I feel we've just started seeing some actual improvement in our backline, with the back 5 seemingly coming into form together for the first time. Wan-Bissaka has been very good all season and is arguably a shout for our PotY so far. Lindelöf has been our best CB for the couple of months, Maguire is finally showing signs again, after a poor period for him. Putting his very bad mistake recently, Dave's form has been on the upswing as well. And Williams has just been Williams. The massive investment we've made in that department is finally looking like it's starting to pay off. And fingers crossed, what we've seen lately becomes the norm. Especially with the likes of Bailly and Tuanzebe on their way back. Would love it also if Dalot could have some type of impact as well.
Expected Points Table Update:After 22 games, Manchester United sit 4th one place away from their current 5th position but 7.32 points (7 to 7.5) points worse off, highlighting their underachievement thus far.Newcastle, despite being 13th, are 20th based on performance. pic.twitter.com/2ojgJ41huW— UtdArena (@UtdArena) January 16, 2020
Not a suggestion, at 22 games in, it is a certainty. We've been unlucky thus far. Most xPts (xG - xGconceded) have us joint 3rd w/ Chelsea and ahead of the luckiest team on the planet, Leicester.
United are sleepwalking into mediocrity. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...erpool-premier-league-title-manchester-united The title here is so a propos. Standing idly by while our greatest rivals are not just stomping us but also putting in remarkable seasons and possibly heading towards legendary status...
Manchester United have 34 points from 23 games and are 5th on goal difference. In the last decade this would place them:2009-19: 8th2010-11: 7th2011-12: 8th2012-13: 8th2013-14: 9th2014-15: 9th2015-16: 7th2016-17: 8th2017-18: 7th2018-19: 7th pic.twitter.com/EEuVHbiVAS— UtdArena (@UtdArena) January 22, 2020 Goes to show how the league this season is mediocre to just straight poor after the top 3. And with Chelsea starting to falter, how the top 4 is still within reach for us (and quite a few other teams as well.
I don't think it actually shows this at all. What it shows is that the league is not top-heavy, i.e. the top of the league is relatively weak. Relatively is the key word there, this can happen because the teams at the top are weak...or because the teams at the bottom are strong. I think it's far more of the latter due to all the money flowing into the middle and bottom of the league. The best way to assess the strength of a league is to look at results against other leagues. Pool and City have a good case to be the two best teams in Europe. Spurs are struggling to eighth in the league and yet are favored to make the champions league quarterfinals. Chelsea also cleared their CL group with relative comfort. Same for all the Europa league teams despite very difficult domestic campaigns for Arsenal and ourselves and Wolves really struggling for periods as well. That doesn't look like the international results of a weak league - it looks like the results of a strong, deep league where the top teams have fewer points because there's like 10-12 teams in the league that would have a good shot to get past the Europa group stages at this point. Even for comfortable CL last-16 level teams there are very few automatic 3-pointers in the league the way there were 10 years ago. That's a sign of strength, not weakness.
There is definitely an argument for a top 2 who are very very good with multiple 90+ seasons But Arsenal have been disgusting on any measure - like pre-Arteta conceding game data to bottom feeder teams. That isn't about a highly competitive league. That is just being crap. But i do agree the league is very very strong. You won't beat bottom 10 sides just because you spent money
Agree with johno that the league is stronger not weaker. However not sure I agree with the comparison to the other leagues as the route of evaluation. I would rather compare the league over the 10 year stretch with more than cited above. Points spread over the time period among top four and bottom four, mean with standard deviation over time ( I think that is the correct metric) as just a few talking points. Might be a fun exercise for someone who is a free loader with no job. @MizzouMUFC ?
The league is definitely stronger on average. What we are seeing is Utd continue to be weak, Spurs collapsing and Arsenal in the correct league position for a team that had bottom 10 data at the end of the emery era None of those 3 will recover quickly
Not disagreeing with first comment. Just johno argument to get there. Agreed with second comment regretfully
IMO the cannon fodder teams are pretty decent these days Thing is they can cost effectively adopt modern tactics and play a very robust game with the budgets they have It isn't like the 00s when most of these sides were simply awful
Think we can confidently say that this is rock bottom for us. From a results perspective, this is I believe the worst it's been since SAF stepped down. We can claim some small victories in terms of "culture reset" or the deadwood being cleared out but it's nowhere near enough, grand picture wise if the manager is not good enough to get us results. This free fall is going to continue with so many key players out. For all the stick he's getting, it's pretty clear how important Rashford is to us. We have no threat upfront without him on the pitch, especially with service as limited as it already is. We can see out the season but we need to start taking measures to change things in the summer from the managers' perspective. Everyone knows it's not the ultimate and only answer but it'd be a start at least... 12 - Since Ole Gunnar Solskjær was made permanent manager in March, Manchester United have lost more Premier League games (12) than they have won (11). Nosedive. pic.twitter.com/GPaIthW5DU— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 22, 2020
Honestly, I dont know where we go from here. I expect a free fall the rest of the season. Its going to be interesting to see how fans react. Hopefully they start to hit the Glazers where it hurts, their wallet. But I just dont know if they're even paying enough attention to notice. Its really just sad to see what this club has become.
If Woodward thought appointing a club legend would insulate him from criticism, it has spectacularly backfired. Fellow club legends are rounding on him, where as their anger was previously directed towards LVG, Mourinho #mufc— James Robson (@jamesalanrobson) January 22, 2020
Glad to see this. At this point, it will take SAF and Pogba complaining about the club, Woody and Glazers along with Pooch turning down the job because of the structure. That is our only hope.
Is it just me or did tonight’s loss just feel different? By different I mean more bleak. I watched Howsons post game video and he’s usually ranting and raving and he looked on the verge of tears. We’ve had some shit performances this season but it felt tonight like the supporters at OT, former players, everyone just threw their hands up at once and said what the ******** is going on? Personally I’m usually pretty pissed about games like this but I just feel resigned now to this being the new standard. I’m tired of talking about Woodward and new managers and the Glazers. It just doesn’t feel like any change is coming. I’m actually really curious to what happens at the club when this gets worse...because it’s definitely going to get worse. The squad is so thin they can’t rotate and more injuries will happen.
Yes. Know that movie where Denzel said to a guy in a wheelchair you are federally fcuked now? Well that's how it feels now. Like we are officially federally fcuked.
Statsbomb verdict Defensive improvement likely down to buying 2 good defenders. Attack mediocre Likely Ole is just a mediocre manager but not terrible Sometimes the manager isn't the problem. That doesn't mean he's the solution though. @GraceOnFootball on Manchester United's continuing search for answers. https://t.co/hkX2WNg3DN— StatsBomb (@StatsBomb) January 22, 2020
—2-0 home loss to Burnley —30 points off first place —Worst start to a league season since 1990 Manchester United’s last title was seven years ago. It feels like a lifetime ago 🕰️ pic.twitter.com/SwvAp9gvTI— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 22, 2020
Agree this feels different. Main reason I think is the video above from Sam Peoples nails it - whatever people think of Ole he cares about the club and the fans. His time is done but feel sorry for the guy. The squad has been on the decline for a while, but for example Moyes chose not to play Zaha, LVG chose not to play Herrera and Di Maria and Jose chose not to play Pogba and Herrera. So other reason is it always felt like there was room for things to improve under another manager as there was at least some players in the squad they could make better use of. Ole is a dead man walking, his fate was sealed when they took his sell/buy lists and did the sell part but left him so short on the buy part. The reason it is so bleak is that Pogba and Rashford are the only real sparkle in the squad (Martial on his good days for which he need support). Pogs will no doubt be sold in the summer, he will only have a year left on his contract and has no intention of signing a new one. Woodward will be forced to sell. Without them the squad looks like the hollow shell it is and I think we all know that our summer transfer dealing will not go far enough whoever comes in and whoever manages. This January has been a good indication of what the intent is there. United is the squad, only way to get our United back is with a squad that befits this club - first and foremost we need some players who we all want to watch.