They are covering themselves in case they bottle it again.
FA Cup or Top 4 this season?
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
- Start date
I‘m scratching my head at some of the posts. We belong in the CL, competing for the highest honors. We are bigger than City and Pool.
Top 4. Financial and recruitment ramifications.
Would be interesting if someone added a poll to this thread. Seems close from reading people's replies.
Top 4. Doh.
And the club stagnates another year
the goal would definitely of been top 4 and if on the way you can get a throphy, happy days
Easy choice, that.
CL, and the money and pull on new signings that comes with it.
I'm not too bothered about the domestic cups.
I mean, they're nice to win... But only if it's an addition to another big trophy, like PL or CL.
On its own, it's a meager meal.
Just winning the FA Cup/League Cup, and still not being a title contender in the league? That does absolutely nothing for me. Being so poor in the league after the League Cup Final win, has all but ruined the joy of that trophy.
Winning the league while also doing the double with a domestic cup? That's massive! I'd take that!
Ultimately, it's the league that matters, and what is the measure of our success.
Winning the league, while also winning cups, is absolute domination.
Winning only the cup is down to 50% luck of the draw and form.
Winning the league is undeniable proof of sustained quality.
CL, and the money and pull on new signings that comes with it.
I'm not too bothered about the domestic cups.
I mean, they're nice to win... But only if it's an addition to another big trophy, like PL or CL.
On its own, it's a meager meal.
Just winning the FA Cup/League Cup, and still not being a title contender in the league? That does absolutely nothing for me. Being so poor in the league after the League Cup Final win, has all but ruined the joy of that trophy.
Winning the league while also doing the double with a domestic cup? That's massive! I'd take that!
Ultimately, it's the league that matters, and what is the measure of our success.
Winning the league, while also winning cups, is absolute domination.
Winning only the cup is down to 50% luck of the draw and form.
Winning the league is undeniable proof of sustained quality.
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Even if it wasn't to stop City doing the treble I'd prefer the FA cup. Nobody remembers finishing 4th place as a good day. Also what's the point in being in the CL next season? we're gonna get hammered the moment we face a big team.
That being said, I'd be shitting myself going into that FA cup final v city if we'd just fell out of top 4
That being said, I'd be shitting myself going into that FA cup final v city if we'd just fell out of top 4
Long term prospects of trophies due to being able to build a better squad > 2023 FA Cup
Even if losing top four after having it so long would be a disaster…
Now, because of who it is and what it means, plus, it IS a cup final, I’ve got to pick the FA cup.
Now, because of who it is and what it means, plus, it IS a cup final, I’ve got to pick the FA cup.
FA Cup. Stops City treble and is a trophy. Don't wanna celebrate top 4 like we're doing an arsenal.
This.
I agree with this. Winning is the best. We came in second under Mourinho and Solskjaer. Who cares now? But, the FA Cup under Van Gaal and the Europa League under Mourinho matter. If for no other reason than they separate us from Tottenham.
I think we'll make top 4 as well. I would rather play Champions league than Europa League though we have a much better chance of winning the latter and even if we qualify for the Champions league there is a decent chance we end up back in the Europa after the group stage.
I realize there is more money in the Champions league. But, as I see the muppets on here say all the time, it's not my money!
Winning the F.A. Cup would be magic…what a day that would be…we could celebrate that for a day or two and have serious bragging rights…stopping City’s treble….
Getting Top 4 would give us a better chance of enticing players to the club in the summer and start building a squad for the future…being involved in the CL will give valuable experience to younger players and stop Liverpool getting 4th spot which won’t make them so enticing for players next year….
Top 4 for me…
Getting Top 4 would give us a better chance of enticing players to the club in the summer and start building a squad for the future…being involved in the CL will give valuable experience to younger players and stop Liverpool getting 4th spot which won’t make them so enticing for players next year….
Top 4 for me…
This is not a valid question.
Stop City winning the treble while we win the FA Cup. Insane to think any other options is acceptable.
Stop City winning the treble while we win the FA Cup. Insane to think any other options is acceptable.
Nah playing CL is more important for the club. We belong there. But, as some say above, it is not our money.
Still, I would have trouble getting excited about the Europa League.
I have a solution. We beat City AND get top four. I know, I‘m fecking brilliant.
Logically top 4 is more important to the club than FA Cup.
But someone made a great point, in 5 years time people are going to forget who finished top 4 in 2023. F**k, I can't even remember who finished top 4 two years ago! But if we beat City in the FA Cup final, that will be remembered forever!
But someone made a great point, in 5 years time people are going to forget who finished top 4 in 2023. F**k, I can't even remember who finished top 4 two years ago! But if we beat City in the FA Cup final, that will be remembered forever!
Carlsberg don't do end of seasons......
Top 4
Real Madrid are more likely to stop the treble than we are.
Real Madrid are more likely to stop the treble than we are.
FA Cup for me.
We've gone full Arsenal. Love the FA cup, it's a great honour.
But we despreately need CL at this stage.
But we despreately need CL at this stage.
Would be interesting to see if age comes into how people vote. I’d go FA cup but then I’m probably an old man at 42. It used to mean as much as winning the league at one time.it would also stop city getting the treble which must add something extra.
Normally I'd say top four without hesitation but quite the opposite with the City treble possibility.
Need to win both for it to be considered a successful season.
Losing out on either CL or getting spanked by city in the final will be a sour end to the season and feel like no progress was made.
Losing out on either CL or getting spanked by city in the final will be a sour end to the season and feel like no progress was made.
Top Four, not a contest.
The FA Cup is fun for the day. The pageantry, the royalty, the aura of history around Wembley -- even if the old Wembley is now long gone -- there's nothing quite like it. No Shakira, no ridiculous trashy extravaganza, no homage to the climate crisis that confronts humanity. Just a good, old-fashioned one-off and it's a glorious trophy lift to end the day, so be it...but then it's quickly forgotten and it's back to work the next day.
CL qualifications is the ticket to competing against the top footballers on the planet over at least a three month period of time.
The FA Cup is fun for the day. The pageantry, the royalty, the aura of history around Wembley -- even if the old Wembley is now long gone -- there's nothing quite like it. No Shakira, no ridiculous trashy extravaganza, no homage to the climate crisis that confronts humanity. Just a good, old-fashioned one-off and it's a glorious trophy lift to end the day, so be it...but then it's quickly forgotten and it's back to work the next day.
CL qualifications is the ticket to competing against the top footballers on the planet over at least a three month period of time.
If rashford is really injured we will do well to get either because no one else can score.
We have forgotten how to win
You have to score more goals than the other team.
Fan mentality smaller than either City or Liverpool, talking about one or the other between top 4 and a trophy.
This poll and thread is a disgrace. It's both or a failure
No fecking brainer, top 4...gets us in the Champions League which is money in the clubs pocket, but also gets us players wanting to come to Utd....what top striker of mid is going ot want to sign for Utd if we miss out?
FA cup
Top-4 of course - for several reasons.
Not getting it means we have bottled top-4
It means Liverpool play in the C.L
It means I seriously question ETH
Finances
Attracting new players
Not getting it means we have bottled top-4
It means Liverpool play in the C.L
It means I seriously question ETH
Finances
Attracting new players
Neither is dependent on each other. Its not like if we rest players lose top 4 then we will be favorites in the final. We need to win and build momentum before the final. Then have to shut the noisy neighbors up at wembley
An option where we win the FA cup but finish outside the European places is more appealing than FA cup and 5th place. I really can't deal with another season of Thursday night football 
If you’re saying Top 4 you are an example of what’s wrong in the current world.
Glorifying no success at all.
Trophies are easily more important for our club if we want to remain relevant and not become another spurs.
What is this sorcery you speak of?
Top4 spot would be more important in a long term. Losing it would also hurt more.
A few questions for you.
1. Which transfer market from the last 10 years would you say is the best we've had? Was it influenced by being in the CL?
2. What specific players we've signed because of being in the CL? What was/is the outcome from those players performances?
They won’t be able to answer this as it’s nonsense.
A club of our size & resource should be capable of winning a domestic cup then finishing Top4.
There was a reason SAF could dismiss domestic cups, he had proof of an ability to win them. The idea you finish 4th & it changes your shopping basket from McNeil to Mbappe is ridiculous.
Same posters will be the ones crying when we do feck all in the Champions League next season anyway, I want to be in it but that doesn’t come at the justification of underperforming in other competitions.
In the games this season when Rashford was out injured, we scored just as many goals in these games as we had in the games before. No difference.
It's a giant myth that we can't score without Rashford.
When he is on the pitch, he will constantly get the ball, and when in form (which is about half the time of any season), he will be the likely one to net a goal. That's what people really mean when they say we can't score without Rashford, which is entirely different from the untrue suggestion that we don't score without him.
But, and this is important: When he doesn't play, our attack is much more free-flowing, we keep possession in the final third a lot more, and we end up scoring anywhere between 1-3 goals.
When Rashford doesn't play, all of our other players increase their chance of scoring, because the ball is much more effectively recycled in possession.
It's the same problem with Rashford that we had with Ronaldo. They scored a lot when playing, but effectively hindered our overall domination of play by giving away possession or wandering into counterproductive areas.
With Rashford, we almost exclusively play on the break, and constantly give away possession. Yes, he'll have stints when scoring, but he will just as surely drop off and go months on end without producing.
Same old story.
It's quite ironic that his goal celebration is a symbol of mental strength, as he will inevitably and always go through long spells of sulking, destructive ball handling, and no tracking back, all telltale signs of being mentally drained.
This happens every season, even in his "good" seasons.
Meanwhile, he never gets dropped, and earns more than Salah and City's entire forward line, bar Haaland. If that's not a huge red flag indicating how our club is run, nothing is.
Back on topic: An FA Cup win and no top 4 will not set us up for success next season, as much as a CL spot and increased budget will.
The UEFA coefficient also comes into play in a few years, wherein a fifth team that has a high UEFA ranking also will qualify for the CL. How do we increase our coefficient? By being in the CL on a consistent basis.
Europa League is the death knell for us.
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