The European Competitions Thread

[LAM09 7,056]

They can focus on the Top 4/5 fight now though...

Do you honestly think they will displace Sheffield Utd & Wolves for starters?

No European football at all is a real possibility.

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, LAM09 said:

Do you honestly think they will displace Sheffield Utd & Wolves for starters?

No European football at all is a real possibility.

Well, they are only 2 points behind Wolves, 3 behind Sheffield and 4 behind 5th (which would be a CL spot if City's ban sticks). I'm just going by the fact that they don't have any more midweek European games and can just focus on the league. 

[Vesper 30,186]

Just now, Jason said:

Form aside and as it stands, I would say the only edge they have over us is in the GK area. We are at least matched with them in other areas or if not have better players. 

summer will be the decider

they have massive revenues and will get a shit tonne from sales

plus, surely they move for Poch or another far better manager than the clueless OGS

we have an insane amount of deadwood and injured questionable players

I really dislike our squad atm

its been years of board scumfuckery in the making

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Vesper said:

summer will be the decider

they have massive revenues and will get a shit tonne from sales

plus, surely they move for Poch or another far better manager than the clueless OGS

we have an insane amount of deadwood and injured questionable players

I really dislike our squad atm

its been years of board scumfuckery in the making

According to this, United have to sell to buy.

https://theathletic.com/1634690/2020/02/25/woodward-pogba-manchester-united-accounts/

If true, then one would think only Pogba can get them big money. The others not so much. And they would be in big trouble if they don't qualify for the Champions League. 

[Vesper 30,186]

3 minutes ago, Jason said:

Well, they are only 2 points behind Wolves, 3 behind Sheffield and 4 behind 5th (which would be a CL spot if City's ban sticks). I'm just going by the fact that they don't have any more midweek European games and can just focus on the league. 

no way Arse get CL

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Vesper said:

no way Arse get CL

I'm not saying they will get it but being out of Europe might help their chances a little bit more, given they would have less distraction. And TBF, even we, United and Spurs still have some tough games left to play. 

[Vesper 30,186]

6 minutes ago, Jason said:

I'm not saying they will get it but being out of Europe might help their chances a little bit more, given they would have less distraction. And TBF, even we, United and Spurs still have some tough games left to play. 

it would take a shocking combined collapse from all the other teams

[NikkiCFC 8,324]

17 minutes ago, Jason said:

I'm not saying they will get it but being out of Europe might help their chances a little bit more, given they would have less distraction. And TBF, even we, United and Spurs still have some tough games left to play. 

Remember end of the last season when they had easy schedule? 😁

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

6 hours ago, Jason said:

Form aside, are you really saying that United have better players than us? 

At the start of the season with likes of Pogba, Martial, Lindelof, de Gea and Rashford people would of probably expected them to finish above us because under the right manager that is potentially a very good spine. Sure they lack in other areas and sold Lukaku but I dont think people would of necessarily disagreed. 

Other than in MF (Pogba and Fernandes excluded) wouldn't say we are miles ahead of them anywhere else when you compare us player for player, even more so considering the fact we had 4 young players unproven in the league as well as the likes of Willian, Barkley, Alonso, Emerson etc in the squad. Dont get me wrong they also have weakpoints and collection of average players but I mean if you really think the likes of De Gea, Lindelof, Maguire (still overrated based on price tag I mean hes good but not 80m good), Shaw, Pogba, Fred (big improvement reasonably consistent and very very solid player now as well), McTominay (hate to say it but again a massive improvement and one of their most vital MFers due to his energy and physicality), Bruno Fernandes, Rashford and Martial (was crazy how many people wanted him here under Sarri...) are inferior players to guys like Kepa, Christensen, Emerson, Alonso Willian, Pedro, Mason, Barkley and Tammy among others then I dont know. Some still have scope to grow on our end yes but right now, its hardly as if I would be severely underrating our players or undertaking overrating their players.

Other than Pogba and Fernandes (better than our more advanced midfield players) yes we beat them in terms of MF quality because we have Kante, Ruben (will he play as an 8?), Kovacic and Jorginho in deeper positions who would still play ahead of Fred, McTominay, Matic, Pereira and that horrible bastard Lingard who is a championship footballer if hes lucky.

Both defences are probably as bad as each other although would rather Shaw than Emerson or Alonso (when he had 1 year left on his deal before he came up a notch under Mourinho, was gutted we didnt go for him, finally seems as if his fitness issues aside now the last 18 months hes been pretty decent and consistent) and think Lindelof now looks a much better CB after a tough time when he first arrived and would probably be able to displace a few of ours. 

I am curious to see which other positions you think we have better players than them in? Other than central midfield but again throw in Pogba and Fernandes, they are more creative than our midfielders. Both defences have struggled so you cant expect me to believe you think ours is better than theirs either by a country mile. Attack is about evens, they have inconsistent players such as James and Martial but again these guys have done more this season than Willian, Pedro and Barkley and are considerably younger so they still have the scope to grow that people have argued for Tomori, Mount, Tammy, James etc. Rashford may not be everyones cup of tea but hes always been a player I have thought will end up a very very good player and to have really been carrying the goalscoring burden for United at his age is pretty impressive, even more so as I dont feel he is a number 9, he is more a wide forward.

A better manager and theyd probably be better off, OGS is out of his depth similarly to what Frank has maybe found himself in although I think hes in a worse position because he went and sold their only real 20 goals a season man. Say they sign 3 or 4 players of a good quality in the summer, even with Ole, they have a chance of progresssing. We also have the same chance but it remains to be seen what or who will come in.

Spurs at the start of the season were also tipped to finish above us for sure due to the players they have in positions we are perhaps not as strong in (CF, #10, outwide and in defence). 

The top 4 race is going to be very interesting, theres still a huge chance we miss out if this bad run continues and even Arsenal have got 2 guys in Lacazette and Aubamayang who are guaranteed to score goals regularly, a manager who has gotten a clear visible improvement out of others such as Pepe, Ozil in attack as well as youngsters who have got good potential such as Saka, Martinielli (will be a top player looks very very good) and Nketiah. Even defensively bar Olympiakos and the Everton games they have looked more cohesive and organised. We did beat them but again I think come the start of next season with them and Spurs getting full pre seasons with their managers they will be completely different outfits to now which doesnt bode well if they can get top 4 at our expense this season.

 

[Laylabelle 9,535]

In a few weeks we wont have mid week games either. No excuses. It's in our hands. Cant rely on others to drop points we need to win our games. Cant do that then wont get top 4..or deserve top 4.

[Jase 43,479]

3 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

At the start of the season with likes of Pogba, Martial, Lindelof, de Gea and Rashford people would of probably expected them to finish above us because under the right manager that is potentially a very good spine. Sure they lack in other areas and sold Lukaku but I dont think people would of necessarily disagreed. 

Other than in MF (Pogba and Fernandes excluded) wouldn't say we are miles ahead of them anywhere else when you compare us player for player, even more so considering the fact we had 4 young players unproven in the league as well as the likes of Willian, Barkley, Alonso, Emerson etc in the squad. Dont get me wrong they also have weakpoints and collection of average players but I mean if you really think the likes of De Gea, Lindelof, Maguire (still overrated based on price tag I mean hes good but not 80m good), Shaw, Pogba, Fred (big improvement reasonably consistent and very very solid player now as well), McTominay (hate to say it but again a massive improvement and one of their most vital MFers due to his energy and physicality), Bruno Fernandes, Rashford and Martial (was crazy how many people wanted him here under Sarri...) are inferior players to guys like Kepa, Christensen, Emerson, Alonso Willian, Pedro, Mason, Barkley and Tammy among others then I dont know. Some still have scope to grow on our end yes but right now, its hardly as if I would be severely underrating our players or undertaking overrating their players.

Other than Pogba and Fernandes (better than our more advanced midfield players) yes we beat them in terms of MF quality because we have Kante, Ruben (will he play as an 8?), Kovacic and Jorginho in deeper positions who would still play ahead of Fred, McTominay, Matic, Pereira and that horrible bastard Lingard who is a championship footballer if hes lucky.

Both defences are probably as bad as each other although would rather Shaw than Emerson or Alonso (when he had 1 year left on his deal before he came up a notch under Mourinho, was gutted we didnt go for him, finally seems as if his fitness issues aside now the last 18 months hes been pretty decent and consistent) and think Lindelof now looks a much better CB after a tough time when he first arrived and would probably be able to displace a few of ours. 

I am curious to see which other positions you think we have better players than them in? Other than central midfield but again throw in Pogba and Fernandes, they are more creative than our midfielders. Both defences have struggled so you cant expect me to believe you think ours is better than theirs either by a country mile. Attack is about evens, they have inconsistent players such as James and Martial but again these guys have done more this season than Willian, Pedro and Barkley and are considerably younger so they still have the scope to grow that people have argued for Tomori, Mount, Tammy, James etc. Rashford may not be everyones cup of tea but hes always been a player I have thought will end up a very very good player and to have really been carrying the goalscoring burden for United at his age is pretty impressive, even more so as I dont feel he is a number 9, he is more a wide forward.

A better manager and theyd probably be better off, OGS is out of his depth similarly to what Frank has maybe found himself in although I think hes in a worse position because he went and sold their only real 20 goals a season man. Say they sign 3 or 4 players of a good quality in the summer, even with Ole, they have a chance of progresssing. We also have the same chance but it remains to be seen what or who will come in.

Spurs at the start of the season were also tipped to finish above us for sure due to the players they have in positions we are perhaps not as strong in (CF, #10, outwide and in defence). 

The top 4 race is going to be very interesting, theres still a huge chance we miss out if this bad run continues and even Arsenal have got 2 guys in Lacazette and Aubamayang who are guaranteed to score goals regularly, a manager who has gotten a clear visible improvement out of others such as Pepe, Ozil in attack as well as youngsters who have got good potential such as Saka, Martinielli (will be a top player looks very very good) and Nketiah. Even defensively bar Olympiakos and the Everton games they have looked more cohesive and organised. We did beat them but again I think come the start of next season with them and Spurs getting full pre seasons with their managers they will be completely different outfits to now which doesnt bode well if they can get top 4 at our expense this season.

 

I asked a simple question and I got an essay-like reply! 

[Jase 43,479]

4 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

At the start of the season with likes of Pogba, Martial, Lindelof, de Gea and Rashford people would of probably expected them to finish above us because under the right manager that is potentially a very good spine. Sure they lack in other areas and sold Lukaku but I dont think people would of necessarily disagreed. 

Other than in MF (Pogba and Fernandes excluded) wouldn't say we are miles ahead of them anywhere else when you compare us player for player, even more so considering the fact we had 4 young players unproven in the league as well as the likes of Willian, Barkley, Alonso, Emerson etc in the squad. Dont get me wrong they also have weakpoints and collection of average players but I mean if you really think the likes of De Gea, Lindelof, Maguire (still overrated based on price tag I mean hes good but not 80m good), Shaw, Pogba, Fred (big improvement reasonably consistent and very very solid player now as well), McTominay (hate to say it but again a massive improvement and one of their most vital MFers due to his energy and physicality), Bruno Fernandes, Rashford and Martial (was crazy how many people wanted him here under Sarri...) are inferior players to guys like Kepa, Christensen, Emerson, Alonso Willian, Pedro, Mason, Barkley and Tammy among others then I dont know. Some still have scope to grow on our end yes but right now, its hardly as if I would be severely underrating our players or undertaking overrating their players.

Other than Pogba and Fernandes (better than our more advanced midfield players) yes we beat them in terms of MF quality because we have Kante, Ruben (will he play as an 8?), Kovacic and Jorginho in deeper positions who would still play ahead of Fred, McTominay, Matic, Pereira and that horrible bastard Lingard who is a championship footballer if hes lucky.

Both defences are probably as bad as each other although would rather Shaw than Emerson or Alonso (when he had 1 year left on his deal before he came up a notch under Mourinho, was gutted we didnt go for him, finally seems as if his fitness issues aside now the last 18 months hes been pretty decent and consistent) and think Lindelof now looks a much better CB after a tough time when he first arrived and would probably be able to displace a few of ours. 

I am curious to see which other positions you think we have better players than them in? Other than central midfield but again throw in Pogba and Fernandes, they are more creative than our midfielders. Both defences have struggled so you cant expect me to believe you think ours is better than theirs either by a country mile. Attack is about evens, they have inconsistent players such as James and Martial but again these guys have done more this season than Willian, Pedro and Barkley and are considerably younger so they still have the scope to grow that people have argued for Tomori, Mount, Tammy, James etc. Rashford may not be everyones cup of tea but hes always been a player I have thought will end up a very very good player and to have really been carrying the goalscoring burden for United at his age is pretty impressive, even more so as I dont feel he is a number 9, he is more a wide forward.

Goalkeeper - As much as De Gea's form has dipped in recent times, I guess he's still better than our two keepers right now. Don't think I need to go deeper than that.

Defence - One would take Shaw at LB, if only because our options are Alonso and Emerson. Otherwise, nobody would even bother with those 3 for LB. Don't think they are that great either in the CB area. They only look better at this point in time than ours because they are better coached and left less exposed. If you were to go a few years back, I'd take the Rudiger under Conte over Maguire or Lindelof and we still have Tomori, who should be a mainstay in our defence in the long run. At RB, we are equal but James is good going forward but not so much when having to defend while AWB is good at defending but not so good at attacking.

Midfield - We have Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic and at a push, Jorginho. They have Fernandes (still to be seen whether he is actually good in the long run) and again, at a push, Pogba. McTominay is okay but he's like their Kante but not quite like Kante. Fred is still average despite whatever recent improvement because the bar was set so low for him. Just going back to Pogba, I feel like his hype is making him to be a better player than he is. Ever since leaving Juventus, he hasn't done anything of real note or performed consistently to justify why people say he's one of the best midfielders in the world. He turns 27 in a few weeks time, he's supposed to be at his peak and yet, he has gone AWOL this season with a "mysterious" injury and it looks like he'll be leaving United at the end of the season. If it wasn't for what he did at Juventus, he would probably have gone down the Lingard route and be seen as a meme footballer. 

Forward - The only one player I would say is good is Rashford. The rest is meh. Martial has blown hot and cold for someone touted as the next best thing years ago. Dan James looks just like your average hardworking winger and nothing more (some might say he's like Mount in that sense). Mata turns 32 this year and hasn't done anything really ever since leaving us. Haven't seen much of Greenwood but he looks like a good finisher. On our side, I'm not convinced by Abraham for the long term but we still have Pulisic, CHO and Ziyech to come. They arguably have better striking options but would still take our lot over theirs. 

[NikkiCFC 8,324]

Great draw for United. 

SEVILLA:ROMA

GETAFE:INTER

UTD:LASK

[Atomiswave 6,117]

13 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Great draw for United. 

SEVILLA:ROMA

GETAFE:INTER

UTD:LASK

It feels like these fuckers always get favourable teams. I still hope they get Inter down the road, Conte will fuck them up.

[Jase 43,479]

Juventus v Inter - one of 5 Serie A fixtures this weekend - has been postponed to May 13 because of the coronavirus... *sigh* 

[Vesper 30,186]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

Juventus v Inter - one of 5 Serie A fixtures this weekend - has been postponed to May 13 because of the coronavirus... *sigh* 

but is is a hoax

Trump told me so!

Trump rallies his base to treat coronavirus as a ‘hoax’

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/28/trump-south-carolina-rally-coronavirus-118269

[Jase 43,479]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

Juventus v Inter - one of 5 Serie A fixtures this weekend - has been postponed to May 13 because of the coronavirus... *sigh* 

Inter's last 3 league games now reads:

Juventus (a)

Napoli (h)

Atalanta (a)

 

[NikkiCFC 8,324]

4 hours ago, Jason said:

Juventus v Inter - one of 5 Serie A fixtures this weekend - has been postponed to May 13 because of the coronavirus... *sigh* 

Good. I didn't like Real Madrid:Barcelona and Juve:Inter at the same time on Sunday. 

[11Drogba 2,000]

 

[Atomiswave 6,117]

I'm waiting for El Clasico, the diving event of the year for sure.