Match Day Thread Manchester United v Middlesbrough

Saturday, 3pm kick-off, at Old Trafford, our 2nd home game in a row.

 

When?

 

Saturday 3pm

 

We need to beat Boro ...and the next 5 oppositions in the league.To get into the CL places, united cannot afford to drop any points until the end of January.

If we do that, we'll have a chance.

 

What do you think, more chance of finishing top 4 or more chance of winning the EL?

 

Boro have been decent this season, stubborn and well drilled. I can see you getting 3 points but you'll be made to work for them.

 

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/10711771/man-utd-yearly-revenues-rise

 

We've been made to work for all of them tbh.

Sadly nobody's gifting us goals with penalties and stupid backpasses

 

Always nice when they do that.

You lot are playing a lot better which will add a bit to our upcoming game, plenty of footy before we get to that ****er of a game yet though.

 

We are to some extent but it could still be sharper in the final third. We're just not clinical enough in our creativity in the box or our finishing.

But it's clear to see the progress we're making under Mourinho. It's only been about 30 games but he's currently got the best win % of any United manager. If we improve (and there's still room to improve) that can only get better.

 

I suppose it'll take time, I do wonder what you lot will do in this transfer window, might be interesting.

 

Liverpool or City or both will drop points tomorrow.

That means we will beat Boro. Nothing else will do.

In reply to your transfer window question, I'm glad we're not buying Lindelof. At the minute we should stick with the two who are in the team and try to form a partnership. Bringing someone in will just disrupt that.

I can't see us getting anyone, we don't need to. Maybe a couple will leave though.

 

Top four is always the easier route imo. Just look at Arsenal over the last decade - you can drop points all over the place in the PL and still get top four, but a couple of bad performances and you are out of the cup.

Looking at the coming month, there's Liverpool-City, Spurs-Chelsea, Utd-Liverpool, City-Spurs, Liverpool-Chelsea and plenty of banana skins for the Gooners. Now's the time of year when the also-rans get shaken out, so if we can keep up our current form we could easily end the month in fourth spot, or even third, and never look back.

Of course we could also cock it up ourselves and end the month with the EL as the last opportunity to get CL qualification. But until the EL starts again in Feb we need to be balls out 100% on the league picking up every point and exploiting every opportunity.

 

Boroughs defence has been decent at times this season.

 

Yeh I feel the same. The concern is that we have gone 11/12 games unbeaten. We'd have to remain unbeaten until end of January to break into top 4 imo. It's a position we've found ourselves in. That's a challenge, possibly even a tall order.

 

Happy New Year to all my Man U friend .....although he seldom answers me ..... all the best to the lot of ya

 

Ehh I don't agree on this bit.

On current form and situation I'd say we are better placed in the EL than in the PL. There is really no team in there that is such a massive barrier that cannot be overcome. Yes, united's form is poor away in Europe but in a two legged tie the situation can always be retrieved at OT. And it is fewer (5?) oppositions than in the PL. compared to previous managers JM takes all cup competitions seriously.

That is not to say Top 4 is out of reach. For United a run of wins today and in January is needed to make a serious in road into that. We really need to beat all the top 5 sides as well as beating those below. Basically a title winning form just to get into top 4. Not impossible but United cannot afford any mistakes over more matches and over a longer period.

 

This game will have 5 goals in it.

Look into my eyes

 

Aye but form and position can go out the window in a cup competition much easier. One bad game and you can be screwed - lose by a couple of goals away and you face a parked bus and counter attack at OT, or get a player sent off at home and it's a big ask.

So in theory the EL is easier to win as the opposition is worse, but in practice there is much less room for error. Take the game against Watford for example. In the league no problem, three points dropped but not the end of the world. In the EL, a two goal deficit and it's a massive uphill battle in a European tie.

Also disagree that we need title winning form to get into the top four. We're four points off fourth right now, win our games against Arsenal and Spurs and it's one point. No way the sides above us will all go on storming runs in the New Year, there will be plenty of opportunities. We need a good run of form, but we are perfectly capable of that.

Hell, just look at last season - we were five points off the top at this stage, still had numerous opportunities to finish fourth, and could easily have finished second had LVG not been such a coward in so many games. Whereas in the EL we went out to an average Liverpool side after having a terrible game at Anfield, which we tried to recover at home and lost to a sucker punch away goal.

 

Rooney will miss the game - he is out with a thigh hangover and a pie in his mouth -

"He's out," Mourinho confirmed, and when asked if there was any expected return date for Rooney, said: "No, there is not."