*The 2016 Match Thread* Sunderland v Manchester United 13/02/2016

i'm so excited for this game, i've not been able to sleep.

3 nil united.

We're much better away from home and Sunderland are shite.

Narrow win, probably 1-2.

You can smell the hope of a stumble from the maureen fanboys, spoilt children, associated tossers and fellow travellers.

Today is not going to be your day

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Dab, if you want to correct her

Bit early for a must win but it'll £#%&! the weekend if we don't.

Tbf in hindsight, that's what she said, I repeated it incorrectly.

Originally Posted by Jack Duckworth

i'm so excited for this game, i've not been able to sleep.

3 nil united.

I know you're taking the piss, but I've actually looked forward to watching the last few games which is very different to the first half of the season....

Originally Posted by Lok

Sunderland are shite.

.

Don't think they are, their last couple of games they have played quite well without getting much out of them. Will be a tough game imo.

Ever the optimist though so I'll go for 2-1 united, defoe will score their goal.

Originally Posted by My Name is Keith

Tbf in hindsight, that's what she said, I repeated it incorrectly.

Tbf you're not as bad as Pat Crerand the other day on MUTV's coverage.

"It's about his dad?"

Cant wait for this one. 0-0 all over it
hate it when we score

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We simply have to win. West Ham are away at Norwich so you know they're going to win for sure.

Absolutely

We simply have to start making up ground on the top four now.

I'm far from convinced by his upturn in form. We're still very susceptible to £#%&! ups and our fundamental weaknesses haunt us as key times.

Last week was an encouraging display, but the reality is that the gap got bigger.

The gap is getting bigger by the week and any more inconsistency will see us sliding 8-10 points behind and battling it out with Watford and Palace.

Must must must win. No excuses.

Originally Posted by TripDownMiseryLane

You can smell the hope of a stumble from the maureen fanboys, spoilt children, associated tossers and fellow travellers.

Today is not going to be your day

No result today will make José any closer or further from the job.

Originally Posted by My Name is Keith

United win. 1-2. Jesseh to do another 'dap' dance.*


* that's what it's called according to my daughter.

I'm sure we've all noticed him and Depay attempting a signature dance only to be foiled by a good old fashioned team goon. Will we get to the stage where they try and outrun the older lads a la benny hill? Time will tell.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Dab, if you want to correct her

Bit early for a must win but it'll £#%&! the weekend if we don't.

Of course it's a must win. Home game against 2nd from bottom when you're 5 pts off 4th?

Turn it in.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Dab, if you want to correct her

Bit early for a must win but it'll £#%&! the weekend if we don't.

Siders, I admire your optimism and I'm not one for knee-jerk absolutes. ......but how is this not a must win?

We know something above us has to give, we haven't made ground on the sides above us for weeks. Leicester are out of sight and Spurs and arsenal look better than us and they're two clear wins away from us. The fact it's city who are closest is alarming. We're not finishing above Manchester city.

We've gone from 'top four is under threat' to falling out the top four, to falling well behind the top four. Some tough fixtures to come and the games are whittling down. We have to start making ground asap. A win will do that against at least two of the teams above us. We simply cannot pass up that opportunity.

Originally Posted by Cream

I'm sure we've all noticed him and Depay attempting a signature dance only to be foiled by a good old fashioned team goon. Will we get to the stage where they try and outrun the older lads a la benny hill? Time will tell..

Still have nightmares of Nani telling Rio et al and their impromptu goon to gtf after his rasping first goal at OT while he did a £#%&!ing flip

Originally Posted by Billy Redface

Siders, I admire your optimism and I'm not one for knee-jerk absolutes. ......but how is this not a must win?

We know something above us has to give, we haven't made ground on the sides above us for weeks. Leicester are out of sight and Spurs and arsenal look better than us and they're two clear wins away from us. The fact it's city who are closest is alarming. We're not finishing above Manchester city.

We've gone from 'top four is under threat' to falling out the top four, to falling well behind the top four. Some tough fixtures to come and the games are whittling down. We have to start making ground asap. A win will do that against at least two of the teams above us. We simply cannot pass up that opportunity.

Tbh it's just an issue of semantics. I agree it's a huge game so I see why the phrase comes out. Just not must win on the basis that we could draw or lose and still be 5-6 points off 4th with 12 games to play. I agree it's a massive game and huge opportunity. Will be a disappointment if we don't win.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Tbh it's just an issue of semantics. I agree it's a huge game so I see why the phrase comes out. Just not must win on the basis that we could draw or lose and still be 5-6 points off 4th with 12 games to play. I agree it's a massive game and huge opportunity. Will be a disappointment if we don't win.

Well ofcourse mathematically it isn't. So on that basis, it's not.

Contextually though, it is. We've looked better in the last two games than we have all season, we need to use these performances to show the consistency we need to make up that gap.

There's thirteen games left. We're 2 games behind city, 3 behind spurs/arsenal and 5 behind Leicester. We're going to need to win 9 or 10 of the last thirteen. At least.

We'll need to win four or five in a row at some stage. So when's it going to be if not from today?

Today is a tough but very winnable fixture. If we don't win it, not only is it a blow point-wise, it is more evidence that we are completely incapable of stringing a decent run of results together. And in a moment where we're playing quite well. I don't care about '1 defeat in 9'. The gap is getting bigger. Being tough to beat won't help, only wins will.

Originally Posted by Billy Redface

Well ofcourse mathematically it isn't. So on that basis, it's not.

Contextually though, it is. We've looked better in the last two games than we have all season, we need to use these performances to show the consistency we need to make up that gap.

There's thirteen games left. We're 2 games behind city, 3 behind spurs/arsenal and 5 behind Leicester. We're going to need to win 9 or 10 of the last thirteen. At least.

We'll need to win four or five in a row at some stage. So when's it going to be if not from today?

Today is a tough but very winnable fixture. If we don't win it, not only is it a blow point-wise, it is more evidence that we are completely incapable of stringing a decent run of results together. And in a moment where we're playing quite well. I don't care about '1 defeat in 9'. The gap is getting bigger. Being tough to beat won't help, only wins will.

Agree with all that. It's a very important game. Not showing up today would be a bad sign in terms of our mentality. I've given up on predicting this league though, so I wouldn't come to any conclusions on February. Does feel pivotal though.

Originally Posted by Cream

I'm sure we've all noticed him and Depay attempting a signature dance only to be foiled by a good old fashioned team goon. Will we get to the stage where they try and outrun the older lads a la benny hill? Time will tell.




Of course it's a must win. Home game against 2nd from bottom when you're 5 pts off 4th?

Turn it in.

we're away

Originally Posted by Jack Duckworth

we're away

And we're six points of 4th.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Agree with all that. It's a very important game. Not showing up today would be a bad sign in terms of our mentality. I've given up on predicting this league though, so I wouldn't come to any conclusions on February. Does feel pivotal though.

Yeah, for me it's more a reflection of where we are mentally.

LVG said in the week that we're mentally strong. I think that's bullshit. Late lapses last week and how brittle the confidence seems to be on a game to game basis reflects that. Time to put it right.

We did it last year with those four wins. Tough fixtures, but we showed some real steel. It started with that win at Newcastle and then we took off.

We need something similar now.

It just feels like the start of 'business time'. No more 'encouraging signs' or promising performances that don't yield results. Bloody bloody bastard wins please!

Originally Posted by Billy Redface

Well ofcourse mathematically it isn't. So on that basis, it's not.

Contextually though, it is. We've looked better in the last two games than we have all season, we need to use these performances to show the consistency we need to make up that gap.

There's thirteen games left. We're 2 games behind city, 3 behind spurs/arsenal and 5 behind Leicester. We're going to need to win 9 or 10 of the last thirteen. At least.

We'll need to win four or five in a row at some stage. So when's it going to be if not from today?

Today is a tough but very winnable fixture. If we don't win it, not only is it a blow point-wise, it is more evidence that we are completely incapable of stringing a decent run of results together. And in a moment where we're playing quite well. I don't care about '1 defeat in 9'. The gap is getting bigger. Being tough to beat won't help, only wins will.

Pretty accurate summary, but I think ciddy are very susceptible to a minor collapse given the Gwadiolaola shenanigans and Wenger has never been under more pressure/better opportunity to produce the goods, which I think he knows himself isn't happening for him. Both are well catchable.

Originally Posted by TripDownMiseryLane

Pretty accurate summary, but I think ciddy are very susceptible to a minor collapse given the Gwadiolaola shenanigans and Wenger has never been under more pressure/better opportunity to produce the goods, which I think he knows himself isn't happening for him. Both are well catchable.

Arsenal qualify every single season. I see nothing to think they won't this season. Their form is patchy and they're still seven clear of us.

City have gears. We know that.

I still think we've got the best chance of catching spurs. They're flying now but I expect another wobble. It's unchartered territory and they're a young side.