Being top by default??

[rudedog]

Arguably, they are.

If we'd won those 5 easy home games, we'd be 10 points clear right now.

Says it all.

That would give us a 100% home record, that would be quite an achievement given our injuries and form.


And you think last nights game was easy? ask the players how easy it was to play against Everton.

[rudedog]

Whoever wins the league deserves to win it, simple as that.

Not according to some - whoever wins the league only win it because the other teams 'allow' them to - thus they win it by default

what a load of ****

[Dessy]

And if my Auntie had balls she'd be my uncle.

You never win all the so called "easy" games. More realistic would be to say that if we weren't so defensive in the last 10 mins last night, and had the slightest bit of luck against Stoke at home when we murdered them, we would be 4 points clear having played a game more.

We are where we deserve to be, and are having a very good season. We can't afford many more home draws if we are going to go on and win it, and I think we are going to need Torres to stay fit from now until the end of the season. It is 10 years or more since we were genuinely in the hunt for the title though, so some of the negativity on here now that we are challenging is ridiculous. We're doing well, we just need to hold our nerve, supporters as well as players.

As good a post as there's been on the several threads I've read purporting to tell us that were done and dusted in our challenge.

Disappointing as we have been in several fixtures this year the same can be said for all of our PL rivals. Points will be dropped by ALL between now and the end of the season......nerve, form and a sprinkling of good fortune and we wont be too far away.

[red g]

That would give us a 100% home record, that would be quite an achievement given our injuries and form.


And you think last nights game was easy? ask the players how easy it was to play against Everton.

IS that the same everton with a better away record than the all conquering Manchester United ?

[BobTheCharmer]

IS that the same everton with a better away record than the all conquering Manchester United ?

the same Utd that have played ALL their hard away games. You have to look at who has played who and when. Utds away form is picking up and they have a good run of games to come. Its not beyond the realms of possibility for them to win 14 out of their 16 games. I don't fancy ours or chelseas.

[red g]

the same Utd that have played ALL their hard away games. You have to look at who has played who and when. Utds away form is picking up and they have a good run of games to come. Its not beyond the realms of possibility for them to win 14 out of their 16 games. I don't fancy ours or chelseas.

SO by that virtue we mmay have to go to old trafford and win as will arsenal, villa, Liverpool etc...... sometimes the easier games are harder to win as we have proven !


they have won, what 8 out of the last 9? i find it very hard to believe they will win 22out of the last 25 games tbh.

They may go through a stage of playing well and losing? its not beyond the realms of possibilitity that we could do the same......we have gone on similarish runs before with poorer teams and no fernando torres.

[BobTheCharmer]

SO by that virtue we mmay have to go to old trafford and win as will arsenal, villa, Liverpool etc...... sometimes the easier games are harder to win as we have proven !


they have won, what 8 out of the last 9? i find it very hard to believe they will win 22out of the last 25 games tbh.

They may go through a stage of playing well and losing? its not beyond the realms of possibilitity that we could do the same......we have gone on similarish runs before with poorer teams and no fernando torres.

We could do it. But I honestly don't think we will. I can't see Utd losing to anyone apart from us or arsenal. they don't concede goals. city took 6 points off them last year, none this year.

for us to win I felt we needed at least 6 points advantage looking at the fixtures. we needed to excell this season and almost be perfect to wrestle the crown off them. being as ****e as them isn't a marker. we had to be better for longer to have any chance at all. despite ronaldo missing the start, scholes out, hargreaves out, tevez getting pissed off, rooney out and rio, they've still got the victories which leave them top and seemingly in control of their destiny.

Stoke away, they finish with 4 strikers and net a winner. we leave keane on the bench. no guarantees we'd have scored yet the more attackers you have on and people that can actually score goals the better your odds.

They take risks we rarely do. After last nights game its no wonder we're linked with target men. the number of long balls was unreal. its 19 years of frustration that means that each slight dent in the hope of winning is magnified by 10. Rafa doesn't share the blame for 19 years but he's the one at the helm now and each season the pressure will get worse.

[Craig_H]

Why only look at the home record? Uniteds away record isnt that of title winners, why not concentrate on that instead? They are better at home and we are better away.
Surely its far better looking at every game instead of selecting games to make your arguement sound better?
At the minute United are doing slightly better than us but still all to play for, United really dont look like a title winning side more than us at the minute the way they are playing.

I look at the home record because it's that where the ultimate difference lies. When you pick up 50-55 home points, it leaves you the option to do less well away and still win it.

It's nothing to do with making my argument sound better, it's a fact that the majority of title winners have immensely good home records and win the majority of their points at home. As rafa said, i'm talking about facts here.

If anything, you're trying to come away from that fact, in order to suit your argument.

United have 6 wins and 2 draws in their last 8. Compared to our last 8, they look VERY much like title winners. Dont concern yourself with how they're playing, the issue is that they're winning. We're not.

We played ****e at Stoke and also last night, but if we'd taken 6 points, how we performed wouldnt matter a jot.

[Craig_H]

I've already said we've drawn too many at home and can't afford many more. But we've still got the second best home record in the league at the moment, so it's not as disastrous as you are making out.

Have you seen Man Utd's away record? That's not what title winners do either. We've dropped probably 4 or 5 points more than we should have done at home, but then we've gained them away. There's still a long way to go and we are still in the hunt. I'm not ecstatic about our current position, but neither am I suicidal.

It's not currently disasterous, but we're in a rut of **** form and dont even LOOK like winning games. Give it 3 or 4 more games and we'll be out of the race.

[Craig_H]

That would give us a 100% home record, that would be quite an achievement given our injuries and form.


And you think last nights game was easy? ask the players how easy it was to play against Everton.

100% is asking a lot. But 54% (which is what our home win ratio is), is ****e.

When i say 'easy', i'm speaking relatively. For a side who wins the league, everton at home is considered a relatively easy game, yes.

[rudedog]

100% is asking a lot. But 54% (which is what our home win ratio is), is ****e.

When i say 'easy', i'm speaking relatively. For a side who wins the league, everton at home is considered a relatively easy game, yes.

Thats a gross generalisation then - would Man Utd have found Everton easy to play against last night? Don't forget they couldn't even make it look easy against Bolton who have been total ****e, nowhere near as organised or showed as much fight as Everton did last night.

[Craig_H]

Thats a gross generalisation then - would Man Utd have found Everton easy to play against last night? Don't forget they couldn't even make it look easy against Bolton who have been total ****e, nowhere near as organised or showed as much fight as Everton did last night.

Right, well 'easy' is a subjective term which you're enjoying trying to grey out a little, so let's do it differently.

Teams who win the title generally beat everton (and hull, stoke, fulham, west ham etc) at home.

Better?

[Woobus]

United have 6 wins and 2 draws in their last 8. Compared to our last 8, they look VERY much like title winners. Dont concern yourself with how they're playing, the issue is that they're winning. We're not.

We played ****e at Stoke and also last night, but if we'd taken 6 points, how we performed wouldnt matter a jot.

After the Newcastle match I think everyone thought we were looking like a title winning side while United were struggling to win there matches. Before that it was Chelsea who were going to be invincible and it swapped between us and them as who were favorites.
Its been a crazy league and I dont think United will have the smooth run in as some people think.

[Craig_H]

After the Newcastle match I think everyone thought we were looking like a title winning side while United were struggling to win there matches. Before that it was Chelsea who were going to be invincible and it swapped between us and them as who were favorites.
Its been a crazy league and I dont think United will have the smooth run in as some people think.

Doesnt matter if we cant buy a win though, does it?

[Woobus]

Doesnt matter if we cant buy a win though, does it?

Think it shows that all the top teams have been having good and bad spells. Who knows what the future may hold, we could lose every match or we could win them all.