We are still in this. Leicester and Spurs have no background chasing league titles and aren't likely to hold their collective nerve as the league fixtures wear on. Arsenal are completely bottlers and aren't going anywhere. We have a decent shot at nicking it if LvG doesn't do something idiotic to cock it up.
Turns out we're a bit crap, anyone?
- Thread starter Rolandofgilead
- Start date
It's on.
The part that is difficult to believe is Villa getting a mighty 14 points and Swansea only getting 3 points before the end of the season
We've averaged just over 1.6 points per game during the season so far meaning we're bang on course for the same points tally (64) Moyes achieved via a 7th place finish in 2013/14. We'll do very well to finish 4th, never mind win the thing.
I think it's time for us to believe and to really get behind the lads, we showed great character last night.
Let's have this!
Let's have this!
I predict that the winner will have the lowest points total to win it in the history of the PL, ie under 75pts (1996/97) the 2nd 3rd & 4th all got 68pts that year, will be similar this season
If we win this weekend and all results go again for us we could be what 7 points off top with 9 games left?? Everyone will then we saying we are team with momentum
If we won every game we'd do it IMO
Way too many people justifying this hope with ifs. If all the top teams lose again this weekend, if we win all our big games, if Leciester and Spurs and Arsenal and City bottle it blah blah blah.
As soon as we pick up a draw everyone will start talking about how we're doomed to finish midtable. We need to focus on 4th which is already going to be a tough ask.
As soon as we pick up a draw everyone will start talking about how we're doomed to finish midtable. We need to focus on 4th which is already going to be a tough ask.
I shall ask this question again - how do we focus on 4th - by deliberately losing how many matches ?
So we are only a United win vs WBA, a Spurs-Arsenal draw, and defeats for Leicester & City away from being described as the 'team with momentum'. Incidentally the odds of all those results happening this weekend is 253/1.
That's probably true. It's also probably true of Liverpool and West Ham. They wont be winning the title either.
Bear in mind that many on here said top 4 was impossible a month ago haha. City made up 11 points on us in 6 games or something a few years ago. And we are talking about leicester. It's more possible than people are giving credit for, just like top 4 was a month ago.
It's on.
Where did you make that?
We're not talking about Leicester. We're talking about Leicester, Tottenham, Arsenal and City, we need all of them to suffer collapses in form as well as needing United to win probably 9 of the remaining 10 games.
Sounds easy when you say it quickly doesn't it!
Just like saying, all we need to do is win all 10 games, and hope no other team gets higher points.
easy!
Citty are 3 points ahead and have to play us, I don't think we have to bank on a collapse in form. we'd have to beat them and get more points from them in the other 9 games. That's what we are facing to get top 4. And people said it was impossible recently. Mad underestimation of the swings of football
Win on Sunday. That's the only objective.
Then see how it looks.
City away will be a huge game. Win that and we really would be in business.
Out of interest, is 4th still a guaranteed CL place, with all the coefficient malarky this season?
Not really. I'm just saying a repeat of what we have just witnessed would make us challengers. Because we'd have momentum, players who have been there and done it, said players coming back to help rotation...and none of the pressure as no one expects it!
None of which has anything to do with the race for the title, which does require collapses in form, from more than one team, and an upsurge in our own form from 1.6 points per game to something like 2.7 points per game.
You mean like City and Arsenal are doing at the moment. They are trying to make our December look a minor blip.
I put my money where my mouth is.
Let's believe, just for a change eh.
You know it was 150/1 yesterday morning. I was sooooo tempted to put a fiver on that. I think I'll get on the 33/1 for the craic.
Honestly, I can't see how we have any chance of winning it but all we can do is keep winning our games.
Everyone's been talking about Arsenal and City's collapse in form since mid-December. In that time they've both taken 18 points from a possible 36. That is exactly the same as United have taken.
So what you're saying is we're in title race form.
City look like a broken team, they have been just has bad as us maybe because they now have pep there is no fight to see Pellegrini end strong despite the league cup win, city's teams cycle seems to really have come to an end. United's problem has been our own management has been all over the place, when the squad itself has great foundations to build upon, VG has been horribly inconsistent which needs to change
This is not the Caf way of looking at it, remember we must focus on 4th which means we are obliged to lose games as well
Nobody is claiming United can challenge for the title based on mid December form though. It all hinges on if we can go on a run with our youth players supplying that little bit of x factor that we need.
Your point of Arsenal and City matching our shitty form would actually point to a title challenge being possible. We dont have to wait on a collapse from them. They have collapsed.
Meanwhile we have won 4 in a row and gaining momentum. They are not nor are they showing signs of doing so.
City having an easy draw this round of the CL could have even hurt City. Do they focus on the league when its gone or rest players around their next tie v Barca etc? Do they simply run Aguero into the ground?
Yes, in a season where 57 points would win you the title, that is title race form.Their recent form is really poor, almost as though they are focused on something else.
Spurs have got points, but had quite a few comebacks. Let us see how they do against Arsenal.
The pressure is going to be immense for the top 8, never mind the top 4, in the next month. I wouldn't bet my house on any of the top 4 having a smooth run.
None have had a bad run, until now. Two have lost a lot of points in the last 4 games. The other two have dropped point when not expected to.
By keeping expectations realistic so that if we slip up (which we can't afford to do if we wanted to win the league) we don't get so demoralised and distraught that we forget to secure CL football.
Bizarrely enough I'd actually be optimistic under Fergie. Nine wins will be enough with City being the only fixture that I'd expect a Fergie managed team to lose. During that time we'd also cut Leicesters lead on us to 7 points by beating them and Spurs' to 4... then consider the inexperience of Leicester, the fact that Spurs have to go to Stoke, Liverpool and Chelsea and the fact that Arsenal and City seem to be in free fall and it's not beyond the realms of possibility. Add into that Van Gaals record against City.
The truth is though we're still more likely to drop points in easy fixtures than we are to take full points and this has been a constant theme throughout Van Gaals time here. To suddenly and without any real reason (as evidenced by the difference between the Arsenal and Watford performances) start to dispatch mid table teams would be inexplicable... And we dont have a manager like Fergie who won 9 games in a row almost as a season by season habit.
The truth is though we're still more likely to drop points in easy fixtures than we are to take full points and this has been a constant theme throughout Van Gaals time here. To suddenly and without any real reason (as evidenced by the difference between the Arsenal and Watford performances) start to dispatch mid table teams would be inexplicable... And we dont have a manager like Fergie who won 9 games in a row almost as a season by season habit.
Arsenal and City's collapse has brought them down to the level we've been at all season. I agree that the longer City stay in Europe the better our chances of grabbing 4th place. That doesn't help us much with the title though, where we'd also need Leicester and Spurs to fall off a cliff, Arsenal's form to stay in the ditch for the next 10 weeks and for United to take 27/30 points or more.
Don't think the PL is any danger on that score. Italy only have 3 teams left in Europe, Roma should be knocked out by Real Madrid, Juventus may well be knocked out by Bayern and can't see Lazio going too far in the EL
PL still have 6 teams alive at this moment although Arsenal will be gone and either United or Liverpool will go but the PL teams have already picked up more points than Italy this season
This still doesn't make any sense. When the players go out on a football field they go out to win every single match. If you win you win , if you lose you lose - how do you forget to secure CL football?
Faultless logic can't argue with that.
It's a mentality thing, yes we should go out to win every game but it's going to be incredibly difficult and if we slip up once and the players then get so rattled cause we can't win the league anymore then performance levels can drop for the remaining games. Have to be realistic.
Surely us getting excited on an internet forum has no bearing whatsoever on the players mentality?!
The problem Arsenal have are their striking options. Giroud hasnt scored in 10 and Walcott is no better. They mishandled Sanchez's fitness and are in trouble because of it. Imagine we didnt have Martial or Rashford and had mid November Rooney as our only option.
Im not saying we will win the league but a challenge is possible. Depay seems to have finally got his act together which allows us to move Martial inside with Rashford having power and pace with an eye for goal from the right means we actually have a dynamic front 3 ( if it comes together)
It finally allows Mata to play as a 10 and with Herrera tucked in we actually have a creative spark in midfield.
Of course the sample size is really small ( we didnt even play Rashford inside right until mid way through the second half) but the argument would be that it is possible and not as outrageous as it first seems.
But it's the same in every match throughout the season - it's unlikely we will win enough games to win the league but it is possible. But say we lost the next 2 we would still be trying to win the 3rd game, you don't focus on winning a certain number of games , you focus on winning every game
It's not over till it's mathematically impossible.
But I won't hold my breathe for it.
But I won't hold my breathe for it.