ermm.... couldn't qpr have had 5 by the same logic... we all do that, assume we get all our chances and the other side doesn't... yes you should have won it 2-0 was prob fair but 7-5 would also be fair in theory. my thought was more that you sat back an aful lot unitl the second goal and that seemed to give players a bit of confidence? you were very deep and hitting on the break so QPR had plenty of chances. did utd have the better of it? a nuetral would probably say so. Over all it wasn't a dominant display but as per other games this year there's a nil in the away column and 3 points on the board. you have to think though a pick up in form is required as normal when the business end fo the season rushes round.
ruffian.. i'm glad you've moved on.... Ajax will be a good trip, nice location, nice ground to travel too and there you have it. would you not prefer to ut jones back in at CB at this point? carricak and jones ok would do given the tradition utd strnegths out wide and up top (nani, vlaencia, rooney, hernandez) but I think theres more than just city that'd trouble that midifled pairing. fulham away, arsenal, chelsea, maybe even the spuds, (not us anymore this year lol) second teir like newcastle, or stoke.... What do you think guys of a final points tally, aiming for 85 points or 80? I think city will be close to 90 unless they eally lose form (which is possible) anyway... swarbs may be right, not hitting top form but just doing enough..... In our case playing wigan away is a test. we have mucked up 3 years running on this bananna skin. this is a side of no hopers that have suddenly found something and a bad pitch ona cold night with no crowd and our lot could just throw the points away. I want to see a lot of early effort i nthe game and urgency to get the couple of goals and control the game from there. thats the sign to me that a side is top 4, being able to take a game and have it won before the opposition ever has a chance to trouble them. i also firmly beleive that to even have a chance (assuming others do what they are expected to do) that we need to win the next 3. Thats what I'd expect from two home games even if one is newkie plus one away v the worst side in the prem IMO. Spurs could muck up royally but we can't keep hoping for that we have to start stringing real form together.... (by that mean unbeaten is nice but drawing half of them is not good)
No, not really as we had a lot of clear cut chances which went begging. Had we finished better a 5 -0 scoreline would not have been flattering, you sure you watched the same game as me? A neutral with any sense of football would say we dominated it, which we did. You're cracking on like we shaded it. We didn't go for the throat and played within ourselves a bit, this is not the only time this has happened this season and I can't explain why they keep doing it. It was similar to Swansea away where we let them into the game when we'd toyed with them for most of the game. To suggest this was anything other than a straightforward win is a bit strange, I'd like to see us do this to a top five club (which, of course, we did to Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea<for a half> at the start of the season) but I am happy enough with how things are going. We can't do anything about City till April.
I was going to say Liverpool would trouble us but with Lucas now out (never really thought I'd hear myself say that) and Gerrard not coming back I doubt you would. We do indeed need to win the next three, they are three of five where 15 points was the minimum required so it's so far so good on that front. I also happen to think we've got the beating of Newcastle if we can keep this side settled. Win those next four games and I think we'll be top. I think Jones now has top play CM as he is proving to be a good foil for Carrick who needs impetus alongside him. This leaves Evans and Ferdinand at CH but Evans plays at his best with a more senior partner alongside him so it should work out. Any injury to one of our defenders now though leaves us stretched.
I reckon we should be aiming for 90 points. If we keep up our current form of 39 points from 16 games, we're on to finish with 93 points for the season, so 90 is a plausible target particularly given that we've failed to hit top form. We've got Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and City away from home in the second half, so I doubt we'll stay on target for 93, but then we also have Stoke and Liverpool at home, so should do better against them at OT than we did away. Unless City seriously stumble I reckon they will also be pushing 90, so we're gonna have to go some to stay with them. At the moment I reckon City will be out on about 88-90 points come the end of the season, with us around 86-88. Then a fair gap back to Chelsea, Arsenal, and Spurs spread out around 70-80. Completely agree with you, and not only cos of the potential banana skin. The main reason you guys are stuck in sixth is that you still haven't put a good run of form together - you haven't even won three on the bounce yet this season. Every time you look like building up a head of steam you mess up against a lower team and are back to picking up the pieces. So with the Wigan game, if you beat them you are three from three and odds on to beat Blackburn and probably Newcastle too. But if you lose then the question marks come back out at a vital part in the season.
In what way could QPR possibly have scored 5? Our keeper made one save while we missed a one on one, QPR's keeper made several very good saves, we hit the woodwork twice, we missed an open goal and we had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside.
You haven't hit top form because you're at the top of your potential form now. It aint going to get any better this time around
That's alright - almost two and a half points per game is good enough form for me In fact I think it may well be our best ever PL form. Although I'd be worried with only 1.8 points per game at this stage... Btw, did anyone see this classic from the Jamie Carragher school of defending? [video=youtube;wXb8RjGLcZk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXb8RjGLcZk[/video]
You keep trying to convince yourself that red, there's a good lad. Whatever gets you through the day.
I don't even remember a point when I thought QPR were even in the game. They were shocking offensively, one of the least ambitious teams I've seen this season, Aston Villa apart.
Just a playful dig, nothing more.Average points per game does not necessarily equate to 'form' per se. In my opinion, we're actually playing more attractive and better quality football than you, but not converting the copious chances we're creating, therefor our average points per game is lower. I think that's a fair assessment.
Ah but Red, to paraphrase the immortal Harry Callahan, opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one, but no one really cares about anyone else's Besides which, our football is winning us more games and scoring more goals. Therefore it is objectively of better quality.
Nope. We have more points and more goals. Ergo we are better. The table doesn't lie my friend, the table doesn't lie
I agree, Villa and QPR have been dire when it comes to exciting attacking football. People moan about the way Stoke play but it doesn't bother me, at least they still create plenty of chances and the games aren't normally dull. I honestly prefer an end to end game where the football isn't that attractive over watching Barca maul an average Spanish team with their beautiful passing play. the only time I want to see attractive one sided football is when my team is playing.
What a piece of tortuous logic! Have you started on the Christmas sherry already? You may have a point if you were to say "There it is more effective". However, effectiveness is no basis for for the assertion of quality. Red's assertion is still valid.
