Of course last night was hard to take but our performance was good and even though it hurts, it would have hurt even more if we came across good Bayern/Barca/Dortmund/Juve teams in later rounds and went out. All those games would not have been much better than 50-50 at best. Just trying to be positive even though it sounds silly.
However looking at what lies ahead, here are some of the targets we could still aim for this season:
1. Win the league - If possible by 95+ points and scoring 100 goals on the way. But at the minimum just win it anyway.
2. FA Cup - Hopefully we can go all the way, and beat City along the way
3. Top 4 - We still have a lot of say in who comes out in the top-4 as we still have to play City, Chelsea and Arsenal. We play Arsenal the last (out of the three) and could have thought about taking it easy if league was (almost) won and we were in CL as well. But now I would like us to go all out against Arsenal. I don't mind Arsenal as a club but their fans are a total nuisance (one of the main reasons ja606 is mostly a source of entertainment rather than a place for serious football discussion). In any case I will far prefer the Spurs ahead of any other club in the group.
4. Resolve Nani's contract issues - People have their opinions about our wingers and I don't mind that. For me, Nani has always been heads and shoulders above Valencia and Young. However I can sense that even others, with different opinions, are beginning to see what he brings to the table. I would be gutted if he was to leave.
Remaining targets for this season
posted on 6/3/13
comment by nolhman 2.0 (U17471)
However, after the way we have lost. he could be angry towards Nani. we just have to wait and see. but i hope he signs.
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I doubt SAF would see it that way. He was absolutely fuming as soon as Red was dished out and barely showed a reaction when the incident actually happened (which was a good couple of minutes earlier). I see no reason for him to blame Nani specially when he was one of the top performers as well.
posted on 6/3/13
I really hope you guys are right. For me, Nani showed last night how much he cares about the club. He's been here 6 years and I hope he signs because he is a quality player.
posted on 6/3/13
Personally, I'd rather Chelsea missed out on a CL place rather than Arsenal. Seeing the gooners go on a Liverpool-type downward spiral due to lack of cash would be bad for English football. We need clubs that are organically big and strong, and if Arsenal take a knocking, we're left with the two fossil fuel clubs as United's only realistic competition.
I agree on the other points though. Having Nani back firing on full cylinders or replacing him with a similarly top quality player is important. We haven't won the cup for too long (mainly because we've been too busy consistently challenging for the league title and in the late stages of the CL, but that's another story). And it would be great to romp home in the league.
The last few games have started to underline the fact that we have a very good, well balanced squad with a young core which is maturing nicely. The onus now should be on letting them continue to grow together, with perhaps a midfield acquisition.
posted on 6/3/13
nolhman
Like the others, I think that last night made it more likely rather than less likely that Nani is staying:
1) Fergie's reaction (disbelief as well as anger) strongly suggests he saw it as a ridiculous decision, not Nani's fault.
2) The fact that he picked Nani suggests he does rate the player's quality and trusts him to deliver in the most important games.
3) That confirmation of trust will hopefully encourage Nani to believe he does have a future at the club.
4) Nani played very well in a game that really mattered: he was tenacious and disciplined in the defensive side of the game and penetrative in attack.
It's quite possible that Fergie and/or Nani have already decided to part company in the summer but Fergie as a pragmatist was still ready to play him in a game that suited him and Nani was professional and ambitious enough to play his heart out. However, it seems more likely that if there were fundamental doubts in Fergie's mind about the player's reliability or long-term commitment to the club, he wouldn't have been picked.
posted on 6/3/13
Red Russian
I hope that is the case. Nani must realise, he is at an amazing club and we'll have to see in the coming weeks. I hope Nani starts against Chelsea!
posted on 6/3/13
Nani & Rooney to start at Chelsea?
posted on 6/3/13
comment by nolhman 2.0 (U17471)
posted 3 minutes ago
Red Russian
I hope that is the case. Nani must realise, he is at an amazing club and we'll have to see in the coming weeks. I hope Nani starts against Chelsea!
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To be honoest SAF has to show more faith in him as well (which has only really happened in last two games this season). The amount of times Valencia has played this season, with a fit Nani available, has been really high and Valencia hasn't had one decent performance in the whole season. If you were Nani you would start doubting yourself as well in terms of whether the club wanted you to stay at all.
posted on 6/3/13
How fit has Nani been this season though?
posted on 6/3/13
comment by Statman John (U7425)
posted 21 seconds ago
How fit has Nani been this season though?
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He has only really been out with injury form Mid-November to Mid-January. Most other times he has been available.
posted on 6/3/13
Yet Nani has said that he has not been fully fit for a year and a half.