Football: where do you think Man United will finish this season in the Premier League?

[fobia]

After signing Mata and having Rooney and Van Persie back from injuries, do you think point difference is gonna start melting down or will they finish mid-table this season?

Stat: when Rooney and Van Persie played together, they were unbeaten 10 games, drawing only 2 of them.

Also, how do you think Champions League will go down? Man United have Olympiacos next, I think that's doable. Do they stand a decent chance of getting far?

p.s. Mata can't play in the Champions League for Man Utd this season.

[SuitAndTie]

In the Premier League I think Man Utd will finish either 4th, 5th or 6th. I don't think they will get into the top 3, especially with Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea playing so well. They will fight with Liverpool and Tottenham for 4th spot. Plus, for Man Utd to finish in the top 3 the top 3 teams will have to drop points and I can't see that happening. I can see Chelsea getting a few draws instead of wins but I don't think it will be enough for Man Utd.

As for the Champions League, Olympiacos is definitely doable. I think they will get through that round. But that's when the competition gets tough and only the big teams are left. If they get to the 1/4 finals they will have to play teams like Bayern, Barca, Man City (eeep!), Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, PSG, Borussia Dortmund. On current form I can't see Man Utd beating any of those apart from maybe Arsenal.

[fobia]

Thanks for your reply!

Agreed, city are scarily good this season (unbeaten in their last 20 games, with only 2 draws!) as much as it pains me to say it. Arsenal obviously stepped up their game, but they have a REALLY tough 2 months ahead with a number of really tough fixtures, so I can see them losing some points as well. As for Chelsea we will see. I sure was happy to see them being hold to a draw last night by West Ham. Didn't expect it at all. Everton and Spurs are not far ahead anymore

[fobia]

and we sure will do our best to finish above Liverpool and hopefully make it!

Yeah our form hasn't been good this season, we're out of the 2 cups already and obviously struggling in the league, but so far our Champions League campaign has been solid but tough tests surely await if we are to proceed. Think our form will improve now though, bringing in a big signing is always a boost for all the players (especially Rooney lol).

[SuitAndTie]

Yeah I'm a Spurs fan and I can see Man Utd catching us up now, especially after we got destroyed 5-1 by Man City last night.

As for Mata, I think it was a great signing but you still need to sort out your defence. The combination of Mata, Rooney, Januzaj and Van Persie is a very scary thought!

[fobia]

Yeah, I watched your game last night... Man, I hate seeing City win grrrr! Was hoping for a draw, but I guess City is just too strong at the moment. 3 points closer to you tho, which is not bad for us anyways. :)

Yeah agreed there, it is a very exciting thought of them linking up together, hope they form a good partnership together, Rooney and RVP already did and Januzaj had great performances so far.

I guess we will have to wait till summer for any new signings, unless Moyes does

[fobia]

a last minute bid. I think it would be better to wait for the summer tho, desperate expensive signings often prove to be no good. I'd rather see us finish mid-table and rebuild in the summer then have a fresh start next season. Our atmospheres seem to be improving too, ever since we started playing badly. I wonder why that's so. (wink wink) lol

[SuitAndTie]

You never know what can happen. A lot of last minute deals happen on the last minute of the season. But it's less rare to happen as it's January and there's no time to prepare. It is definitely better to wait until the summer. Your last minute deal in the summer (Fellaini) has turned out to be a flop so far. Let's hope things improve for him. Especially when he cost you ?27.5m. We got Eriksen for only ?11m. Bargain of the season if you ask me.

[SuitAndTie]

At the end of the day, this season isn't going to belong to Man Utd or Spurs. This season is all about preparation for next season, that's when both teams will start playing real football. Even City didn't get it right first time they spent all their money.

[Kelly34]

I think they'll be stronger in the second half of the season, although they have much bigger problems than just scoring goals, defensively they've been the worst I've ever seen a Manchester United team. I think they'll struggle to finish above 6th unless they bring in a defensive midfielder. They will easily overtake Everton now that Lukaku is out injured, Spurs and Liverpool will be much harder though.

As for the Champions League they will surely see off Olympiacos without too much trouble, it will be difficult after that but anything can happen with cup football, especially when you are in the later stages (see Chelsea 2012 and Liverpool 2005, neither were the best team in the competition by a long way). In fact I'm very worried as a Liverpool fan that we'll finally finish in 4th place, only to not qualify for the Champions League because Manchester United win it!

[fobia]

Thanks for your objective opinion. :)

I agree, our defence often has huge holes and even tho De Gea looks like he's gonna be a top keeper, he's no miracle worker. I think we can play really well sometimes, the thing is after we score one goal, we stop playing and then everything slowly collapses. Not sure why we keep on doing that, tho through the years we've always made our situations harder than they could be for ourselves. Just the Man United way I suppose.

[fobia]

Yeah I agree, in cups everything is possible, I couldn't believe the Chelsea's triumph then.

And funny you should mention that, me and my mate were(are) really hoping a situation like that would accure at the end of the season. :P

[SuitAndTie]

That's how I felt as a Spurs fan when Chelsea won it!

[OnItLikeSonic]

Id just like to say, thank you for posting a question about REAL football. Not this fake football Americans go on about.

[fobia]

There's only one real football and obviously we both know which one it is! :)

Not sure if you heard this one before but I'll tell it anyways:

So football is played with feet and a round ball. American "football" is played with hands and an egg shaped "ball". Therefore it should be called "Handegg".

[OnItLikeSonic]

Handegg, I'm so calling it that from now on xD

[ironeddie]

I think they'll still be in the Greater Manchester area.

I haven't heard anything about them moving. *shrugs*.

[irykiryk]

In the shit hole called Manchester.