28 Apr 2021 03:01:28
Does anyone have got any bad feeling about this season's european league.

I have got a very bad feeling that Chelsea are going to win CL and Arsenal the EL. I had very similar feeling about Chelsea during their last CL win. Tuchel surely seems to have lift them a lot

For some reason, we have played poor against arsenal during Ole's tenure even though they are pretty rubbish. If somehow we meet them in the finals (if we beat Roma), I hope we smash them and stop repeating the same performance we did last time.

1.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 06:28:18
Ive been saying Arsenal for EL since group stages when they were scraping through games looking lost-I think its got their name on it. Just a feeling, hope i'm wrong of course.

Ole and the team talk the talk but don't seem able to motivate themselves for the must win games.

2.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 07:08:20
Let's see if ole can even reach a final.

3.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 07:56:01
I hope Chelsea do win the cl. Despite having a squad that was laughed at by many they could end up having a phenomenal season. 9th when the brought in a proper manager. I really like tuchel and his approach. Really aggressive in pursuit of victory. Winning is his only goal nothing else entered his mindset.
I live his honesty when appraising a players performance. Any flakes in that squad will be weeded out.
I don't think arsenal will win the el. But it would not surprise me.

4.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 08:10:29
Spot on Ken,

Although PSG may do it this season.

Tuchel impressive so far, I don’t think Chelsea will be far off top next season.

5.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 08:24:25
Don't be silly redman nobody can compete with city 🤣🤣🤣.

6.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 09:43:32
I think Tuchel has shown that there are very capable managers out there in the world of football. Managers with great fundamentals, ideas and philosophies. Shappy has told us how many times on this site "what is the point of changing manager, the squad is poor" or my favourite "Pep and Klopp are the two best managers in the world so it doesn't matter who you get in, they won't be better than them"

Fearmongering to stick with an inexperienced manager who is already a dinosaur. When Chelsea were proactive in sacking a club legend because they Shaw an opportunity to improve. We've told the football world that we're acceptable of mediocrity. Chelsea are now reaping those rewards.

Tuchel and Pochettino would have been available to us I would assume. Although Poch has an easier job domestically at PSG, they are in with a chance of winning the top European prize. Tuchel has impressed me so much. Chelsea look like a different animal altogether. He took a team that was shipping goals for fun and is now keeping clean sheets at ease. They work hard, their shape is great. If they can improve Werner or get another striker in, they'll do well next year.

Which blows the notion that a manager needs a long time to implement their style out of the water.

Fans will say we got the same reaction when Ole took over. But ultimately Ole left us in the same posistion we took over and lost 3 semi finals. It may be the the "dead cat bounce" for Tuchel but he's got Chelsea up the table and odds on for 4th, has reached a cup final and got a good draw away in the semi final.

Top managers are finite and we seem intent on letting them all slip through our fingers.

7.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 09:49:55
It would be funny if the finals were City Vs Chelsea and United Vs Arsenal.

However, it could just as easily be PSG Vs Real Madrid, and Villarreal Vs Roma.

8.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 10:41:48
Mumbles, at some point Ole will be sacked. Then the club will bring in a new manager. ONLY then will one of us be able to say "I told you so".

We had better managers with LvG and Jose, managers with great CV's and proven track records, yet they weren't allowed to build the squads they needed to compete with the very best.

Replacing the manager but continuing to run the club as it has been for the past 8 years will not change our trajectory. We will still continue to bumble along.

9.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 10:51:14
Srestha, I do not have that funny feeling although yesterday, s result has made me anxious. I think if we are to meet Arsenal in the final, we will give them a proper beating!

Mumbles, Yes, Ole had a great run when he took over from mou, in fact a better run than TT but somehow TT is a savior? A good draw away when Ole won against TT's PSG away, and do you remember the team he did it with? Let the dust settle and let us give TT the plaudits when they are due, for now in my books at least, he is on a similar honeymoon Ole was when he took over.

10.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 11:40:20
Shappy, of course Ole will be sacked, that's just modern day football. I have no intention to say "I told you so" as it's not personal with you or any posters. I just don't fall for your argument that we should stick with a coach who has us playing God awful football and has no ambition to win trophies.

Just because decent managers failed does not mean you stop hiring decent managers.

Mbd. Ole took over when we were 6th, won 9 games on the spin and got us to 4th, only to go on a terrible run and finish in 6th. Tuchel took over Chelsea in 9th and they're now sitting 4th, in a cup final (something Ole has failed to do entering at least 10 cup competitions) and is in with a chance to reach a major European final.

11.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 11:42:32
Well said Mumbles. Actually, Shappy, the club will continue to bumble along on the same trajectory if it does nothing and keeps the ex Cardiff manager in place. However, we can sit back and admire that DNA.

12.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 12:08:58
red man- "the club will continue to bumble along on the same trajectory if it does nothing" totally agree especially after the correspondace I have had from them today! I am seriously pissed off with the club and its blatant disregard for fans, only their wallets. After the recent ESL debacle I sincerely hope for a change in atitude but can't see it and feel the lack of ambition and over reliance on past glories will see us dropping down the Arsenal way. Grand a year on season ticket, god knows how much on merchandise etc £100 a game travel and for what- To watch a lottery as to good or bad in a £100 replica shirt with a £8 pie - seriously thinking on grade A drugs being cheaper and more entertaining today .

13.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 12:42:06
While I agree the football isn't great to watch under Ole, he is the first post Sir Alex manager to finish in the top 4 in consecutive seasons. Something managers LvG or Jose were not capable of doing. He has change the atmosphere from toxic to hard working and happy. He has given young players a chance and we have seen players like Martial, Shaw, Rashford, Lindelof, McTominay, Fred, and Pogba (when fit) all play their best football for the club under Ole's management.

While no one should be happy finishing 2nd or 3rd, it is much better than finishing 5th or 6th.

While the football on display is very variable, going from dull and uninspiring to some great and even exciting moments. We have scored more goals this season under Ole than under any manager post Sir Alex. Man City and Chelsea are the only sides with a better defensive record than us as well, despite having Maguire as a starting CB.

Cups are great and important to build a winning mentality, yet cup football does rely on a certain amount of luck. If you have one bad performance, or you come up against a team that has a great one, or a bad decision or bad luck with injuries and you can see yourself out of a knock out tournament.

League form is the true barometer of whether a team is improving. On that front Ole is the only post Sir Alex manager who has shown consistent improvement in that area.

We all come up with the excuses for the failing of previous managers, Jose wasn't backed in his last summer being the most obvious one. Yet Ole looks set to do better than last season despite not being "backed" last summer. No Sancho, no Grealish. He got a back up LB, and aging and injured Cavani and two kids not ready for the first team. Arguably none of those signings improved the starting 11 on a weekly basis.

If Ole was backed last summer and we had signed Sancho and Grealish do people still feel we would be 10 points off of City?

That failure is not down to Ole but the owners and the board not backing a manager, something we have seen time and time again from them.

Are there better managers than Ole out there? Of course there are. We've had better managers in the past 8 years than Ole.

However, as we have seen with previous managers none have been able to improve us due to the limitations placed on them by our owners/ board.

So yeah, we will at some point sack Ole, and on paper at least the next manager will almost certainly be a better manager than Ole. However, will we see better football? Well the final couple of seasons under Sir Alex was actually in fairness a tough watch. Moyes was poor, as was LvG and Jose and now Ole. You'd need to go back to around 2008/ 2009 to the last time we actually played great football to watch.

People complain about Ole relying on the individual brilliance of Bruno to carry the team, but ignore the individual brilliance of RvP that carried us to our last title.

We haven't been a great watch for 10-12 years, across 5 managers (one of which is arguably our greatest ever manager) . The common denominator is the owners and alack of ambition to build a great side.

14.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 13:16:45
Shappy, your last paragraph, re the owners and lack of ambition, I fully understand why BUT since SAF the club has sanctuioned over 1 billion in deals! Let that sink in1
Why apart from ECL qualification is 5th,6th better than 2nd if the general play is crap? Ecl qualification is great but no good if you enter a competition with the wrong attitude and set up to win it is there?
I understand your love in with Ole but he puts the team out, he plays rashford when he is injured, brings players back too soon, keeps fred on the pitch with a first half booking, gives Donny a 2 minute run out (40M quid) hasn't got a clue tactically, smiles at pish poor performances the list goes on and at the same time picks up a whopping salary to boot. He is poor by epl standards and his tenure has seen him given a contract on the back of a run after the venomous Jose; the players perked up to prove Jose they weren't the fools he treat them as, but as things settled we dropped back to medicrity pretty damn quick! The tail end of last season and this one has been the strangest for all clubs with no fans, no atmosphere and weirdest results happening on a weekly basis which will see the stats praising OGS for two consecutive top 4 finishes. Whoopee, slap my thigh and call me Beryl, its the most exciting news this milennium: Not.
What happened last week as Ed 002 has said for years is the amateurish running of the club but also we can't hide behind the stats that we are a mid table club with a non league manager and several overpaid under performing and not good enough squad.
Start from scratch, stadium included.

15.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 13:37:06
Funky, Which stats that say we are a mid table club?

The one that says we are the 2nd highest scorers in the league?

The one that says we have the 3rd best defensive record in the league?

Or the one where we are ACTUALLY 2nd in the league?

I mean sure if you consider everything between 1st and 20th to be mid table then sure we are mid table. But the stats say something very different.

I get that people are disappointed by the football on show, I get that people are frustrated by the lack of title challenges and cup runs.

But to allow that to blind you from the clear measurable improvement is just daft.

16.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 14:10:58
Funky

Do the club still force the automatic cup scheme on you?

Shappy,

there is no clear measurable improvement in our football. Arsenal managed what, 18 consecutive top four finishes, does the Arsenal cup after two in a row mean we have an open top bus parade?

Also Shappy, how do the stats this season compare to Mourinho’s final season? You have the time to study them.

Did we finish second under Sexton as well? We are every bit as dull as under Sexton, Ole ball football.

What is Utd coming to when we glorify second?

17.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 14:58:08
But Ole didn't get Sancho and Grealish Red Man. Had Ole brought Sancho and Grealish (250+ millions combined) maybe we would be first. Or maybe we would be. fifth.

18.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 14:58:26
Shappy how can you seriously quote stats about this season given the situation? Look at the results in some games- villa against liverpool, us against southampton the rise and fall of form is astronomical for not just 1 team but a majority in matches. The whole league with exception of city and they stuttered at first has been a rollercoaster, so no, I am not being blinded as the improvement is far from clear. The 9-0 was a freak result and before you get your stats out, spurs was also but offset the leeds result and the big unforeseeable win changes the picture.
My apologies for lack of grammar but i didn't mean to imply that the stats say we are a mid table club, but the playing, the running of and the lack of structure throughout .
Stats are what you make of them and you used them initially to back OGS which is your choice. There is no getting away from facts that his tenure is riddled with inconsistancy with regards to tactics or lack of, that his decision making during play is far from good and that had he not had the background of a terrible C.V. completely cocking the whole world up he would not be looked at with the rose tinted glasses some wear bought in 1999.
You say "I get that people are disappointed by the football on show, I get that people are frustrated by the lack of title challenges and cup runs. " but what do you want from your football club?
That statement says to me that its ok not to win and play stylish attractive football. I didn't sign up nearly 50 years ago for mediocrity and in that time I've witnessed a lot of dissappointment and crap tbf. The last 8 year has been a hard watch for fans who want to win titles and trophies, indeed for a lot of the luckier younger fans who have witnessed that from the early 90's but to allow that to blind you from the clear unsuitability to do the job by the current manager is just daft;)

19.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 15:08:37
It was only a few weeks ago Shappy you were saying how Roma had a better squad than us. A team that sits 7th in Serie A. You of course made that argument because we could have been knocked out and you wanted to get your ducks in a row in case we did get eliminated.

Now of course to back up the argument, we're the 2nd best team in country. Would you now consider us better than Roma?

You're like the Numbers Game on Countdown. You start out with the answer and then work backwards try and find the solution. But sometimes there is no solution.

We're great when you want to stand Ole on the shoulders of giants. Crowing when we go top "It isn't that bad" to "We've a poor squad" when we chuck the league in with 45 points to play for. To your argument that Roma are better than us after a cagey first leg. Now we're definitively the 2nd best team in the country.

But something tells me you'll drop the bar next year saying 4th is good enough because, Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea are suddenly better than us.

20.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 15:12:00
Red Man, Mourinho's final season or the season he finished 2nd? The season we finished second we had a slightly better defence being second best in the league as opposed to 3rd best currently. While 4 sides (City, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal) scored more goals than us.

So fairly similar. You could argue the standard of football is fairly similar as well.

This whole standard of football argument might have held some water had it not been that its similar to what Moyes, LvG and Jose all served up.
Its arguable that the quality of football under Ole in terms of playing style is fairly similar to the last couple of seasons under Sir Alex.

So what are you really upset about Red Man, is it the style of football? Is it not winning titles? Or is it just that you don't like Ole?

21.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 15:32:37
Shappy, most of the fans are upset because Ole is neither winning a trophy nor playing attacking football.
And him saying trophies are for egos doesn't help his cause at all.

Next season will be his "fourth" season in charge. Therefore naturally the bar will be raised.

22.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 16:03:36
What clear measurable improvement have we seen since ole took over?

23.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 16:35:33
Funky, of course you can use the stats from this season to judge the teams in the league this season. After all all teams are playing under the same circumstances. That's why the traditional top sides are still near the top and the smaller sides still struggling at the bottom.

I'd say it would be harder to judge an individual teams performance across multiple season including this one due to the unusual circumstance this year compared to others.

Yet the empty stadiums, the struggles with VAR, injuries and players contracting C.V. etc impacts all sides fair evenly across a season. So results across a season will on the whole balance themselves out. As for freak results, well there are freak results every year, teams have scored 9 goals in a single game before, top sides have had big losses before.

For me the only two surprises this season are how badly Liverpool are doing. Granted they have had a lot of injuries, yet oddly for the most part they have still been able to name 8 or 9 players most weeks from the side that swept all before them last season. Maybe they are struggling with motivation or the expectancy of being champions. The other surprise is how well West Ham are doing. Yet there is often a side that does better than most people expect.

At the end of the day the top four will likely be City, United, Leicester and Chelsea. Four of the sides that you would normally expect to be challenging for top 4. The sides that will be relegated will be Sheffield United, West Brom and Fulham arguably the three weakest sides on paper in the league. Newcastle and Bright have struggled as expected, Villa and Wolves are mid-table as expected. West Ham might sneak into the top 6, but the traditional top six will all finish in 7th place or higher.

Ultimately this season's table will be fairly undistinguishable from any other years table despite the issues impacting football this season.

24.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 16:41:12
Ken, name the last manager who achieved consecutive top four finishes?

Name the last manager to lead the club to 5 semi-finals in three years or less?

While I get you might not be enjoying the football much, the results say that clearly Ole is improving on what previous managers have managed.

That doesn't mean he's a great manager, but it means you need to be 100% certain that the next manager will do better before you pull the trigger on Ole.

Judging on the past few appointments (Moyes, LvG, Jose and Ole) how can you be sure that the next manager won't take us backwards?

It's a gamble, and one that the club doesn't need to take while Ole is getting top four finishes and closing the points gap between ourselves and the top side.

{Ed077's Note - while you people are at it, could someone also name me another manager to lose 5 semifinals in three years or less.

Why do you go on as of making semifinals is achievement at Man Utd (specially seeing that none were in the "premier" competition that is the Champions league. And even that's not gonna count as a big achievement in my eyes.)

25.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 16:45:29
Ole took over a team that had 4 cup finals in the previous 3 seasons winning 3.
2 years running cl qualification. Once by actually winning something.
We were a poor distant 2nd to city the year before he took over with 81 points.
So he took us backwards and will still not have achieved to get us back to where we were after 2 and 1/ 2 seasons
Happy camp? Is donny happier under ole than shaw was under jose?
Is mata happy is Jesse? (he is now because he got away) 4 of his useless players are picking up a title in Italy this year.
For every stat you produce in favour of ole I can come up with a more damning one.
He took over a team that finished 2nd the year before on 81 points and we've not got that many under him despite him spending north of 300m
You can say he took us over in 7th or wherever we were but he has had us lower than that twice during his tenure.
There are any amount of managers that could be doing a better job than ole with what he has and what he had been given.

26.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 16:52:22
He has not closed the gap the others have got less points and disimproved we have not got better. Honestly shappy your talking crap.
Jose achieved cl qualification 2 years in a row and one of those was actually by winning something.
Top 4 my arse.

27.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 17:26:21
Red Man - in answer re the automatic cup games no mate it was the fact that I asked for a move- my youngun has autism and cup matches mean we were regularly moved. He was anxious and upset due to being around people for the first time. The then issue was I got transferred to north stand and him to east - he is a kid- got it sorted but not great attitude. Then to cap it all they started to let the local little darlings fill up the seats in cup games. Not an agenda until they started acting like rubbishs with the teachers more interested in groping each other out of the way than having a word. Not serious stuff and as I said, requested a seat move if possible as we like cup matches: utds response was crap and as intelligent as the little darlings who acted the idiot.

28.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 17:45:34
Shappy, with changes this year and 1/ 2 last year due to C.V. OGS had a get outta jail card and no amount of stats can prove otherwise unless you want them to. The reply was that the football is poor his record as ed said is crap in semis and his tactics non existant. I'm sure he has attributes that will clearly justify your undying love for him but if he were to be successful (which he hasn't been) in the hunt for trophies, he would soak up and have an entitlement to positive recognition in the eyes of the fans. BUT he hasnt, he has had more semi final chances at putting out a team that can win a trophy than most managers get in a carreer and never delivered, simple enough.
Next point before you get your stats out: yes the team that he has put out have indeed reached the semi final stages which is an achievement but failing is not what most fans want, or is it?
Finally the pinnacle of a successful manager is league titles as they are the hardest to win; over a full season of 38 games with all the stats you can shake your little stick at, but again he hasn't come close because the football is not good enough, as isn't the squad, tactics structure. If he had then he could rightfully bask in the glory.
We as fans can mainly agree the club owners executives etc need addressing as they do not help the total package that is Man utd, but on the playing side you have to have a good enough squad that can be utilised by a good manager - neither have we got right but SAF made good use of less than perfect players by nouse and the people/ coaches around him.
Now go and enjoy your evening meal and look forward to tomorrows match :)

29.) 29 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 18:00:18
Shappy name me the last manager not to have not to have won a final if he has been at the club for 3 seasons or more. Name the last United manager to have failed to win one of 4 semi finals.
I know you would rather not be in this semi final and all the previous ones ole has lost. You have said as much several times as have a couple of others who subscribe to oles view that winning titles even more minor ones is unimportant. The vast majority would disagree with that thankfully.
You my friend have an arsenals fan mentality. Top4 is good enough for you your like a little glazerite.

30.) 29 Apr 2021
29 Apr 2021 11:16:57
Once again, can’t find a manager that lost 5 semi finals in a row, Ole hasn’t done that, i'm sure it’s 4.

{Ed077's Note - Ok anyone who has lost 4 semis in 2 years??