FA Cup 5th Round

Manchester United 1:0 West Ham United

Old Trafford

Kick-off
Tue, 9 February 2021 @ 7:30pm GMT
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    We need to give a few of the lads a breather but I do worry about the drop off in our performances as soon as we take out a few players. The league is still the bread and butter, though, so I think we’ll see Henderson, Tuanzebe, Telles, and VDB making starts. OGS will know West Ham are a strong side so too many changes and we could easily lose.

    Whilst that might not be the end of the world in a normal season, the timing of a loss tomorrow could disrupt the rest of the campaign with our poor points return in the last few league games and the media giving it large that we’re out of another cup and don’t have that winning mentality.
     
    Havak said:
    Why would we rest players for this?

    Title has been gone for weeks IMO. We aren't finishing 5th or worse. We shouldn't take the Europa League too seriously unless we get knocked out of the FA Cup.

    This is our best chance at a trophy and changing our mentality into winners. It has to be close to full strength.

    I'll be amazed if we see some of the line-ups posted in this thread. Henderson for Dave? Sure. Beek for Pogba? (More likely Fred/Matic) Maybe.. Martial could start for sure, but otherwise I think it's going to be very similar to what we saw the last couple of games.
    Click to expand...
    No guarantee on the league position yet, Leicester last season proved what could happen.

    As it stand United are only 6 points ahead of the 5th placed team and that gap will become less as Everton are sure to pick up points from their two games in hand.

    I agree winning a trophy would be great for mentality of this group of players but it needs to be done with a top 4 finish in the league.
     
    DDG
    AWB EB HG LS
    MG DVB MCT MR
    BF
    AM
     
    Henderson

    Tuanzebe
    Baily
    Maguire
    Telles

    VDB
    McTominay

    Greenwood
    Bruno
    James

    Martial

    2-0 United - Martial & Greenwood
     
    BeforeKeanetherewasRobson said:
    Won't need to ban Mike Dean.

    He's had death threats and asked to be taken off games at the weekend.

    Keyboard warriors.... aka knobheads.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/sport/amp/football/55981926
    Click to expand...
    Yeah that's not on. Sadly totally not surprised by idiots on social media.
    Can only hope that there is a proper way to deal with these horrible decisions that's happening on a weekly basis.

    Well Paul Tierney is ours, let's hope for a fair one
     
    always_hoping said:
    No guarantee on the league position yet, Leicester last season proved what could happen.

    As it stand United are only 6 points ahead of the 5th placed team and that gap will become less as Everton are sure to pick up points from their two games in hand.

    I agree winning a trophy would be great for mentality of this group of players but it needs to be done with a top 4 finish in the league.
    Click to expand...
    I can't believe we should expect to have any chance of finishing worse than 4th now. I can deal with the defeatist "not in the title race" mindset, but to think three teams will pass us from this point is a worry in itself. Can't be 2nd after 23 games and finish 5th (or worse).

    Strong team here, we have to be capable of going in hard on the FA Cup to win it while still finishing top 4. The Europa League is where the major changes should come in my opinion. If we forego the FA Cup and get knocked out, we end up in a situation where I expect we try to win the Europa League and finish top 4, and then, only then, would I believe could end up to much with neither...
     
    Havak said:
    Why would we rest players for this?

    Title has been gone for weeks IMO. We aren't finishing 5th or worse. We shouldn't take the Europa League too seriously unless we get knocked out of the FA Cup.

    This is our best chance at a trophy and changing our mentality into winners. It has to be close to full strength.

    I'll be amazed if we see some of the line-ups posted in this thread. Henderson for Dave? Sure. Beek for Pogba? (More likely Fred/Matic) Maybe.. Martial could start for sure, but otherwise I think it's going to be very similar to what we saw the last couple of games.
    Click to expand...

    Because we're in a very tight top four race and if we miss it but win an FA cup, that will be highly disappointing when you factor in how weak our rivals have been and how injury free we are (so far).

    City aren't crowned champions in Feb as well, if we stop dropping ridiculous points like SHU we should be close enough come May - I'd rather we finished with 10 points of them and won nothing rather than won an FA cup and the gap was massive again, the latter would just confirm we aren't really going anywhere and will be an echo of the LVG/Mou years where fans give up hope of actually improving a team and want to just throw money at the problem - we need Halaand, we need Sancho, we need Upamecamo etc.
     
    Few changes like Bailly (is he fit?) and Henderson and some shufffle in midfield but not too much roatation. We should take this game seriously and I'm sure we will. Start strongly like vs Liverpool and Everton 1st half and please no more brainfarts in defense or not too much of those.
     
    tomaldinho1 said:
    Because we're in a very tight top four race and if we miss it but win an FA cup, that will be highly disappointing when you factor in how weak our rivals have been and how injury free we are (so far).

    City aren't crowned champions in Feb as well, if we stop dropping ridiculous points like SHU we should be close enough come May - I'd rather we finished with 10 points of them and won nothing rather than won an FA cup and the gap was massive again, the latter would just confirm we aren't really going anywhere and will be an echo of the LVG/Mou years where fans give up hope of actually improving a team and want to just throw money at the problem - we need Halaand, we need Sancho, we need Upamecamo etc.
    Click to expand...
    Out of curiosity, how many points do you think City will get this season?
     
    Havak said:
    Out of curiosity, how many points do you think City will get this season?
    Click to expand...

    City are averaging 2,27 points per match. We are at 1.95

    If City drop their average to ours, they'll end up at around 81 points this season. Which isn't an unlikely total.

    Even if we increase our average to 2,27, we won't go above 80.
     
    ——————Henderson——————-

    -AwB——Bailly—-Maguire—-Telles

    ———————-Matic———————-

    ————-VdB————Mata————-

    -Greenwood—Martial——James-
     
    UncleBob said:
    City are averaging 2,27 points per match. We are at 1.95

    If City drop their average to ours, they'll end up at around 81 points this season. Which isn't an unlikely total.

    Even if we increase our average to 2,27, we won't go above 80.
    Click to expand...
    That's a fair bit more of a swing than I expect, but IMO it shows that we simply cannot win the title. If we can't win the title ahead of City, I will categorically say no one else can and we won't drop out of the top 4 to boot.

    I'm thinking 85 Points is a total that City could realistically drop to. They dropped 16 points so far this season, if they are to finish on 85, they will need to drop 13 more points in 16 games.

    If United are to get 85, hoping that City slip up massively to hit 84 or less (with a defeat to United at the Etihad) we need to go on what I think is an unrealistic run given how consistent we are. 15 games to go, to get 85 we will need 13 wins and a draw from those games. I can't see it...

    But, we can't be defeatist and think we can throw away top 4 from this position. Nor can we think a few FA Cup games are going to be too much of a distraction for us. If anything, assuming we beat West Ham, we should be rotating heavily in the Europa League and nowhere else.

    A big problem is that Ole knows this group needs a trophy and so does he. If we rotate too heavily in the FA Cup when it's what? 4 additional games? If we end up kicking ourselves, going out to West Ham by making concessions, the focus could shift onto thinking we have to win the Europa League. That creates a much bigger problem as it's 9 additional games to win it and that might actually impact our Premier League aspirations.

    Losing here could have massive repercussions IMO.
     
    Last edited:
    Havak said:
    Out of curiosity, how many points do you think City will get this season?
    Click to expand...

    If they stay injury free probably around 85 - the hope is that they have CL, they are lacking a top striker and they are not as good a they were in the 2nd/3rd season with Pep. They will always have those games where they absolutely blow teams away but I do think they drop points as the season goes on, fatigue and niggles come in and that's why I think we should sack off EL and FA cup completely (well not sack off but rotate very heavily). The PL is really weak right now and we should try to take advantage of that.
     
    tomaldinho1 said:
    If they stay injury free probably around 85 - the hope is that they have CL, they are lacking a top striker and they are not as good a they were in the 2nd/3rd season with Pep. They will always have those games where they absolutely blow teams away but I do think they drop points as the season goes on, fatigue and niggles come in and that's why I think we should sack off EL and FA cup completely (well not sack off but rotate very heavily). The PL is really weak right now and we should try to take advantage of that.
    Click to expand...
    See above post.

    United to get 85, or 86 in this case is minimum 13 wins out of 15 games. No room for error. We've won 13 out of 23. We aren't doing it.

    Get the FA Cup won if we can. It won't cost us top 4.
     
    Is Bailly fit? If he is I would still prefer to rest him until our game against WBA on the weekend. My team would be as follows:

    ---------------Henderson---------------
    AWB---Tuanzebe---Lindelof---Telles
    ----------VDB------------Matic----------
    Greenwood-----Mata--------James
    ------------------Martial------------------

    Going with this team as it gives us the chance to rest players who have played a lot of minutes like Maguire, Bruno and Rashford. It also allows us to give Henderson a chance to stake a claim (which I hope he takes) for a regular starting spot in the league. This game also gives much needed minutes to the likes of James, Mata, VDB and Tuanzebe. Yes they appear to be on the fringes but with games coming thick and fast and if we start to pick up 1 or 2 more injuries alongside Pogba, we need our squad players as match fit as possible!

    I am also hoping VDB can do well in the double-pivot, because let's be honest, that is probably the only position he would get into the starting 11 if Bruno plays and while Pogba is out for a few weeks, we need him to perform well there!

    Putting in Matic as without Maguire, Pogba and Cavani we lose a lot of height and with Axel and Lindelof not being the greatest in the air, West Ham will definitely be looking at set-pieces as a route to scoring goals with Soucek. So Matic would be the one to deal with him hopefully and his experience would be important.

    I doubt it will happen but I do hope Amad Diallo is at least on the bench. Hoping for a routine 2-0 win and with us coming away from it without any further injuries or suspensions!
     
    Longlivekeano said:
    ——————Henderson——————-

    -AwB——Bailly—-Maguire—-Telles

    ———————-Matic———————-

    ————-VdB————Mata————-

    -Greenwood—Martial——James-
    Click to expand...

    Interesting - very creative. We'll probably not give the ball away too much, however, I strongly suspect most PL teams will cut through that midfield at will like a hot knife to butter, and it will be a chore to win the ball back in the middle of the park as they won't be able to get close to the opposition.
     
    Alfie092 said:
    Is Bailly fit? If he is I would still prefer to rest him until our game against WBA on the weekend. My team would be as follows:

    ---------------Henderson---------------
    AWB---Tuanzebe---Lindelof---Telles
    ----------VDB------------Matic----------
    Greenwood-----Mata--------James
    ------------------Martial------------------

    Going with this team as it gives us the chance to rest players who have played a lot of minutes like Maguire, Bruno and Rashford. It also allows us to give Henderson a chance to stake a claim (which I hope he takes) for a regular starting spot in the league. This game also gives much needed minutes to the likes of James, Mata, VDB and Tuanzebe. Yes they appear to be on the fringes but with games coming thick and fast and if we start to pick up 1 or 2 more injuries alongside Pogba, we need our squad players as match fit as possible!

    I am also hoping VDB can do well in the double-pivot, because let's be honest, that is probably the only position he would get into the starting 11 if Bruno plays and while Pogba is out for a few weeks, we need him to perform well there!

    Putting in Matic as without Maguire, Pogba and Cavani we lose a lot of height and with Axel and Lindelof not being the greatest in the air, West Ham will definitely be looking at set-pieces as a route to scoring goals with Soucek. So Matic would be the one to deal with him hopefully and his experience would be important.

    I doubt it will happen but I do hope Amad Diallo is at least on the bench. Hoping for a routine 2-0 win and with us coming away from it without any further injuries or suspensions!
    Click to expand...
    weak midfield for a game against a physical side like theirs
     
    Havak said:
    See above post.

    United to get 85, or 86 in this case is minimum 13 wins out of 15 games. No room for error. We've won 13 out of 23. We aren't doing it.

    Get the FA Cup won if we can. It won't cost us top 4.
    Click to expand...
    Very likely you are correct but that is not how football works. Put it this way, until SHU we were averaging 2.1 points a game after a really poor start to the season which would take us to 79/80 points. You never know when a big injury might come or if covid will create another twist and turn this season. Would I bet money on us winning the PL? Not a chance and you are right it's likely City will run away with it (but that should really be the case most seasons and it doesn't always happen).

    I personally think we'll struggle to even stay in the top four. Re FA cup - I'd agree if top four was not so tight. City will stay top or near enough (as we agree above), Leicester lost top four because of loads of injuries last season, they are better this season, Chelsea are on the bounce now and they have such a deep squad, Liverpool for all their woes are still top four and still a good team. Our issue will be the run at the end of the season where we have Chelsea, WHUM, Palace, Brighton, Spurs in a row & then Pool, Villa, Leicester back to back. If we go and pay our usual big game tactics, I can guarantee there'll be a load of draws in there that feck us.
     
    tomaldinho1 said:
    Very likely you are correct but that is not how football works. Put it this way, until SHU we were averaging 2.1 points a game after a really poor start to the season which would take us to 79/80 points. You never know when a big injury might come or if covid will create another twist and turn this season. Would I bet money on us winning the PL? Not a chance and you are right it's likely City will run away with it (but that should really be the case most seasons and it doesn't always happen).

    I personally think we'll struggle to even stay in the top four. Re FA cup - I'd agree if top four was not so tight. City will stay top or near enough (as we agree above), Leicester lost top four because of loads of injuries last season, they are better this season, Chelsea are on the bounce now and they have such a deep squad, Liverpool for all their woes are still top four and still a good team. Our issue will be the run at the end of the season where we have Chelsea, WHUM, Palace, Brighton, Spurs in a row & then Pool, Villa, Leicester back to back. If we go and pay our usual big game tactics, I can guarantee there'll be a load of draws in there that feck us.
    Click to expand...
    I expect draws to be the main killer of us. But we have proven to be a strong side, practically the best side for about a year straight. I will be amazed if we throw away top 4 from here and I don't think a longer FA Cup run is going to be the thing that costs us that. Three teams have to overtake us and they all seem even more inconsistent than we are thus far.

    Europa League I can agree with.
     
    Looks like Amad will debut.

    ah3hgks2hgg61.jpg
     
    Rest everyone we can.

    Finishing as close to the top of the league as we can has to be priority to build on for next season.
     
    Crustanoid said:
    Rest everyone we can.

    Finishing as close to the top of the league as we can has to be priority to build on for next season.
    Click to expand...
    Not a chance. Win a trophy. We'll get top 4, and have our targets there sure. Priority has to be to get top 4 and win a trophy though. Finishing 2nd/3rd/4th means feck all, but a trophy would be huge for confidence and getting past that hump (for Ole as well). United is also going dangerously long without a trophy, since 2017. We need one this year.
     
    The next game is on Sunday. I wouldn’t risk anyway who is carrying a minor injury or knock, but apart from that we can afford to play the strongest team today.
     
    Inigo Montoya said:
    weak midfield for a game against a physical side like theirs
    Click to expand...


    That was also my worry and wouldn't mind McTom for more steal in midfield and play VDB in place of Mata in the 10. I still do think we can boss them in midfield anyways.
     
    Alfie092 said:
    That was also my worry and wouldn't mind McTom for more steal in midfield and play VDB in place of Mata in the 10. I still do think we can boss them in midfield anyways.
    Click to expand...
    Rice has that dynamism that will disrupt a slow midfield and that’s a concern. We will need to meet the physical challenge from them. They will play it long over the top, hit crosses and make it competitive. Soucek being back is a boost definitely. Need to be on our game.
     
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Post-match discussion

Man of the Match

Scott McTominay image Scott McTominay 58% of 241 votes

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5.9 Total Average Rating

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Score Predictions

165,11,7
  • Man Utd win
  • West Ham win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 32% Man Utd 2:1 West Ham
  • 21% Man Utd 2:0 West Ham
  • 16% Man Utd 3:1 West Ham
  • 10% Man Utd 1:0 West Ham
  • 5% Man Utd 3:0 West Ham
  • 3% Man Utd 3:2 West Ham
  • 2% Man Utd 1:2 West Ham
  • 2% Man Utd 1:1 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 0:2 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 4:1 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 4:2 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 0:5 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 2:2 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 0:0 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 0:1 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 1:3 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 0:3 West Ham
  • 1% Man Utd 5:0 West Ham
Compiled from 183 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. West Ham
Possession
62% 38%
Shots
17 3
Shots on Target
5 1
Corners
6 4
Fouls
15 12

Referee

Paul Tierney

Man Utd Lineup

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