Europe League.... do we bother?

jsp

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This is a tricky one our new season starts in 6 weeks which is madness but whatever.

Do utd give the guys who’ve done the hard yards through this restart a break or do they almost use it as a pre season?

The LASK game is in 2 weeks so there’s a chance to give them all 2 weeks off let the bench guys play vs LASK then bring the first team boys back for the 1/4 final onwards and use that period like a pre season tour.

Just means almost no holidays for the players although with the covid restrictions not sure if many will even be able to get away to their usual holiday destinations.

The positive is we don’t need the back door route into Europe now but it’s still a trophy to win and some of these boys need a trophy in their cabinet.
 
Against LASK I’d go all out reserve side. We’ve got a 5-0 lead so should be fine with whoever plays.

After that for us it would be

10th August
16th August
21st August

To win it is 3 games in 11 days. Give the players 2 weeks off and then back in for next season.

Personally think you go out to try and win it. The games aren’t too quickly together. They’ve had a 3 month break so match fitness as much as needing a long rest is the issue.
 
Personally think you go out to try and win it. The games aren’t too quickly together. They’ve had a 3 month break so match fitness as much as needing a long rest is the issue
It's a difficult one isn't it. The silverware would be really good for Ole and United but the chance to rest some of the better players ready for the new year.

I'd be tempted to treat it like preseason. Give them a week or so off then play a mixture of youth and experience and rotate it around.
 
Got to try to win it, it's a trophy. Healthy amount of time between games as IDFD says, and no travel as all our potential games are in Koln I believe, others moving around Germany. Got to give the bench the first game and try and get their sharpness up to a better level as they haven't performed since the restart at all. We have Istanbul or copenhagen next and then a week off if we get through that. Less time than the other team between semi and final though.
 
Thing is how many players are we allowed to take into the bubble situation in Germany? Not sure we will actually take the whole squad out there but can’t see him leaving anyone home because of the message it sends out.

With recent rises will it even go ahead? Can’t see them cancelling it all now but does feel like if one thing had to go it would be Europa and maybe even the CL if covid is an issue.
 
Success breads success. The aim should be to create a winning mentality.
I agree completely with the winning mentality, but I still see it as a distraction, a minor bauble in the cabinet. I think the better winning mentality is focusing on the 3 competitions that carry more weight: the league, the CL, and to a lesser extent the FA Cup.

If we can play the kids, though, go for it. All of the fringe players should feature and if they don't they should get the chop. I feel our starting XI need to be managed better with regards to their minutes and muscle fatigue. We have only a few weeks off before the madness starts again and these players need to get ready for a long, long season.

Just imagine what would happen if the muscle fatigue from the crush of games since the restart ended up causing a long term injury to any one of Bruno, Pogba, Martial, Greenwood, Rashford, Maguire/Lindelof. Our squad is thin, we have plenty of fringe/youth players, and it should be their competition exclusively. It would be nice to win it but we don't need it.
 
I do think Ole needs to manage this one carefully. These are unique times and there's a lot of football to be played in the next 24 months or so!
 
the trick with fatigue is, during the season, if an "easy" game is approaching, let a player go away for the weekemd, Fergie used to do that. Give a key player a weekend off.
 
Thing is until we are out he can’t let the players go on holiday.

It looks like they’ve all had this week off my guess is they’ll be back to Carrington on Sunday get the training done then see how it goes. They’ll then get 2 weeks off after Europa games before starting next season.

I think you have to go for trophies when you’re in them it might not be the most glamorous trophy but you’re in it to win it at Utd.
 
I agree completely with the winning mentality, but I still see it as a distraction, a minor bauble in the cabinet. I think the better winning mentality is focusing on the 3 competitions that carry more weight: the league, the CL, and to a lesser extent the FA Cup.

Was listening to Jamie Carragher whose won both and the Champions league and he said for footballers even the English ones its Europa League over FA Cup and that there’s something much more special about winning a European medal to a domestic cup medal even if it is the Europa league.

The Europa is a hard slog and we’ve come this far. The hard part is done. The group games and the extra round of 32. It’s 3 more games and a dead rubber to not go for it would be borderline insanity. Is it the United way to ignore trophies you’ve got a chance of winning or to fight on as many front as possible?
 
FA Cup is definitely one for more of the older generation of fans who have great memories of cup final day, it's very nice to win it if you get there but it's no longer something the clubs are particularly interested in, play weakened teams and hope to get to the final rather than being in it to win it from the start. We've won it loads but only twice in the last 20 years because we no longer take it too seriously.

I don't think the Europa is much different, none of the English clubs take the group seriously but will take it more seriously if they manage to get in to the latter knockout stages especially if they need to win it to qualify for Champions League, the last point the only thing that makes it more worthwhile than the FA Cup.

As much as many of us don't like it, finishing top 4 is bigger than winning the more "minor" trophies these days for the clubs because of the money and greater opportunities CL leads to in the transfer market. I was surprised we didn't make more changes for the Chelsea game the other week.
 
Under Jose, we won the Community Shield, the League Cup, and the UEFA Europa League, and lost in the FA Cup final to Chelsea. We finished in 2nd place that season 2017/18. Despite all that I can't see Jose as anything other than a disaster for this club who left us much worse than when he found us - and this despite those trophies. I think the league is the top priority, followed by being competitive in the CL. Everything else has to wait until we get those first two right.
 
I disagree. A cup is always important. The game is about trophies. The only clubs that think otherwise are small clubs like Tottenham and Arsenal.
 
Fans will disagree, I don't like it either but the big clubs definitely don't take them seriously until they get there and even then it's not a disaster if they don't win it. The domestic cups are more for the fans, I don't think modern players particularly care about them and the clubs care less.

City do brilliantly in the cups because the depth is there to win it comfortably while still resting players for the league games.

Given a choice of top 4 or the FA or League cup, clubs would pick the top 4.
 
You’re wrong about the players. They’ve all said before when you hang your boots up are you going to remember a cup final day and a medal to show for it or a top 4 finish.
 
You’re wrong about the players. They’ve all said before when you hang your boots up are you going to remember a cup final day and a medal to show for it or a top 4 finish.

They might feel different when they look at their bank balance compared to players who didn’t play for top 4 clubs.

I do think winning titles including cups is important as you need that winning feeling to drive your players learning how to win one off games and handle that pressure in the build up and during games.
 
Europa League is another trophy to add to the history of United, but surely it is only really important if you haven’t already qualified for the Champions League, and you have.
Probably more important for the manager than supporters, I would guess. He needs it to convince the sceptics, inside and outside the club. Like his signings, paid way too much for Maguire.
 
If as a supporter you don’t enjoy watching the club win trophies you should try another game. United fans sounding like Tottenham fans on here.
 
Tottenham fans would eat you alive for any trophy. But Levy would put a stop to that. Great stadium, going nowhere... always going nowhere.
 

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