burnley. I think those will be massively important games.
Taking one game at a time is absolutely key.
I think we'll comfortably get there.
Our struggles in front of goal held us back but since we switched to a 2 man midfield we've had that extra body in the box and we've kicked up a gear in that regard.
I can't see 3 other sides matching our form towards the end of the season. They haven't for a while now.
Our struggles in front of goal held us back but since we switched to a 2 man midfield we've had that extra body in the box and we've kicked up a gear in that regard.
I can't see 3 other sides matching our form towards the end of the season. They haven't for a while now.
Genuinely think Leicester could cause havoc for the top 4 and be in our benefit, they have to play Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and Man City. Tick Liverpool off already.
If they can find last years form and play like they did (the shite bags) it would help us enormously
If they can find last years form and play like they did (the shite bags) it would help us enormously
The reality is that the first game they lose their chins will drop.
At the moment I'd give us an outside chance of making the top 4, at best. The fixture list is just insane in the last 6 weeks. Far more likely to win the Europa League than top 4 imo.
How are you working out the predicted points for these because those totals seem awfully low. If the greens are wins shouldn't City be 67.
6 points from 21 in the league for them in 2017.
A lot of people underestimating Arsenal as usual. They'll turn it on when the pressure's off.
No wonder Suarez is laughing at those two.
That poster would fit right in at RAWK.
Yep. Every year, you could pick out the exact same posts almost regarding Arsenal, around this time. They will go on a run as usual beating a few shite teams and scrape top four.
I hope I'm wrong but I can't see us finishing top 4 with our fixtures. I'm praying for a EL win. We'll miss out along with either Liverpool or Arsenal.
This season could be different though, the competition is so fierce that the pressure will never be off.
I wonder what that book was about. How people with no eyes can (almost) achieve great things in life?
Still just can't picture Arsenal finishing outside the top 4. Battle of the Manchester clubs for that 4th spot.
This. I think Arsenal will definetly get in the Top 4, It's what they do.
IMHO:
1) Chelsea
2) City
3) Spurs
4) Arsenal
5) us
because it is Jose aswell! Go ask Iker Casillas, go ask some other madrid players, chelsea players, even inter. People didnt invent this "3rd season and it falls apart" syndrome for Jose, they see it with their own eyes. He falls out with players and others. The Eva stuff was absolutely appalling, utterly disgraceful
Players didnt stop playing just because they woke up and suddenly decided Jose should go. These managers give players reason to stop liking them etc And when you start fallin out with players, what do you honestly expect?
who? Leicester? Agree
I think we're a great side - full of promise for future days to remember.
However, I'm really on the fence as to whether we can get top four. I think we already looked really tired and we're about to hit an avalanche of fixtures.
To break it down to its minimalist, we need to finish above one of Spurs or Arsenal...but I can just see them golding on to top four palces when I look at all the fixtures yet to be played. They'll be a lot fresher than us. A Harry Kane inury would make me believe we can finish above Spurs, but apart from that, I think they'll hold us off.
Chelsea
City
Spurs
Arsenal
United
Liverpool
However, I'm really on the fence as to whether we can get top four. I think we already looked really tired and we're about to hit an avalanche of fixtures.
To break it down to its minimalist, we need to finish above one of Spurs or Arsenal...but I can just see them golding on to top four palces when I look at all the fixtures yet to be played. They'll be a lot fresher than us. A Harry Kane inury would make me believe we can finish above Spurs, but apart from that, I think they'll hold us off.
Chelsea
City
Spurs
Arsenal
United
Liverpool