The Manchester United Thread

[jimboo]

If Mata had scored, what a goal that would have been. Great game , pity about the lack of adventure in the second half.

[jimboo]

If Mata had scored, what a goal that would have been. Great game , pity about the lack of adventure in the second half.

[Diamond Dog]

I think Mourinho out-thought Klopp for the first 60 minutes or so - it ws clearly a surprise to Liverpool to see both Mata & Rashford out there, and they didn't really adjust until the brought off Oxlade-Chamberlain. Lukaku had his second great game in a row, but you wouldn't exactly call Liverpol's defene (particularly Lovren) great.

I think we now know whether Man U are better with or without Pogba - I just wonder if Mourinho is brave enough to keep him out of the side.

[jimboo]

Shocking

Woeful

Clueless

FFS.

[Goat Boy]

[Diamond Dog]

Looks like the world domination plan has been postponed for another season.

[KeithPratt]

Fair play to Sevilla. They are a dangerous team.

[Diamond Dog]

Yeah fair play to Seville but, as with Spurs, if you do the hard job and get the away draw and then lose the home leg - that's shit. At least Spurs were playing a top team - much as Seville are good, they're not up with the likes of Juventus yet I don;t think.

It's a terrible result for Man U & Mourinho.

[Lord Rother]

Old cunto is stifling (if not ruining) so many very good players and turning a potentially great team into utter tedium. The supporters and ex players are really starting to get peed off, and I should imagine Sir Alex and Sir Bobby are wondering wtaf is going on.

And they just gave him a 4 year contract a few weeks ago!

It’s hilarious to watch it really is.

(My hatred is not of the club by the way just the cunt of a manager.)

[Lord Rother]

Mourinho in his post-match press conference: "I've sat in this chair twice before, with Porto - Man Utd out, with Real Madrid - Man Utd out, so this is nothing new for this football club."

Oh well, I’m sure the Man Utd people will feel a little happier now after that little pearl.

[Goat Boy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43434736

[Dr Markus]

Sorry Rafa, your "facts" speech just got outdone.

[jimboo]

Sorry Rafa, your "facts" speech just got outdone.

You think?

[The Modernist]

Sorry Rafa, your "facts" speech just got outdone.

You think?

Mourinho's behaviour is pretty embarrassing, but it's nothing new.

[Rayge]

Mourinho's behaviour is pretty embarrassing, but it's nothing new.

Underneath the squirminess of it all, though, a message for a large coterie of the fanbase that they really need to hear. The glory days have gone: stop feeling so fucking entitled

[The Modernist]

Mourinho's behaviour is pretty embarrassing, but it's nothing new.

Underneath the squirminess of it all, though, a message for a large coterie of the fanbase that they really need to hear. The glory days have gone: stop feeling so fucking entitled

Why would the glory days have gone? They're one of the richest clubs in the world with probably the largest global fanbase of any club. There are a small handful of clubs who can expect pretty much continual success ( with the odd empty season accepted) and they are in that elite, whether we like it or not.
If his message is we should expect Sevilla to be at a higher level than Man utd then I don't think the Utd supporters will buy it and nor should they.

[Rayge]

Mourinho's behaviour is pretty embarrassing, but it's nothing new.

Underneath the squirminess of it all, though, a message for a large coterie of the fanbase that they really need to hear. The glory days have gone: stop feeling so fucking entitled

Why would the glory days have gone? They're one of the richest clubs in the world with probably the largest global fanbase of any club. There are a small handful of clubs who can expect pretty much continual success ( with the odd empty season accepted) and they are in that elite, whether we like it or not.
If his message is we should expect Sevilla to be at a higher level than Man utd then I don't think the Utd supporters will buy it and nor should they.

No, the message is that the days when the fans could assume they could walk into the final stages of any tournament are over. Sevilla are not an elite level club, it's true, but nor are United at the moment: both of them are swirling around in that second tier of clubs who get into the knockout rounds of the CL in Europe, and in the UK cannot assume they will make the CL (though obviously they will this year given the dips in form of Chelsea and Arsenal. Player for player, maybe Man U are 'better' than Sevilla, but losing to them over two legs is about as seismic a shock to the natural order as, say, losing to Everton in the FA Cup.
I think that your assertion that they are still in that elite group, 'whether we like it or not', because they are wealthy and have a huge fan base, may be true of them as a club and a financial institution (albeit one in vast debt), but the current team just isn't good enough. And apologies for pulling the old man card again, but 60 years of following football has led me to believe that churn and change are endemic, and rise and fall is part of the game. I'm not expecting United to get relegated any time soon (although I remember well the day that they were), but it will be a while before they challenge for the title again, even if I haven't put the curse on them that I did on Liverpool in 1991.

[KeithPratt]

Hmm I'm not sure about that. City's potential future hegemony of the Premier League is probably, I suspect, down to how long Guardiola stays there and whether or not they can evolve into a dynastic set up similar to Barcelona where the trophies come regardless of the manager.

If that doesn't happen, then United will always be in the mix. They've not really played that well this season, their first XI is a bit all over the shop and yet they have 2nd place all but wrapped up.

Sure, they didn't make it to the quarter-finals of the CL, but their financial power and attraction for players will never really wane unless they endure the sort of consistent dip in fortunes like Liverpool did. I simply can't see that happening - plus remember they won two trophies last season.

[Lord Rother]

Man Utd have a super squad. If the managers swapped jobs I honestly believe Man Utd would beat Man City.

[borofan]

Man Utd have a super squad. If the managers swapped jobs I honestly believe Man Utd would beat Man City.

Really? I'd take the likes of De Bruyne, Silva, Aguero and Kompany over anything United have. I'd probably swap De Gea, but that's about all.