The Title Race 2017/18 | Done and dusted.

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Siorac said:
We won at the Emirates exactly once in the last five seasons, and that was the game when we were totally outplayed, De Gea saved our asses over and over again and then we got a flukey goal out of the blue against the run of play.

Calling it a formality is arrogant at best, deluded at worst.
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In the last 4 seasons we have seen some of our worst form during the period of managerial transition after Fergie. I wouldn’t count the 1st season of your calculation as we had already won the league by the time we played them and last year we had other objectives so rested key players.

This season we’re having one of our best starts, scoring for fun and rock solid at the back. Plus Mourinho just loves to get in Wengers head. He’s only ever won one dead rubber Community Shield game in 15 matches.

I’m sorry if you are taking my confidence that we can easily brush Arsenal aside as delusion. Guess tomorrow is when we find out which one of us two is right.
 
royboy16 said:
Well if we don't win the league we should defo have a great chance of top 4 with us having home fixtures against Arsenal,Chelsea and poo in the second half of the season.
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You are finishing 2nd without any doubt. The other teams are too incostant.
 
Treble said:
If we draw with Arsenal and beat you we'll be 7 points off you, provided that you beat Wham. Won't be that bad for us. Therefore, drawing with Arsenal isn't necessarily bad.
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I said a point at Arsenal isn't necessarily bad. But further, I went on to say even then if you draw with us at OT, you are only 10 points behind, which is also not game over.

It would leave us in the box seat for sure, but as I say, teams have come back from more than 10 behind.
 
I'm actually enjoying chasing city, instead of being in 6th place for the whole of the season. Last year it felt like the big games didn't have much meaning because we were always dropping points vs the small teams. Our form has improved massively against small teams so the big games mean a lot more.
 
breakout67 said:
I'm actually enjoying chasing city, instead of being in 6th place for the whole of the season. Last year it felt like the big games didn't have much meaning because we were always dropping points vs the small teams. Our form has improved massively against small teams so the big games mean a lot more.
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I feel exactly the same. This year it could be that City runs away with it but at least we are up there and hanging around. Makes it a lot more fun and engaging. Shows you could always look at things 2 different ways!
 
breakout67 said:
I'm actually enjoying chasing city, instead of being in 6th place for the whole of the season. Last year it felt like the big games didn't have much meaning because we were always dropping points vs the small teams. Our form has improved massively against small teams so the big games mean a lot more.
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It's the big games that will decide it I think. In 8 days time our lead could be anything from 2 to 13 points. At 13, we are odds on to go on and win it. If you closed the gap to 2, it would be a huge momentum swing in your favour and perhaps even make United favourites.
 
Darkhorsez said:
I feel exactly the same. This year it could be that City runs away with it but at least we are up there and hanging around. Makes it a lot more fun and engaging. Shows you could always look at things 2 different ways!
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Yes, it isnt the end of the world for me if Utd don't win the league. As long we gave our best effort then let the dice roll where they roll. I feel this is the closest we have gotten to a good team post-SAF so I want to see how far these player can go.
 
I've sort of resigned the title already. It would take a near flawless run from us until the end of the season, with Citeh simultanously dropping points.

I am just focused on enjoying the season and the improvement we've seen in the team. Makes me excited for next season when once and for all our weaknesses at WB and RW\#10 should be adressed.
 
SwansonsTache said:
I've sort of resigned the title already. It would take a near flawless run from us until the end of the season, with Citeh simultanously dropping points.

I am just focused on enjoying the season and the improvement we've seen in the team. Makes me excited for next season when once and for all our weaknesses at WB and RW\#10 should be adressed.
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You could do well in the Champions League, with the way Josè sets his teams up.
 
Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87 said:
You are finishing 2nd without any doubt. The other teams are too incostant.
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I wouldn’t say that at all. None of the other sixteen teams can buy a point against the top six (Well Spurs not Burnley ).

Arsenal and Chelsea are both averaging two points per game while in impressive form. Liverpool are in great form aswell. United could very conceivably finish outside the top four and below Spurs still.

Perhaps I’m being a negative nancy, but I think there’s a far greater chance of that than us catching City. Though City will definitely hit a bad patch at some point - they can’t be perfect.
 
United fans who say City have wrapped the title in November do it just make it less painful if in the end City really win the league.
 
Karel Podolsky said:
United fans who say City have wrapped the title in November do it just make it less painful if in the end City really win the league.
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Exactly. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed.

I am pretty miserable in general though.
 
Glanville95 said:
I wouldn’t say that at all. None of the other sixteen teams can buy a point against the top six (Well Spurs not Burnley ).

Arsenal and Chelsea are both averaging two points per game while in impressive form. Liverpool are in great form aswell. United could very conceivably finish outside the top four and below Spurs still.

Perhaps I’m being a negative nancy, but I think there’s a far greater chance of that than us catching City. Though City will definitely hit a bad patch at some point - they can’t be perfect.
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The big games at home are gonna be the key. You have many of them from now.
 
It's not going to be all that painful to see City winning the league. Its hard to top the first one of the new era that they won, and no other title win of theirs will ever come close to that again. City are expected to win the league every season and rightfully so with their team. It just feels almost hollow, I can't get that sort of anger or pain from it.

The majority on here weren't even fussed when they won it last time because it was at the expense of Liverpool.
 
Karel Podolsky said:
United fans who say City have wrapped the title in November do it just make it less painful if in the end City really win the league.
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Doesn't work like that for me. The only two teams I care about winning the title are United and Liverpool.

Man City are a state funded team, so they don't invoke much emotion for me. Its a bit like Donald Trump getting a small loan of a million dollars and becoming a multi-millionaire as a result. It's not as impressive as someone that started with very little money.
 
SwansonsTache said:
I've sort of resigned the title already. It would take a near flawless run from us until the end of the season, with Citeh simultanously dropping points.

I am just focused on enjoying the season and the improvement we've seen in the team. Makes me excited for next season when once and for all our weaknesses at WB and RW\#10 should be adressed.
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It's why I don't understand the castigation those that date say we won't win the league suffer.
I never felt we would win it. But coming from where we were, I'm just happy to be up in the table rather than fearing for too 4 all the time.
 
gavdim2002 said:
And Spurs was better than Leicester
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I don't get the point you're making.
The poster wrote, the reason why we are assuming City will win it is some sort of coping mechanism.
I replied by saying it's because we think they are better.
What has Spurs and Leicester got to do with it?
 
gavdim2002 said:
And Spurs was better than Leicester
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Only in the twisted mind of fans. You don't win the league by 10 points without being better. We saw in the next season when Leicester got to the quarter finals of the CL that that team was good even without Kante.

Leicester are a mid table team now, with Kante they could have a good chance to be in the top 6.
 
breakout67 said:
Only in the twisted mind of fans. You don't win the league by 10 points without being better. We saw in the next season when Leicester got to the quarter finals of the CL that that team was good even without Kante.

Leicester are a mid table team now, with Kante they could have a good chance to be in the top 6.
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Ok, then the logic is that the winning team is the best team. Why then give it to City before Christmas when the fact is that there will be months of football played before it is decided?
 
gavdim2002 said:
Ok, then the logic is that the winning team is the best team. Why then give it to City before Christmas when the fact is that there will be months of football played before it is decided?
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I'm not conceding the title to City. I'm just saying that Leicester proved themselves to be better than everyone else that season by winning the league. I will never give up on the title until the gap is so big that its impossible.
 
breakout67 said:
Leicester are a mid table team now, with Kante they could have a good chance to be in the top 6.
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If Kante would make such a difference, Leicester must be playing in an easy league – could maybe appreciate the idea if we were talking Messi or Ronaldo here.
 
breakout67 said:
I'm not conceding the title to City. I'm just saying that Leicester proved themselves to be better than everyone else that season by winning the league. I will never give up on the title until the gap is so big that its impossible.
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That's the spirit!
 
Arsenal/Utd draw today and City/Utd draw next week. We win our game next week, that would be lovely for us. Gain traction on City and overtake Utd. Liverpool are worth watching out for too, with Salah scoring goals left, right and centre they could easily creep up on the top 3.
 
City have been scraping the wins in the last two games and shown signs of possibly slowing down. Cue Moyes to hand them a 5-0 victory today and get their adrenalin flowing again.:rolleyes:
 
United will lose any chance of winning the title this weekend due to the fixture list and fatigue and heres why.

United have played 4 games in 11 days with the most travelling.
Basel - Away
2 day rest
Brighton - Home
2 day rest
Watford - Away.
3 day rest
Arsenal - Away.

As of sunday, City would have played 4 games in 13 days and no travelling.
Feyenoord - Home
4 day rest
Huddersfield - Away
2 day rest
Southampton - Home
3 day rest
West Ham - Home (tomorrow)

So City have had more even rest breaks over a longer period of time and virtually no travelling compared to United.

Im not using that as an excuse, just pointing out that right in this moment United will be more tired.
The reason why we will lose any chance of winning the league is because we will draw with Arsenal tonight (possibly even lose) and City will beat West Ham tomorrow. The gap after that will be too big for United to claw back.
 
gavdim2002 said:
If Kante would make such a difference, Leicester must be playing in an easy league – could maybe appreciate the idea if we were talking Messi or Ronaldo here.
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Perhaps if you think the only players that really make a difference are flair attacking players. Players like Kante make a team tick, and allow them to attack by removing huge amounts of pressure off them. They might not be glamorous but they're certainly worth a ton of points each season. Look at how Makalele leaving Madrid hurt them.
 
Having Kante back is one of the reasons Chelsea dominated our midfield at the Bridge.
 
Kentonio said:
Perhaps if you think the only players that really make a difference are flair attacking players. Players like Kante make a team tick, and allow them to attack by removing huge amounts of pressure off them. They might not be glamorous but they're certainly worth a ton of points each season. Look at how Makalele leaving Madrid hurt them.
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I do think that players in every position can make a big difference and a player like Kante is certainly among those who can. My point is that only very few players in the world would be able to make a mediocre EPL team into at top team and Kante in my book is not one of them.
 
gavdim2002 said:
I do think that players in every position can make a big difference and a player like Kante is certainly among those who can. My point is that only very few players in the world would be able to make a mediocre EPL team into at top team and Kante in my book is not one of them.
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Leicester City? They won the league with Kante in, he was their best player. They collapsed at the beginning of the season 2016/17 without Kante
 
deafepl said:
Leicester City? They won the league with Kante in, he was their best player. They collapsed at the beginning of the season 2016/17 without Kante
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No he wasn't, Mahrez was
 
gavdim2002 said:
I do think that players in every position can make a big difference and a player like Kante is certainly among those who can. My point is that only very few players in the world would be able to make a mediocre EPL team into at top team and Kante in my book is not one of them.
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You mean the guy who has back to back Premier League title with different clubs, and was the Premier League player of the year last year (ahead of Hazard, Lukaku, Kane, Silva, Aguero etc)? That guy?
 
Kentonio said:
You mean the guy who has back to back Premier League title with different clubs, and was the Premier League player of the year last year (ahead of Hazard, Lukaku, Kane, Silva, Aguero etc)? That guy?
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Leicester ain't winning squat if mahrez doesn't have the season of his life. Kante is great and belongs to the rare breed of midfielders who are difference makers, but he'll never be on the same level as guys like alexis or hazard
 
giorno said:
Leicester ain't winning squat if mahrez doesn't have the season of his life. Kante is great and belongs to the rare breed of midfielders who are difference makers, but he'll never be on the same level as guys like alexis or hazard
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He's a completely different player, but no less important. I take it as a Madrid fan you were right there with Pérez shouting about how Makalele wasn't on the saame level as his Galacticos? ;)
 
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