Manchester United Banter Archive December 03 2014

03 Dec 2014 23:50:46
So two weeks ago we had a discussion on here about how much better than us southampton and Koeman were doing and how they have been fantastic and deserved to be where they are.

I mentioned they had only played 2 teams from last seasons top 8 and last both, this is now 4 teams from last seasons top 8 and lost all 4. If we beat them next week we go above them into 3rd and they will have not won in 4 games.

I thought then and I still think now that southampton will finish about 7th or 8th this season and it will be a very successful season for them after what happened in the summer.

Fingers crossed we get the win on Monday, only 2 weeks ago 3rd place looked well out of reach and now suddenly after 3 wins in 10 days we are in a much stronger position. I still think as somebody said below earlier that we will lose a few games unexpectedly this season, we still have plenty of issues that need ironing out, but some of the bigger issues we seem to have fixed.

I am looking forward to the rest of the season now seeing what we can do, I would like to think we can finish top 3 and go to wembley in the cup, but I would still take a top 4 finish just to get us back into Europe and build on that next year with a tilt at the title.

City are a better team than them and it showed, but they where unlucky against arsenal imo .
city and chelsea are the 2 best teams in the league but southampton are in with the rest even if they are not as fashionable as the likes of spurs and liverpool (who are both strugling)
If they get a result next monday i'm sure they will become world beaters on this page

GDS

I hope you haven't tempted the Gods of fate. Monday will be a good barometer for us as apart from the Vitygam, Southampton have been acing well.

In terms of league position, it does feel like 3rd is up for grabs. Spurs and Everton are stumbling and whilst Liverpool have had 2 wins against poor opposition, they also looks flaky. It's there for the taking

*City game*

04 Dec 2014 09:21:47
Jred,

I agree Southampton will be there or there abouts but I think they will fall short due to the lack of quality against the top sides which they have proved so far this season. They have still done fantastically against all of the poorer sides they have played to be where they are though. Their first 11 is very good but we know that in the premier league you need more than that, they have started to pick up a few injuries and that will hit them hard and they will not have the quality in depth to finish in the top 4 in my opinion.

Arsenal had 18 shots and 8 on target, Southampton had 8 shots with 1 on target and Fraser Forster was by far the stand out player, they were unlucky in the fact they did not concede until very late on, but you never felt they were good enough to win the game. The Emirates is an extremely tough place to go though with only one away team winning there in the last 16 months.

I wasn't saying we will win on Monday AJH, it is going to be a very tough game, in some ways tougher than the Liverpool game, and I said I think we will still lose a few more games this season while we try and get settled, but if we did win it would set us up nicely for the Christmas period.

04 Dec 2014 10:55:18
There a good team they just lack depth especially at centre back and centre forward

I think they're a lot better than people are giving them credit for. This will be proved on Monday. City played very well against them, but the match was quite even at one stage until City got their second goal.
We are playing better now, but still a lot of injuries, so hopefully the next few matches will not catch up with us. We need to win most of the next five matches as they are against teams challenging us for 4th spot (apart from Villa).
If we win the next two matches, we will be well on the road.

Nomidfield
I agree the one thing that goes against them is there name .
If spurs had the same players for example people would rate them more than they do southampton .
Gds
Only city united and chelsea have the quality in depth .
Injuries will hamper arsenal spurs liverpool and everton .
Any team need a bit of luck but southampton have just as much chance as any of them teams to finish in the top 4 imo.
But then again its only Southampton

04 Dec 2014 16:23:05
jred,

My thoughts are nothing to do with the fact that they are Southampton, I couldn't care less what the name is, from looking at their squad depth it is not as good as the other top 7 teams from last year so I would expect them to finish lower than most of them despite their great start.

Southampton bench last night:

Davis, Yoshida, Gardos, Mane, Mayuka, Reed, Targett

I just feel they are lacking that quality in depth and will drop down, that's all. Injuries have already hampered Arsenal, they have been without Giroud most of the season, Wilshere is out and others, and they are 5th, United have had major injuries and are 4th. I just feel when Southampton get these injuries they are not as well equipped to continue winning as they have been, and also that they are not quite good enough to consistently beat the top teams.

Tadic cork scheiderlin rodriguez even Alderweireld .
Ward prowse also all injured all first team players .
Southhampton have injuries and are 3rd.

Which top teams have arsenal beat ?
Or everton ?

Just checked the 100 entires I received for 'name the top 4' and interestingly nobody had Southampton finishing in the top 4, indeed a few had them being relegated.

What they have achieved so far having lost so many key players is astounding, but I suspect they will struggle to hold onto a top. 4 place. Hats off to Koeman though, remarkable job so far.

04 Dec 2014 20:22:35
AJH,

That does surprise me, thohght jred would have had them finishing 3rd. I think they have been fantastic so far but their players just aren't quite good enough to finish near the top this year. Maybe they will go and buy a couple of stars in January and that will change but its a long season and I don't see them keeping it up.

Arsenal beat southampton, one of the very top teams.

04 Dec 2014 20:23:38
Jred,

You kind of proved my point by the way mate, southampton have just started to get injuries and they haven't won in 3 games.

Gds
As i said only 3 teams have really deep squads .
Arsenal will struggle and have if 1 cb gets injured .
Spurs everton will also struggle if they injured .
Ajh
It shows what people really know on this site .
Southampton sold lambert and lallana and lovern all decent players and we all thought they would struggle.
They bought tadic pella and Alderweireld who no one knew much about, but them 3 are top players.
koeman has them well drilled and that for me is the most impressive thing they really look like a team.
Gds
Thinks they will come 8 th, i don't see 7 better teams in the league.

This time last year i argued liverpool would do well, they look good had pace etc.
I got slated because "liverpool won't come top 4 they never do "
This year its only southampton .
Lot of snobs on here

Gds
If you look at your post above about southampton not being unlucky, arsenal having x amount of shots etc its pretty clear you didn't watch the game .
They played well last night had a game plan similar to uniteds, frustrated arsenal and hit them on the break.
Unlucky not to get a point and unlucky to lose 3 players to injury during the game to leave them with only 10 men.

And that's my gripe we have had a few convos about them and its fairly clear you haven't seen much of them.
That its only southampton and there players aren't that good .

04 Dec 2014 23:11:09
I bow down to your superior knowledge as always. Time will tell I guess, but you know I don't forget. I said I think they will finish around 7th or 8th, they have had this amazing start and are only 6 points above 10th, so I don't think I am saying anything ridiculous, just my opinion.

They may end up 10, 11 or 12 might even get relegated who knows .
but i do think they are being judged solely on there name .
especially when you look at the form of the likes of arsenal liverpool everton and spurs .

05 Dec 2014 09:02:19
Some people may be judging them on their name but it seems to be my post you are disagreeing with and I certainly am not judging them on that. I have watched their games and looked at their squad and feel they will gradually drop down the table.

I am allowed to have watched the same game and have differing opinions without mine being discredited by suggestions I have not seen them play.

Jred, I take your point, the reason they are judged on their name is because we have only seen 6 or 7 teams make the top 4 for as long as I can remember. Chelsea, United, Arsenal, City, Liverpool, and Spurs and Everton managing it once. I don't think it's just Southampton, I think it's anyone outside that group as it would be a real surprise.

However, a third in, this year does look very odd so far and apart from Chelsea and City, I think anything could happen. We have done well recently but are likely to have a bumpy ride this year, Arsenal have been inconsistent but I think they will be OK, Spurs have been dreadful and Everton look average. My top 4 prediction had us winning the title (how dumb do I feel) but I wouldn't want to put any money down on 3rd or 4th right now. If I had to, I'd still go for us and Arsenal.

are is

Ajh
I had arsenal to win the title.
City and chelsea look stand out and i think with the players we have we should get 3rd.
Anyone could pinch 4th imo

03 Dec 2014 10:29:54
Hi Eds N all
could any light be shed on the sneijder rumours floating (again)in this mornings press? Seems he always has contract talks etc breaking down when a transfer window is looming?

{Ed002's Note - Nope.}

03 Dec 2014 10:13:54
4 good wins on the bounce.
Next 5 fixttures are Southampton a, Lpool h, newcastle h, villa a, spurs a,

I now find myself looking up the table again as opposed to concentrating on those aroound and just below us.
The fluency is not there yet but we have regained our togetherness, confidence, spirit and never say die attitude we now have a bunch of players playing to be picked fighting for their jersey, we have a squad who are fighting for their manager, they understand his plan and are doing their utmost to implement his asks.
We still have not had the luxury of playing a settled side so I am very confik. I expect a few mor hic-ups so to speak but we are going in the right direction that is for sure.
Signing are tough to come by in Jan om hoping LVG and EW can pull a rabbit out of the hat and get us another piece of the Jigsaw in place in order to continue our climb back to the summit of both english and European Football

I agree Ken. amazing what a few good results can do for confidence of fans especially when the league is so tight.
I still look down to see who is coming and can't help but hope for a draw/Southampton win tonight against Arsenal.
Even with injuries LVG has got the team playing okay, good attitude even when not playing well and all pulling together. He is getting the best out of Fellaini/Valencia/Young/Smalling and everyone is playing for the best of the team not themselves.
Jan will be interesting with new signings. could be a few unexpected ones who are for next year and maybe we go for some big names to see if they are interested now or in the summer.
Looking positive though

I believe we will win all but maybe a spurs draw depending on injuries and f we have some of best players available.

I think Rooney, shaw and rafael are available soon, we should be able to take 13 of 15 points and will not be too far off city for second place.

03 Dec 2014 08:59:58
Well that was closer than it should have been. We're on a good run but there are positives and negatives to think about.

The positives.
We've won 4 on the trot, only conceded 2 goals, and put in our performance of the season, albeit against Hull, and we took 3 points off Arsenal. Some of our players are returning to form and we have started to look more fluid.

The negatives.
You can't argue with 4 wins but 3 were against Palace, Hull and Stoke, and the Arsenal game was a smash and grab. Injuries continue to decimate us and the defence is very thin with so many players injured.

Overall it feels like we are making progress and we are the form team over the last 4 games. It will be interesting to see who gives way when Di Maria is fit as Hererra

03 Dec 2014 09:14:46
i Think when ADM is fit Mata will be sacrificed, although he was our best player yesterday.

And we really have to applaud Fellaini for coming back with such strong performances .We were about to get rid of him and he has proved everyone wrong at the club.

Oops, pressed send by mistake. My final point was thatHerrera as added real dynamism and I hope he is retained. For me, ADM, Herrera and Carrick are the 3, Mata in front with the full backs providing width.

03 Dec 2014 10:41:28
AJH,

Don't you think the form of Fellaini is one of the main reasons we are suddenly winning the midfield battle? He is never going to be Scholes or Iniesta with the ball at his feet but for me he has been paramount to this change in fortune. I have a feeling LVG thinks the same and that is the reason he was keeping Herrera out of the team. Stoke had a few chances last night towards the end because we didn't put them to bed, but in the main we controlled the midfield for almost 90 minutes, just like we did on Saturday.

GDS

Fair point, I guess if I have a choice between Fellaini and Hererra, 9 times out of 10 I would pick Hererra. I take the pont though that with my preferred midfield, we are still lightweight

03 Dec 2014 15:28:58
Having Fellaini's strength in games like the Stoke game, or any other midfieldfight games is so important. You can really se how strong he is, and wins back the ball in almost any occation. Him and Herrera won most of their midfield duells last night and saturday as well, and Carrick is balancing it all so good. And when RVP and Rooney switches to drop deep, they have pretty good controll. Even with this team, we can really challenge for top 3 as quick as this season.

03 Dec 2014 17:26:03
I'm not saying i'd go with it every game but I think a fellaini/ herrera partnership has potential, with Carrick/ blind behind to calmly sweep up and mata/ di Maria in front to link play up.

03 Dec 2014 19:10:59
Yeah surely a midfield trio of Carrick, Fellaini and Herrera is our best. Good combination of physicality and intelligence. Then have Di Maria in front with Rooney and Falcao/RvP up front.