WilliamPS

They may need to generate a big few for PSR reasons now if they’ve ran out of tricks. separately I wonder if any Chelsea will find a few players start trying to leave if they don’t get CL, basically lose faith in the project and start to regret those 8 year contracts

In fairness to them they have handled pressure superbly recently. Tuesday might change that of course

Beat Villa and Ipswich and if Villa beat Palace in the FA Cup then I think we get a thread title change to Europa league (At least), something for Tindall to whisper in the players ears at 17:29 on Saturday

Losing Longstaff in the summer means another CM has got to come in. Given Wilson also needs replacing and Willock is in a similar place to Longstaff it’s really going to stretch the budgets I don’t think it’s feasible for both Willock and Longstaff to leave in the summer, too much risk in losing both, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Longstaff sees out his contract, but we shall see.

Bit disappointed he did score, as it was the fifth goal and if he hadn’t he’d have been raging going into Villa away, he hates not scoring

Villa will really target this game as they have City away on Tuesday and the cup semi final on Saturday after. Losing both league games could finish off their CL hopes, losing the cup semi ends any hopes of a trophy. I reckon they’ll go all in on Saturday and then play the B team (which beat Forest away so no pushovers) at City. I think this will be the toughest game left this season, but a win will finish off Villa as a CL rival - fantastic opportunity

They need to simmer down, they’re winning by 5!

The Man Utd COO will have been responsible for both all the crazy waste Man Utd genuinely have had, and then the vicious cost cutting they’ve now done on lower paid staff as a result. Would you really want someone who signed off on all their daft contracts, let their stadium fall to bits and then penny pinched on people like the canteen staff. The commercial directors were others, (who have also been fired) Roche joined in 2018 and her background is HR

Preferring a point at Villa to a win vs Palace doesn’t make much sense - a win is worth 3 points against Man City, Chelsea and Forest too. Plus beating Palace means even if lose to Villa, Villa will come out of the weekend at worst two points behind. I don’t want to take on the forums maths and betting gurus but 3 is a bigger number than 1!

Yes, respect to teams digging deep and coming back, they could have collapsed

Now just have to hope for an absolute thrashing to do equivalent mental damage

double post

Absolutely insane that £409m is leached out of the game like that. It’s equivalent to 460 per seat at SJP, so basically tickets could be half price if all that spend wasn’t required

Amorim told his players to play out from the back against one of the most aggressive pressing sides in the league, it directly led to two goals. It’s pisspoor tactics, what did he think was going to happen? You can see it in the number of turnovers won in Man Utds half. It’s inept management and then it’s blamed on the players performances - that’s hanging them out to dry.

The manager has hung his players out to dry this season, it’s totally indefensible and explains why the players have so little fight in them. The playing out from the back reminds me of battering Brighton two years ago - if you try that tactic at SJP you better be good at it! Overall I’m pleased as it shows a total lack of flexibility that probably can’t be fixed, even if he gets his own players in they won’t be able to adjust to different challenges. One of Howes great strengths is his ability to adapt to each game and opponent.

Having players who can stretch the play by staying wide and delivering good balls into the box is a big asset, but I’d be happy enough for that to be Murphy. A few clubs are experimenting with 3 at the back (Palace) and I think that’s in part a reaction to having inverted wingers who will be coming inside. If you have a winger who instead goes wide I think it creates an issue for those teams. Good to have options

We absolutely want Villa and Chelsea to miss out from a hard headed rivals perspective. If Chelsea snuck into the CL their ludicrous project might start to come together. And Villa are well ran peer and going from strength to strength, if they get CL again next season they’ll be very strong. Am sure some people will hope Man City miss CL for the comedy value

I reckon they’ll go through in the EL and them and spurs must be the favourites for the tournament, however if they bomb out are they really going to stick with Amorim? It’s not just the tactics, he’s destroyed a load of the players confidence. Pundits claim you cant blame the manger when there’s high turnover but in our experience when you have a terrible coach why keep them around? McLaren, Bruce, Souness, Fat Sam, Dalglish all should have been sacked way earlier, they were shite, the issue was hiring losers in the first place, not letting them lose for even longer.

Comfortable win but I don’t think that’s the team in top gear, didn’t need to be and they definitely took the foot off the gas after the third then fourth. The next two games will be a lot tougher. Tonali superb, despite being an Italian international I feel he’s still flying under the radar a bit given his quality. The press tend to focus on Bruno. Also praise for the ref, let the game flow and didn’t let players get away with going down softly. If the ref gets fooled by that penalty claim dive it’s a different game (like the one Arsenal conceded last week)

Insane wages, high risk of failure, one to avoid

Dropping Casemiro, Maguire and Hojlund strengthens them - Maguire vs Isak could have been brutal!

When there’s 4 games on a Sunday they should do the decent thing and shove one on at 1230 for those of us hungover (as long as it’s never Newcastle…)

I am a pessimist and even I’m not worried about this! A Fernandes shot from Rangers what you should be worried about!

Southampton are so bad that the most you can hope for when they’re playing a rival is that they make the game last 90 minutes

I got the impression he was told he was done at City rather than choosing it himself.