Top 4 or win one or more of the Europa League, FA Cup or League Cup?

Main priority should be to finish as high in the league as possible. But given the favourable draw, and the nice gap we've opened vs 4th, I don't see why a cup and top 4 shouldn't be a realistic target this season.

I hate that we haven't won anything in so long, but cups can be just luck and paper over cracks. The league shows true progress, and I always want to judge us on progress.

A club our size should target both, but unlucky draws or injuries or whatever can derail a cup run.
 
DJ_21 said:
Maybe… but finishing somewhere in the top 4, possibly top 3 shows massive improvement in the league from previous seasons. If we finish outside of the top 4 then it shows that we’re no closer to competing for the premier league and that the likes of Newcastle have overtook us. It’s all about progress and finishing 3rd or 2nd shows massive progress. Plus I think we’ll win the league cup.
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We've finished 5, 2 and 3 in the last 3 seasons, so it's not exactly massive
 
SalfordRed18 said:
Rubbish.

Top 4 is only a thing because they get you CL places. If top 3 were the CL places and 4th got you nothing, no one would care about finishing 4th. Win the Europa League and you get champions league and a trophy.
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The modern game is such that if you’re not in the CL, you’re out in the cold. The reply could be just win the EL Cup, but in truth landing a top four spot in the PL is a greater achievement than winning the EL Cup. But since the goal is to build from a solid foundation for the next season either will do.
 
Top 4 would show progress under ETH …..plus a trophy would be great
 
I can see we winning at least 1 cup and top 3. If I had to choose then top 4 everytime.
 
Decision for Feb-Mar is simple, League Cup is only 3 wins away, and extremely achievable, hence must be top priority. EPL/Top4 is 2nd priority. Just let the B-team go as far as they can on FA, and I have the same feeling on Europa as well. You can decide by late March on which is next top priority, depending on how far we are behind Arsenal/City, how far we have progress on FA & Europa.
 
Top four and Europa are obviously the two most important, as they get us into the CL. As for which one I'd take, it really depends on the situation. If the 'top four' is us finishing right up close to the league winner and taking it to the final couple of games, then probably that. However if it's just sneaking into the top four and finishing nowhere near the winner, I'd prefer to win the Europa.
 
Top 4 or getting into the CL is via any route is critical for the clubs sustainability. Most business assumptions regarding the club are predicated on the assumption that we will go beyond the group stage of every year's CL.

Being in and out of the CL in recent factors has probably been one of the biggest reasons behind our weakening finances in recent years.
 
Obviously winning the EL and qualifing for the CL that way. That being said the league should be a priority since stackig all your cards in a cup competition is always risky.
Managing top 4 should not be regarded as a "success" but a necessity
 
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el3mel said:
Winning a League Cup isn't going to make these group of players a bunch of winners.

It's more important for the team at this point to establish itself as a consistent top 4 team and a continuous presence up top and close to the title competitors. The trophies will follow.

As I said we'll probably manage to do both this season considering our current situation but if I have to choose which is more important for the team now it's a no brainer, winning a League Cup while finishing 6th isn't a step forward in any possible way.
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Would still give that winning feeling around the club though which has been missing for 6 years. Was the first trophy that both Jose & Klopp won so can launch us onto better things.
 
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winning actual cups are far more important than finishing 4th for me

if we where back to winning every year than I might decide top 4 would be a priority but we haven’t won a single thing for 6 years. No idea how anyone would prefer a 4th place over that
 
Rather win trophies Tbh, and in this case winning the EL gets us in the CL anyway so it's a no brainer of a choice. Think we'll get 3rd or 4th anyway regardless
 
I think this is a moot point. I think this manager is generally willing to play strong teams in cups. I don't think he's a manager that rotates for the sake of it, he is willing to put miles in the legs of players if he believes they can handle it. I see us going all out for everything we're in.
 
People seem to miss the trick about finishing top 4. It's not about qualifying to CL, it's about being close in quality and points to the elite teams in the league. Gives you a better foundation to compete for and ultimately win the title in the near future than finishing 6th and miles away from such team and qualifying to CL via winning a 2nd tier European competition.

The ultimate goal for United is to compete for the league and win the the title. In order for this to happen you have to be close to the elite teams in the league at least.
 
I don't think we're in a position where it has to be a choice this season, we can manage both. The only one of those trophies I'd potentially sacrifice top 4 for would be the Europa League because you still achieve Champions League football, but with the added bonus of becoming top seed and getting an actual trophy.

The league has to be our bread and butter though. It would be a very disappointing second half of the season if we managed to feck up top 4 from here.
 
croadyman said:
Yeah I want to win League Cup because it's a trophy and know many will ridicule it's status these days compared to others
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We should be strong enough to go the distance in the cups, but future strength (attracting players, revenue, etc.) is going to hinge on playing Champions League football. We need to get back to the high standards set by Fergie. Managers should worry about their jobs if they miss out on top 4. A cup won’t change that. It’s really both are demanded, but CL leads to more success while a league (or FA) cup is its own thing that will not.

Get top 4, get used to playing with the big boys again, strengthen, win cups along the way.
 
So, after today's game, should we be playing weakened teams?
 
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