Apparently some Arsenal players have been tweeting to celebrate finishing second in the league. True Arsenal mentality there :lol:

Yes, because highest league finish in a decade is really nothing to celebrate at all.

 

God. You are SO salty. Maybe focus on mocking your own team considering the year they've had.

Yes, because highest league finish in a decade is really nothing to celebrate at all.

 

God. You are SO salty. Maybe focus on mocking your own team considering the year they've had.

It is nothing to celebrate, finishing above Tottenham in particular is nothing to celebrate! The only thing worth celebrating is finishing 1st and winning trophies which is something that Arsenal didn't do this season (unless if you count the dinner plate Community Shield)

 

Yeah Man Utd had a bad season and I have acknowledged that but at least we won the FA Cup so it was not a total disaster. Even if we finished in the top 4 I wouldn't have been that excited, finishing in the top 1 is all that matters to me when it comes to the league.

It is nothing to celebrate, finishing above Tottenham in particular is nothing to celebrate! The only thing worth celebrating is finishing 1st and winning trophies which is something that Arsenal didn't do this season (unless if you count the dinner plate Community Shield)

 

Yeah Man Utd had a bad season and I have acknowledged that but at least we won the FA Cup so it was not a total disaster. Even if we finished in the top 4 I wouldn't have been that excited, finishing in the top 1 is all that matters to me when it comes to the league.

Would you honestly rather have the FA Cup and be outside of Champion's League places than finish second with guaranteed European play at the top level next year and an immensely satisfying win above (for example) Manchester City?

 

If so I'm afraid your priorities are all screwed up. And yes, your season was a total disaster. There's no other way to describe a situation with hundreds of millions spent and still the prospect of Europa League next year. That's why they sacked the manager.

Edited May 28, 20169 yr by jark

Would you honestly rather have the FA Cup and be outside of Champion's League places than finish second with guaranteed European play at the top level next year and an immensely satisfying win above (for example) Manchester City?

 

If so I'm afraid your priorities are all screwed up. And yes, your season was a total disaster. There's no other way to describe a situation with hundreds of millions spent and still the prospect of Europa League next year. That's why they sacked the manager.

Yes I would. We finished in the top 4 in the 2014/15 season and I don't think there was any feeling of euphoria amongst Man Utd fans about that, but there was a buzz about winning the FA Cup for the first time since 2004. There is nothing to saviour about finishing 2nd and Arsenal players for example wont be able to tell their grandchildren or great grandchildren about "the time we finished in 2nd place above Tottenham in 2016"

 

Man Utd wouldn't have gone far in the Champions League next season anyway and Arsenal are just there to make up the numbers as always.

 

Our season wasn't a total disaster because there were some positives to come out of it such as the emergence of young players like Rashford & Fosu-Mensah. Also signing Martial was like finding a gem.

I think you're delusional a bit there. We are not a Europa League club. This is the wrong end of the M62 for that.

 

While the FA cup is a nice to have, a place in the Champions League is a must have. While Kark usually has questionable judgement, being an arsenal fan, on this he is dead right. If we had finished 4th we would have kicked City into the Europa league. Any Manchester United fan who says that would be worth less than an FA Cup is either a liar, suffering from a distinct lack of brain or an undercover City fan. Denying that shower of scum a champions league place is worth a million FA Cups. Losing to those f***ers on goal difference is an embarrassment and the FA Cup is no where near enough of a consolation prize.

I sort of see both arguments. Of course no-one wants to play in the Europa League over the Champions League and it's never nice to miss out, football clubs exist to win trophies. You don't get a trophy for finishing 4th place, but you do for winning the FA Cup.

As far as I'm concerned winning the Premier League is a must have, we are turning into Arsenal of 2006-2014 now just aiming for top 4. Finishing 1st kills all of those birds with one stone.

 

Leicester City have achieved everything that a Premier League club would want this season:

 

Winning the Premier League - tick

 

Qualifying for the Champions League - tick

 

Avoiding relegation - tick

 

Those players have something to cherish for the rest of their lives by finishing 1st this season. Apart from winning the Capital One Cup 4th placed Manchester City have nothing tangible to show for their efforts this season and the same goes for 2nd placed Arsenal. This is the point I am trying to make.

I'm with Hazza more here. Had we came 4th & lost the FA Cup I think I'd have been more disappointed as the barren run of trophies would have continued.

 

The one thing that would have made it sweet would have been coming 4th at the expense of City but ignoring that & just basing it on 4th + no trophy or 5th + trophy I'd have to side with latter.

I see it from both sides too I must admit. I imagine from a United's fan perspective, the FA Cup would be worth more, especially looking at it now with recent developments, as although this is your second season out of the CL in the last 3 seasons, I doubt many would honestly think you won't at least be 4th next season. And trophies are what every fan, player, manager, club wants.

 

From my perspective as a Liverpool fan though, I would take 4th place over the FA Cup, or League Cup, especially if it was at the expense of United or Everton. CL offers the highest rewards long term, better players, more money etc, whether you stand a realistic chance of winning it or not. Plus again, as a Liverpool fan, not being top 4 is a slippery slope. When we finished 7th in Rafa's last year, never did I think, even with things in the state they were looking back, we would then go on to miss the Champions League spots every single year after, bar 1 outstanding season. If United were to somehow miss out again this year (I'm not saying they will, because I'm certain they'll have a great season next year) that would 3 out 4 missed, 2 in a row, and then they could find themselves in a spot of bother trying to attract the best players, to help their talented, up and coming youth, take it to the next level, and in consequence, back to the top of the league

I'm with Hazza more here. Had we came 4th & lost the FA Cup I think I'd have been more disappointed as the barren run of trophies would have continued.

 

The one thing that would have made it sweet would have been coming 4th at the expense of City but ignoring that & just basing it on 4th + no trophy or 5th + trophy I'd have to side with latter.

But it's not as simple as the bolded bit this year. You can't remove the fact that City finished 4th and we could have sent them back to the Europa league where they belong. There's a fairly good chance we could have won the cup and still finished 4th. If we'd taken a draw at West Ham then it's not inconceivable we could have taken home the FA Cup and a CL place.

 

I see it from both sides too I must admit. I imagine from a United's fan perspective, the FA Cup would be worth more, especially looking at it now with recent developments, as although this is your second season out of the CL in the last 3 seasons, I doubt many would honestly think you won't at least be 4th next season. And trophies are what every fan, player, manager, club wants.

 

From my perspective as a Liverpool fan though, I would take 4th place over the FA Cup, or League Cup, especially if it was at the expense of United or Everton. CL offers the highest rewards long term, better players, more money etc, whether you stand a realistic chance of winning it or not. Plus again, as a Liverpool fan, not being top 4 is a slippery slope. When we finished 7th in Rafa's last year, never did I think, even with things in the state they were looking back, we would then go on to miss the Champions League spots every single year after, bar 1 outstanding season. If United were to somehow miss out again this year (I'm not saying they will, because I'm certain they'll have a great season next year) that would 3 out 4 missed, 2 in a row, and then they could find themselves in a spot of bother trying to attract the best players, to help their talented, up and coming youth, take it to the next level, and in consequence, back to the top of the league

Exactly. We're just lucky that Jose, as much as I'm not keen, is a big enough name to overcome the lack of CL football.

Surely the FA Cup win was tainted by the fact that the day wasn't even out and the manager was almost out of the door. I know most of the fans wanted rid of LvG, but the whole aftermath of the game was completely overshadowed by the fact that everyone knew what was coming.

 

As for this "barren run of trophies", the fans need to get a grip. Three years isn't a barren run. You'll have to go longer than three years without a trophy at some point in the future, deal with it.

How can it not be a barren run? Football leagues and competitions are created for teams to battle it out to be the best and to receive a trophy and gold medals. I don't think any ambitious player gets up at the crack of dawn to train in all kinds of weather with the ultimate goal of not achieving the maximum reward. I'm sure even Aston Villa at the start of the season had the aim of winning every match that they played and being better than everyone else.

 

I don't think there is any fan in the world that would not want their team to win trophies either. That goes for international football as well, everyone who is supporting England at Euro 2016 will want them to win the tournament.

 

So we cant just "deal with it"

How can it not be a barren run? Football leagues and competitions are created for teams to battle it out to be the best and to receive a trophy and gold medals. I don't think any ambitious player gets up at the crack of dawn to train in all kinds of weather with the ultimate goal of not achieving the maximum reward. I'm sure even Aston Villa at the start of the season had the aim of winning every match that they played and being better than everyone else.

 

I don't think there is any fan in the world that would not want their team to win trophies either. That goes for international football as well, everyone who is supporting England at Euro 2016 will want them to win the tournament.

 

So we cant just "deal with it"

 

I think what he means is, Man Utd fans expect success, when in reality football is a lot different now. When Man Utd were cleaning up domestically, it was essentially a two team league. You had the odd flutter from Newcastle, Liverpool and towards the end Chelsea But that was it. Everyone wants to win, and 1st is everything, 2nd is nothing. 100% agree with that. But it's unrealistic these days to not go without 'barren spells'. It hurts, but you have just got to accept it. Things are only likely to get worse as more and more money gets pumped in to the Premier League.

How can it not be a barren run? Football leagues and competitions are created for teams to battle it out to be the best and to receive a trophy and gold medals. I don't think any ambitious player gets up at the crack of dawn to train in all kinds of weather with the ultimate goal of not achieving the maximum reward. I'm sure even Aston Villa at the start of the season had the aim of winning every match that they played and being better than everyone else.

 

I don't think there is any fan in the world that would not want their team to win trophies either. That goes for international football as well, everyone who is supporting England at Euro 2016 will want them to win the tournament.

 

So we cant just "deal with it"

What on earth are you talking about?

 

Three years by the standards of any other club in England (and historically by United's own standards as well) isn't a long time to go without a trophy. The fact that it was over a decade since you last won the cup was more noteworthy.

Think a lot of United fans need to remember that the Fergie era was the exception, not the rule. There will probably never be a run of success like it in the Premier league again.

 

Hamza - If you want to watch a league thats dominated by one or two teams, then start watching the French, German and Spanish leagues or if you don't have any standards, the Scottish league.

 

Three years between trophies isn't too bad. I was less than a year old the last time Liverpool won the League. In that time we've won the league 13 times. A 50% successrate over the past 26 years is incredible and it's just not going to happen again. The sooner that we accept that 2nds, 3rds and 4ths are going to happen the sooner we can start to regain the stability that Fergie brought

I very much doubt we'll see anything like the Fergie era again like Silas said or in the Premier League ever.

 

I'll be quite happy to see 5 or 6 teams in contention for the Premier League who have a chance or someone unexpected like Leicester City.

I have to agree, the formation of a 'top 6' makes the league way more exciting, all be it more nerve wracking, as all 6 of the "top" teams have their obvious flaws and are all very beatable and inconsistent, some more than others. I think the upcoming season in particular will be insanely entertaining, as I think it's incredibly hard to call what order they will finish in (of course this is before the bulk of the summer business).

 

As sensational as the Fergie era was for united, from a football point of view, I'd rather not see something like that again, for any club. For people who weren't a fan of United (and Arsenal and Chelsea in their spells) at times it got boring, and predictable (the league that is, not the football being played) It was just like who out of United vs this team will win it this year, probably united again.

 

Where as now, although there is probably a rank in terms of the likelihood of each of the 6 teams winning the league, but it's not inconceivable, or even that improbable that any of those 6 teams finish 1st, especially after the season we've just had

From my own personal point of view finishing 2nd or lower in the league doesn't make me happy as a United fan. I know that it will probably be a long time until we win the league again and I know that the clubs go through spells of not winning trophies and of course I know that it will happen to Man Utd in the future.

 

We got to at least aim and try to win trophies even if we come up short, look how shit we did in the Champions League this season and that was the reward of finishing in the magical place of 4th in the league last season? It just shows how far standards have fallen now!

 

For the league as a whole it would be good if another Leicester type of story took place again and if Man Utd don't win it then I would much rather a team like Leicester win it again instead of Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool.

If the last 10-15 years proves anything, it's that securing a place in the top 4 is the only real springboard to sustained success. Chelsea won the FA Cup in 2000, had a Champions League run around the same time, but it was finishing 4th in 2003 that prompted Abramovich to buy them and they went on to finish 2nd and then 1st the next two seasons. Likewise City prioritised the league when the Abu Dhabi group came in. They finished 5th in 2010 and then spent big that summer (Touré, Silva, Milner, Kolarov and Balotelli with a load of dross going out) to secure a top 4 spot before pushing on again. The fact that they won the FA Cup that year was more by accident than design.

I would like to see another season of uncertainty and unpredictability in who will win the league although this may not be like last season.