Man Utd Thread:

[beer baron]

Calm down lads, it's a disappointing result but i'd take this over any time with Van Gaal. We're  improving and i expect us to finish top 4 which i never did with that goat in charge.

Despite finishing 4th in his first season?

Yes. That was capitulation by those around us and we fell into the top 4, i  never expected it throughout the season.

[beer baron]

Calm down lads, it's a disappointing result but i'd take this over any time with Van Gaal. We're  improving and i expect us to finish top 4 which i never did with that goat in charge.

The mind truly boggles!

It's a sure sign that expectations have been lowered when some fans are happy with the progress despite drawing with one of the worst teams in the league. Utd have scored one more goal this season than Palace who are in the relegation zone. The football last night was last ditch desperation stuff far too early and the attacking play often lacks creativity in the final third. Given the transfer budget handed to Moyes, LVG and Mourinho in recent seasons, this underachievement is worrying. This team should be fighting for the title not scrambling to get into the top 4. Then you look at a Chelsea side coasting to the title who our manager was in charge of just over 12 months ago, and you have to ask questions.

Of course expectations have been lowered, how would they not be from last/recent years performances?
Anyone that seriously expected Utd to be winning the league this season should have a long hard look at themselves. It's all well and good being hopeful for your team to win things but it makes more sense to be realistic and try look at things without red tinted glasses, a top 3 or 4 would certainly be progress.
Utd are improving as a side, clear to my eyes and that's what i trust more than any stats that can be pulled up and i'm certain come the seasons end it will show it. As usual the truth will be in the pudding come May.

Regarding yesterdays result it was very disappointing for sure but believe it or not there were games under Ferguson where Utd couldn't beat shite times and shouldn't be overreacted to which seems to be the norm particularly with anyone that dislikes Jose.

[magpie seanie]

Do you like Jose? Tell us why you like him? Is he misunderstood? Am I missing something? He's pretty ruthless in how he judges and treats players, especially young guys with creative, attacking instincts  - I'm merely applying a similar standard to him and he is a seasoned manager.

It's not an overreaction to one bad result. There have been a run of bad results and performances. And there was the worst start to the season in 26/27 years - don't forget that. Worse than Van Gaal or Moyes (both sacked) and only just better than Fergie the time he nearly got sacked. To not even question the manager like some don't is mind blowing to me.

[beer baron]

Do you like Jose? Tell us why you like him? Is he misunderstood? Am I missing something? He's pretty ruthless in how he judges and treats players, especially young guys with creative, attacking instincts  - I'm merely applying a similar standard to him and he is a seasoned manager.

It's not an overreaction to one bad result. There have been a run of bad results and performances. And there was the worst start to the season in 26/27 years - don't forget that. Worse than Van Gaal or Moyes (both sacked) and only just better than Fergie the time he nearly got sacked. To not even question the manager like some don't is mind blowing to me.

I don't have a strong opinion on him either way. I do know he has a history of doing well in the league which is a nice change for us and it's not a season in yet, relax, give the man a chance, come the end of the season we'll have a better idea how it's going, i suspect it'll look a lot better, until then question away but words  like "disastrous" are misplaced.

[Maroon Manc]

We've had one bad performance in the league, we were fine against Stoke and we were hardly shocking against Liverpool. Prior to that we went through a period from November to December where we played some great football and won 7 games out of 11 that certainly should have been at 10 based on the way we dominated those matches. There is a huge difference on the dross we had to put up with LVG from last season where there was so many matches where we just didn't create any chances at all.

As for the refs i don't blame him, last night we were the on the receiving end of another diabolical decision. Niasse after been booked committed 2 yellow card offences; They were both very blatant too, I've seen players sent off for similar challenges.

[yellowcard]

Calm down lads, it's a disappointing result but i'd take this over any time with Van Gaal. We're  improving and i expect us to finish top 4 which i never did with that goat in charge.

The mind truly boggles!

It's a sure sign that expectations have been lowered when some fans are happy with the progress despite drawing with one of the worst teams in the league. Utd have scored one more goal this season than Palace who are in the relegation zone. The football last night was last ditch desperation stuff far too early and the attacking play often lacks creativity in the final third. Given the transfer budget handed to Moyes, LVG and Mourinho in recent seasons, this underachievement is worrying. This team should be fighting for the title not scrambling to get into the top 4. Then you look at a Chelsea side coasting to the title who our manager was in charge of just over 12 months ago, and you have to ask questions.

Of course expectations have been lowered, how would they not be from last/recent years performances?
Anyone that seriously expected Utd to be winning the league this season should have a long hard look at themselves. It's all well and good being hopeful for your team to win things but it makes more sense to be realistic and try look at things without red tinted glasses, a top 3 or 4 would certainly be progress.
Utd are improving as a side, clear to my eyes and that's what i trust more than any stats that can be pulled up and i'm certain come the seasons end it will show it. As usual the truth will be in the pudding come May.

Regarding yesterdays result it was very disappointing for sure but believe it or not there were games under Ferguson where Utd couldn't beat shite times and shouldn't be overreacted to which seems to be the norm particularly with anyone that dislikes Jose.

The barometer of success should always be to win the league title. I'm not saying I expected it but I thought they would at least mount a challenge. It is why Mourinho was hired as he always puts instant success ahead of long term team building projects. It is why players like Shaw, Martial and Rashford have had their progress stunted and why ready made big players like Ibra, Pogba & Miki were bought. They were 2nd favourites behind Man City before a ball was kicked this season why should a PL challenge not be expected given the resources available.

[NAG1]

Not much the manager can do if a player pulls out of a match day squad last minute twice, claiming not to be ready.

[Maroon Manc]

Not much the manager can do if a player pulls out of a match day squad last minute twice, claiming not to be ready.

Correct, I've seen nothing in his performances to suggest Shaw has been hard done by either.

Martial could claim to be a bit unlucky but he did the start the season very poorly and has personal problems.

[rodney trotter]

The United squad is most expensive squad  assembled in the league,  but it wasn't realistic to expect them to challenge for the title yeah right.

And the Squad is big enough to cope with Europe etc, if that is an excuse.

[Maroon Manc]

I thought we'd challenge and based on our performances we should have enough points to be in 2nd place. I really didn't expect anyone to be on course 90 points like Chelsea are, they've won 15 out of their last 17 league games; Thats outstanding form, if they had European football I doubt they'd have anything like that.

[magpie seanie]

Not much the manager can do if a player pulls out of a match day squad last minute twice, claiming not to be ready.

Correct, I've seen nothing in his performances to suggest Shaw has been hard done by either.

Martial could claim to be a bit unlucky but he did the start the season very poorly and has personal problems.

His personal problems didn't start in August.

[beer baron]

The United squad is most expensive squad  assembled in the league,  but it wasn't realistic to expect them to challenge for the title yeah right.

And the Squad is big enough to cope with Europe etc, if that is an excuse.

That's exactly what i'm saying, what form were you basing this league challenge on?  Is it just the "we're Man Utd" shite? We spent lots of money, that doesn't give us the right to win all in front of us, they're still human beings and things don't always happen straight away, Mkhitaryan in particular found it hard to settle.

[NAG1]

The United squad is most expensive squad  assembled in the league,  but it wasn't realistic to expect them to challenge for the title yeah right.

And the Squad is big enough to cope with Europe etc, if that is an excuse.

That's exactly what i'm saying, what form were you basing this league challenge on?  Is it just the "we're Man Utd" shite? We spent lots of money, that doesn't give us the right to win all in front of us, they're still human beings and things don't always happen straight away, Mkhitaryan in particular found it hard to settle.

It is all Jose's fault BB 

I would like Valencia to take Miki to the gym with him a few times and see if he could bulk him up a bit stop him getting knocked around so much and losing the ball.

[magpie seanie]

We've had one bad performance in the league, we were fine against Stoke and we were hardly shocking against Liverpool. Prior to that we went through a period from November to December where we played some great football and won 7 games out of 11 that certainly should have been at 10 based on the way we dominated those matches. There is a huge difference on the dross we had to put up with LVG from last season where there was so many matches where we just didn't create any chances at all.

As for the refs i don't blame him, last night we were the on the receiving end of another diabolical decision. Niasse after been booked committed 2 yellow card offences; They were both very blatant too, I've seen players sent off for similar challenges.

The Liverpool performance was poor and you have to wonder with the month they've had why United struggled so badly against them. Wigan first half was terrible as was Hull 2nd leg and home leg against Hull was laboured at best.

The refs thing is a serious issue alright but the manager is the reason and he's doing nothing to help the situation. Non United supporters will laugh at this but I have no doubt they're targeting United because of Mourinho in revenge for his arrogance and ignorance towards them down the years. I'm not saying it's a conspiracy but I think if they have any doubt in their mind they just go "fcuk him" and don't give the decision. All the other managers and even Ferguson knew when to pull back and admit when they went too far (Wenger and Klopp immediately admitted overstepping the mark recently) and referees understand and appreciate this. Jose though is never wrong, even when he's wrong. The more he talks about it, the worse it will get. He needs to be clever and eat some humble pie but it's not in his nature. Niasse last night was a complete joke. The one after he was booked in the first half could easily have been a straight red on its own. The second half one was definitely at least a yellow. People will point to decisions United got and there have been some but there is literally a tsunami of bad decisions going against United.

[AZOffaly]

I wouldn't use the performance against Liverpool as a stick to beat them with. Simply put, Liverpool have managed to play well against big teams, even when their form is poor. They make up for form with effort and graft. Against the lower teams the effort is still there, but they lack the cleverness. They've still only lost to Swansea in January (apart from the Cup games), so it's not like they were getting whipped every game.

United and Liverpool looked like what it was. Two teams that are not at their best in terms of form, working hard to get something out of a big game. I wouldn't use that game as proof of anything for either team.