4th
Where do you expect us to finish this season?
- Thread starter Orton
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Minimum third. Us, Chelsea and City all have problems so could end up in any order.
Top 5
Are people just writing Spurs off ya?
I still maintain my prediction of 3rd, but a lot depends on injuries, progress in Europe and the January window. Plenty of unknowns still.
3rd. 10 to 12 points behind City, 4-6 behind Chelsea and 2-3 ahead of Arsenal or Spurs.
They look good but they'll do a Spurs near the end of the season.
It really depends on how Moyes decides to start playing us these next few weeks. Does he start being more positive in his team selections and pick the talented players over the hard working players who aren't very talented? If so, then we can challenge for the title realistically, although it's between United City and Chelsea. If Moyes sticks with Valencia/Young on the wings, then I really hope we can get top 4 but it's not a certainty because Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool are all much better then before.
It's way too early to make any predictions - evidence so far isn't particularly encouraging, but we'll see if Moyes and the team can improve.
You people are a circus.
This is the first bad competitive game we've had under Moyes so far. We've been comfortably better in every single game other game. We were only unlucky to not beat Chelsea and leave Anfield with at least a point. Other than that, we've completely pissed on Wigan, Swansea, Palace and Leverkusen.
In terms of points collected, we're right about where I expected us to be. In terms of performance, we're way better.
This is the first bad competitive game we've had under Moyes so far. We've been comfortably better in every single game other game. We were only unlucky to not beat Chelsea and leave Anfield with at least a point. Other than that, we've completely pissed on Wigan, Swansea, Palace and Leverkusen.
In terms of points collected, we're right about where I expected us to be. In terms of performance, we're way better.
I think we'll win the league, and I didn't think that before the season started.
Said all along we'll finish 3rd
Top three. With a bit of luck, a lack of injuries and our rivals having some difficult patches, we could easily win the thing. If things go badly it could be nervy for a while, before we secure our Champions League spot.
Out of curiosity, why do you think that?
I guess he's able to look beyond the results, unlike the majority of this forum after we've lost or drawn a game.
Nonsense. We hardly created a chance against Chelsea, Liverpool, Palace or City today until they stopped playing because the game was over. That is most definitely something to worry about. Not so much the results, but the way we played in them. Against Liverpool and Chelsea we had plenty of the ball, but not for a second did we look like scoring. Our most likely routes to goal these days seem to be either from a corner or free kick.
It was different against Leverkusen because we didn't have Young starting on the left, and Valencia remembered he was a good winger for a day.
I'm looking beyond the results. Our play hasn't deserved anything more than what we've gotten in all honesty. What makes you think that we've played well? Having more possession than the opposite team, despite not doing anything with it?
Top 3.
I've seen nothing from other teams to be worried, chelsea and city have their own problems, i can't see anyone running away with it easily.
I've seen nothing from other teams to be worried, chelsea and city have their own problems, i can't see anyone running away with it easily.
?But the performances have been even worse the result. I was really stranged to read that someone who hasn't thought that we'll win the league before is started, now thinks that we'll win despite being utter shit in 3 of the 5 matches, scoring only in one game from open play and getting only 7 from 15 points. How the situation has changed from not thinking that we'll win the league to we'll win it's incomprehensible to me.
3rd
First or second, will be a close battle with City.
We are alot beter than our performance today, we didn't play with the best XI and alot of players had an off-day.
City will be up there, as long as Kompany leads from the back like he did today. We'll also be up there as long as we manage to get a good striking partnership going between Rooney and RVP. Chelsea are not going to do much beter than last year, I don't believe for a second Arsenal, Tottenham or Liverpool will compete for the title.
We are alot beter than our performance today, we didn't play with the best XI and alot of players had an off-day.
City will be up there, as long as Kompany leads from the back like he did today. We'll also be up there as long as we manage to get a good striking partnership going between Rooney and RVP. Chelsea are not going to do much beter than last year, I don't believe for a second Arsenal, Tottenham or Liverpool will compete for the title.
3rd, maybe second. 1st isn't realistic at the moment, but I'll wait and see.
Well, seeing as all the games we've won has been won in a comfortable fashion, I'm just gonna assume that you're not talking about them. So, let's look at the 3 games we didn't win:
vs Chelsea:
Seriously, did Chelsea create a single noticeable chance in that game? They could barely cross the midfield line! OK, we didn't create hundreds of chances either, but still more than enough to win us the game. Leaving with only 1 point is robbery, and Chelsea knew it.
vs Liverpool:
To leave Anfield with points has always been hard, even for SAF(aka The Greatest Manager In History). Still, we were so close! I not joking when I'm saying this: I have never, and I mean NEVER, seen a more defensive Liverpool on Anfield. They completely parked the bus in the second half. That's how much they struggled! They had to park the bus for an entire half! In other words, we were clearly the better team in a game that we've used to struggle with.
vs City:
No excuse for this game. We were completely beaten, and didn't stand a chance. Only Rooney, Cleverley and DDG can go to sleep tonight, knowing that at least they put out a decent shift, unlike the rest of the team.
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As far as I count, that's 1 bad performance out of 5. And that one bad performance was the hardest game of the season, so there you go...
I'm just gonna quote myself again:
I believe we will win the league.
I desperately hope I'm wrong, but I see us finishing 4th behind Chelsea, City and Arsenal (who I could see nicking it this year.) I think we'll have real competition on our hands getting even 4th, given the threat that Tottenham, and even Liverpool pose. I feel sick even typing this...
Challenge for the title.
Distant 3rd or 4th.
There's no chance we're finishing outside the top four. I don't think people appreciate the size of collapse that would be required for that to happen. SAF was great, but he wasn't kicking every ball - this squad has too much quality and experience to allow us to slip so badly. What's more, Moyes is too good a manager to oversee such a slide.
I really hope you're right. However, if Ashley Young, Valencia, and to a lesser degree, Welbeck, continue to start regularly, then I won't share your optimism.
We also didn't create a chance in Chelsea's game, while we had 2 half chances against Liverpool. In both games, we were as shit as the other team, we weren't looking that we can score against Chelsea and in Liverpool's game we could have won a point if RVP had scored from his chance. Still, you can't say that we played good or deserved more than we got in any of those games.
We beat Swansea away when we created and scored and we won against possibly the worst team in the league after they got a player sent off. Nothing to be proud off. Performances this year have been dreadful and possibly the worst ones I have seen United playing.
A long-term injury to Carrick and finishing outside the top 4 would no longer be unthinkable. I'd still back us to make it, but picking from Fellaini, Cleverley and Anderson in midfield each week would surely see us losing a fair few games.
I'm including the games we've won as well.
Swansea: Excellent game from us, tactics spot on and countered very well. Great result.
Chelsea: Terrible game to watch, hardly any chances from either team, we should have had a penalty but that's about it. We dominated possession sure, but Chelsea were pretty comfortable defensively. Our first 0-0 in a few years.
Liverpool: They scored early and then defended pretty comfortably the rest of the game. Why would they need to push on when we don't even look like making a chance? Our only chance was late on when Hernandez passed it in to Van Persie to shoot wide. We made nothing else all game. Definitely didn't deserve a win, and didn't deserve to draw probably because despite being a goal down for 85 minutes, we couldn't create any chances.
Crystal palace: Again, really bad game with very little chances from either team until januzaj came on for Young. Scored from a penalty that was actually outside of the box, and they had a center back sent off. They also gave the ball away countless times in defence. Scored from a late ish free kick. Still not many chances created from open play.
Leverkusen: Finally a good game from us! Made chances, scored 4 goals, defended reasonably well although still conceded twice.What's that? No Young in the starting lineup? That can't be a coincidence...
And then today.
So we've had 2 good games out of the 6 we've played total. I don't particularly mind the loss at Liverpool because we never play well there, but to hardly create a chance from open play in the 3 big games we've played so far, and only to pick up 1 point, that is not good news at all, and something has to change.
There's clear reasons why Nani and Kagawa haven't played more, and there's no reason to think they won't get the chance to stake a claim in the coming weeks.
We're going to be fine.
Excuse me while I go slam my head repeatedly against the wall.
An injury to Carrick would put an end to our title hopes, but there's no chance of us finishing outside the top four.
It's too early to worry about final positions in the league. Our team will have a different complexion in a couple of months, hopefully with the likes of Kagawa and Nani fully integrates. What's more, we don't know the club's plans for January signings.
Fitness? How they're going to be match fit if they don't ever play? What about Chicharito?
Any one of them even without being match fit would be better than Young and likely better than Valencia/Welbeck.
Our performance was even worse in the begining of the season last year and that was against teams like Everton, Southampton, Fullham etc. We won alot of those by the skin of our teeth, only difference was a fair bit of luck and the presence of a killer striker like RVP. If we had the same teams to play against then as we did now i think we would have lost to all except Palace. That were even worse performances and we did win that season with considerable ease.
Or with Fergie in the season were City hammered us with 6-1, was even worse than todays performance, but we were up there with them and could have easily won the title.
It is too early to say anything about who is going to win the title and there is no need to overdramatize todays performance either. Was a really bad game, but we'v had worse and they hardly ever affected nor predicted the outcome of the competition. It is against the smaller teams the league will be won anyway. The only easy game we've had so far was against Palace, we'll see were the likes of City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool etc will be after they had the same kind of games we did. City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool they all lost points already against smaller teams like Cardiff, Stoke, Villa, Everton etc. We have 5 easier games now and it is important we win them all now, take the points and get a good flow starting in the team. The performance we have seen versus Swansea and Leverkusen convinces me that we can perform on a much higher level than today. On the other side some of the other games ive seen from City also convinces me they won't perform on the same level like they did today for a whole season.
Not too bothered about today if i'am honest. Ofcourse disappointing performance, but this not our standard and losing 3 points against City, it is not something that is totally unexpected, if they play like today and also without RVP, i don't think it would have mattered weither we had Fergie still in charge, or even wheither we've had a topnotch midfield signing like Fabregas or Ozil, we would have still lost. We had an off-day, shit performance, and they were excellent, it happens, not much you can do about it but move on. The ones that bug me more are the loss against Liverpool and the draw versus Chelsea because i believe in both games we more than capable of getting a beter result.
Kagawa had a disrupted pre-season and travelled a lot of miles. He hasn't looked anywhere near top fitness in the few cameos he's had, so there's nothing to suggest throwing him in at Anfield or the Etihad would have been a good idea. Didn't he then also miss a game because of flu? Same sort of scenario with Nani. People like to push the narrative that Moyes doesn't fancy these sort of players, but why would he have awarded Nani a new long-term deal?
We need to face it - Moyes had a bloody difficult start to the season in terms of fixtures handed to him, and he's tried to play it safe. In hindsight, he could've gone for it a bit more, but I understand his reluctance. Again, let's not overly romanticise the Fergie era and pretend he always went for the jugular - he didn't.
You say that even if the likes of Nani and Kagawa weren't match fit, they'd be better than Young. Really? Nani's put in some absolutely atrocious performances over the years when he's not right on his game.
If we get through the next six games - all very winnable - and we're still seeing the same things, then I may admit you have a point, but it's too early to be concerned that a few players haven't seen that much action. You should take solace from the fact that Moyes has admitted he's not had the chance to get a proper look at his entire squad because of the difficulty of the fixtures - that suggests he knows he has more players to give chances to.
They won't end in the top 4 just like Liverpool. They'll play some good football and have a flow going for themselves and they'll be yapping as long as it lasts, but it won't last an entire season and they will drop alot of unnecesary points like they always do against the smaller teams. Come the end of the season they will be battling for european football like always.