Did we believe the hype?

When we won the league cup, flags out, were we guilty of over celebrating?

Did we believe the hype? It seems when things are going well, we can score goals and string a run of results together.

as soon as we face an obstacle, we seem to shit the bed

I don’t know if it’s so much when we face an obstacle, more that we struggle to deal with the pressure of expectation. We went into this season on a blank slate, with zero pressure to win any trophies; it was initially seen as a transitionary period - new players, new manager, new tactics etc.

When we won the league cup suddenly there’s pressure to perform well, and it feels like some players have balked under it.

Btw if Martinez doesn’t get injured we don’t struggle as much as we have in the past few games. Might get pelters for this but I think he’s more important to the team than Casemiro.

Lots more positives than negatives - we are still playing good stuff but are just knackered - all those cup games have sapped the squad. Whack in the injuries and suspensions I'm amazed people like Shaw and Bruno are still standing.

Still think we'll get top 4 and win the FA Cup

We're not as bad as we were at the start of the season and not as good as we were before the games caught up with us.

It's great we are out of the europa. That would've £#%&!ed us completely.

It’s just a little dip in form.

We’ll get back on track on Saturday afternoon.

Possibly, but do have faith in our manager.
I'd love to have the "we'll win the FA cup" faith that so many seem to have

Originally Posted by Medlock

Possibly, but do have faith in our manager.
I'd love to have the "we'll win the FA cup" faith that so many seem to have

we need to see a win against wolves to get that confidence

we're lucky to be in the cup final if we're honest.

would not get too excited either way. we look knackered, mostly (and injuries and red cards haven't helped... we have not returned to form since cass came back either).

however, I am not at all impressed by 10h's selections and squad management.

Nah, we hit the wall.

You can trace it all back to that last 10 minutes v Seville first leg tbh. 2 bad injuries, 2 ridiculous goals and it’s been a monumental struggle ever since.

I’m really hoping a week off and a reset will do the trick.

Name me another team in Europe who could lose their two first choice centre half's and just carry on winning. Thats where the dip started. Personally think Lindelof and Shaw have done well but they're not in the same league as Varane and Martinez.
We'll comfortably beat wolves on Sunday and all will be rosy again.

We play Wolves on Saturday...

Originally Posted by andyroo

We play Wolves on Saturday...

Ey up, Jeff Stelling's logged on.

I find it a bit troubling and a bit disappointing if I’m honest - getting pumped by the rats knocked everyone at the club and we haven’t really recovered. We’ve played too many matches and have lost our players too often but the mentality is weaker than I thought it would be. Or should be. Thought we had dealt with that to an extent. Any slight issue and we seem to collapse. It’s concerning.

I think we’ll smash wolves and it’s just what we need. We need to use that win (hopefully) to reset ourselves mentally.

Originally Posted by dunk

Nah, we hit the wall.

You can trace it all back to that last 10 minutes v Seville first leg tbh. 2 bad injuries, 2 ridiculous goals and it’s been a monumental struggle ever since.

This.

We were running on fumes for a while tbf.

We're where we are now because we have been very good. Too many games, some awful luck with a squad packed full of other managers players and now we're seeing the struggle. If we'd have been £#%&! all through the season, we wouldn't be as tired and broken as we are now.

Originally Posted by silv

When we won the league cup, flags out, were we guilty of over celebrating?

Did we believe the hype? It seems when things are going well, we can score goals and string a run of results together.

as soon as we face an obstacle, we seem to shit the bed

it was the first trophy Manchester United had won in SIX £#%&!ing years. We were well within our rights to enjoy it for what it was.

The fact is we started the season short of players in certain areas and as the season has progressed the squad has only got weaker.

Ronaldo left and wasn't replaced.
Mason Greenwood will never play again and hasn't been replaced.
Van De beek out of the season.
Eriksen missed two and a half months.
Casemiro missed about 8 games.
Garnacho out for nearly two months.
Martinez out for the season and Varane just missing games all over the place.

The squad that wasn't to quality to begin with has been absolutely rinsed. the owners couldn't be bothered to invest anything in January either. No other club in the top 4 has had to contend with either the fixture pile up or the injuries we have.

The players are exhausted and as a result you're getting about 30 mins or so of decent-ish football followed by an hour of lacklustre crap.

It's nothing to do with hype or belief and everything to do with the realities of top level sport.

Well at least all the pants pissers are on one thread.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

it was the first trophy Manchester United had won in SIX £#%&!ing years. We were well within our rights to enjoy it for what it was.

The fact is we started the season short of players in certain areas and as the season has progressed the squad has only got weaker.

Ronaldo left and wasn't replaced.
Mason Greenwood will never play again and hasn't been replaced.
Van De beek out of the season.
Eriksen missed two and a half months.
Casemiro missed about 8 games.
Garnacho out for nearly two months.
Martinez out for the season and Varane just missing games all over the place.

The squad that wasn't to quality to begin with has been absolutely rinsed. the owners couldn't be bothered to invest anything in January either. No other club in the top 4 has had to contend with either the fixture pile up or the injuries we have.

The players are exhausted and as a result you're getting about 30 mins or so of decent-ish football followed by an hour of lacklustre crap.

It's nothing to do with hype or belief and everything to do with the realities of top level sport.

Exactly

Great post Sparky, although we've still got a mountain to climb in terms of competing for title. There's a ridiculous gap in goal difference between us and the three teams above us (City +50).