Which Top 4 club do Man U have the best chance of replacing next season?

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I was thinking the same just now and I think United will just beat Spurs to EL.

It will be a dog fight between United and Spurs.  

arsenal i guess.

Probably us since we are always on the verge of finishing outside the top 4.

Yeah probably..
Lpool will need to start doing more than pinching saints players to compensate loss of Suarez though.

Chelsea and City have their spots locked on imo. Liverpool need to overcome the loss of Suarez (if he goes) and Arsenal are yet to improve their problems.

It'll be either Arsenal or Liverpool. Leaning towards Liverpool though, it'll change if they get some decent players in.

That said, I am not 100% sure Utd will get back into the 4.

Forget Arsenal, they always finish top 4 regardless. Doesn't matter anymore at this point. They finish top 4 and that's that. So I guess it would have to be Liverpool would be the ones that spot maybe up for grab.

Assuming Man Utd actually improving their form along with a team finishing top 4 last season dropping their pants, I mean form.

Arsenal: always on the fringes (lately).

Then again, Arsenal: only PL club in recent years not to have finished outside the top 4 at least once.

I actually think the shakiest team--at this stage--will be Liverpool. I'm not trolling or trying to dismiss the club. I respect what Liverpool have done lately, and I respect a lot of their signings (including ones who I was all "meh" about in previous seasons). Plus I am sincerely envious that they'll be getting Lazar Markovic (seemingly). But the thing is: they'll be losing their best player, and replacing him / filling out the squad with a bunch of players who aren't as good. (Paying Spurs-like prices in the process.) Will it work? We'll see. Arsenal have managed in comparable circumstances. But it's a very difficult thing to do. It will be impressive if Brendan Rodgers finishes top 4, or better, once more.

Us unless we actually sign the players we need. Can't go half way yet again.

Though l think the whole view of the league position is gonna change soon. l mean so many teams are getting better, to the point where l feel like almost anyone can drop or rise up the table any given year.

People would have said you were crazy if you said Manchester United would finish 7th and Liverpool would finish second. l expect something like that to happen again next year as well.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea can all be had, aside from City nobody is safe imo...Liverpool haven't addressed there defensive woes and are about to lose Suarez, Arsenal have yet to do anything and finished 4th last season but it is still early so we will see...and Chelsea is probably the least likely but if costa flops and they still struggle to score who knows

But it is still early in the transfer window...so this will likely change a bit by the time the season begins and I still think we will bring in a center back another midfielder and maybe/hopefully a winger

Most importantly tho we have a competent manager now

Arsenal finished fourth but were first most of the season and some issues happened apparently with Giroud off the field and Ramsey got hurt and they fell down some spots. Some reinforcements and they could easily finish top 4 if not higher. If Costa flops, Hazard and Cesc will still score and they got Willian and the rest of the group. City will buy a brand new team in the winter if they aren't doing well, so they will finish top lol.

If the rumors of Arsenal getting Alexis, Bender, and Debuchy (I know it's a stretch they get all 3, but lets say they do) then I think IF one of the top 4 had to drop out I would say Liverpool.
If Suarez leaves and Gerrard getting older and the guys coming in not looking too convincing (solid, but not elite), then they look like they would have a bigger hill to climb. Having to play Europe and in the league with that type of squad will be the toughest on Liverpool imo. Arsenal pretty much is a lock for top 4 every year and Chelsea and City will only get stronger.

That said I don't think Utd finish top 4.

Yea, Suarez will be sold, but our other star players from last season (Sterling, Coutinho, Sturridge, Henderson, etc) will all be a year older, more mature, and more experienced.

And in the big games last year, those were the players that stepped up massively and delivered amazing performances.

All that, with not considering the new additions.

Man Utd fans thinking that will just waltz back to the top 4, regardless of their manager, are in for a rude awakening.

As for the Spurs mention:

2012-13 (With Bale) = 72 points , Europa League football
2013-14 (Without Bale) = 69 points, Europa League football

the way people talk about Spurs' collapse after Bale sale, you'd think they were league champions with him and fell out of top 10 without him , they basically stayed the same level

2012-13 (With Bale) = 72 points , 66-46 against
2013-14 (Without Bale) = 69 points, 55-51 against

What screwed Spurs was not getting Willian. And Soldado and Lamela just completely sucking nuts. They might of been better off just starting Adebayor from the start and they might of finished with some extra points. Defensively they were solid enough considering they couldn't score.

Sturridge can still hold it down for Liverpool, and defensively they are good enough. I agree, I don't think Utd will waltz back into the mix. Especially with Rooney being so on and off and RVP being tired from the World Cup to start the season

Whoever it will be it won't be us, I couldn't be anymore sure of that.

Liverpool. Just based on the fact that Liverpool was basically the only team last season where everything clicked.

Chelsea had no striker delivering and they still came very close to winning the league and beating all the top teams. With Costa and Fabregas + Mourinho's 2nd season a miracle would have to happen for them to do worse let alone crumble so much to fall out of top 4.

City? Don't see how. They were largely without Agüero most of the season, Negredo's form plummeted and Pellegrini had to adapt and get his away form right until halfway through the season. Still won the league.

Arsenal? They were leading the table for most of the season. Then Ramsey, their MVP, got injured, Giroud turned into a donkey, Walcott got injured. Özil didn't exactly excell either and he can do much better. Apart from that they always make the top 4 anyway.

Liverpool? Well. For them everything clicked. The Suarez-Sturridge partnership banging in for fun all season. Sterling breaking through. No CL distraction. And once it became clear that winning the league was a realistic possibility halfway through the season with the other contenders not pulling away, they found some extra edge to keep going. Basically the other candidates have much more room for improvement whereas Liverpool are about to lose someone who gave them 43 goals and assists without penalties and if the rumours are true they aren't even getting a caliber like Sanchez to make up for it. They'll also have to adapt to midweek CL games.

If United can challenge again, which is still an IF, it will most likely be at Liverpool's expense.

Fußball wrote:Liverpool. Just based on the fact that Liverpool was basically the only team last season where everything clicked.

Chelsea had no striker delivering and they still came very close to winning the league and beating all the top teams. With Costa and Fabregas + Mourinho's 2nd season a miracle would have to happen for them to do worse let alone crumble so much to fall out of top 4.

City? Don't see how. They were largely without Agüero most of the season, Negredo's form plummeted and Pellegrini had to adapt and get his away form right until halfway through the season. Still won the league.

Arsenal? They were leading the table for most of the season. Then Ramsey, their MVP, got injured, Giroud turned into a donkey, Walcott got injured. Özil didn't exactly excell either and he can do much better. Apart from that they always make the top 4 anyway.

Liverpool? Well. For them everything clicked. The Suarez-Sturridge partnership banging in for fun all season. Sterling breaking through. No CL distraction. And once it became clear that winning the league was a realistic possibility halfway through the season with the other contenders not pulling away, they found some extra edge to keep going. Basically the other candidates have much more room for improvement whereas Liverpool are about to lose someone who gave them 43 goals and assists without penalties and if the rumours are true they aren't even getting a caliber like Sanchez to make up for it. They'll also have to adapt to midweek CL games.

If United can challenge again, which is still an IF, it will most likely be at Liverpool's expense.

When you concede 50 goals in a season, it's a strong indication that something definitely hasn't "Clicked" .

11 of Suarez' goals were against relegated sides where they didn't impact the win/draw/loss , and just pad the GD....Daniel Sturridge' goals won more points than Suarez. Not to mention, the team is the youngest of all challengers, and hence has the highest upside/ceiling.

Time will tell of course, and there is still 1.5 months of transfer window to go. Good thread to bump later.

Liverpool.

Though I think Utd might not get into top 4.

lmao Fussball that's the most garbage thing I've heard.

We conceded 50 goals. That's like relegation form. Worst we've done since 1993-94 season.

We're still going to score plenty of goals even without Suarez. that's not an issue. Should we improve our defense, we'll be the better team as a result overall.

At the moment either Arsenal or Liverpool.

Arsenal had deathruns in the league coinciding with player injuries. On the contrary, we were severely exposed in some early kick off away games we perform like shizz after away games in the CL anyway.

While we haven't splashed 50m bucks before the end of the first week of the transfer window, the signs point towards a proactive squad management this summer. We don't need an overhaul, our relatively young players are a year older and more experienced/mature. We also have a good blend of experience and youth now.

And apart from addressing personnel issues, we are also investing in improving the training/medical/rehab facilities and (apparently) hiring Shad Forsythe to supplement Tony Colbert in medical staff - things which are easily overlooked in the "ooh-look-at-my-shiny-40m-signing" race.

To suggest that Arsenal will drop out of the top 4, merely because we have been at the fringes at the end of the season, is slightly ludicrous.

As for who will drop out of the top 4, although it is not decided on an online forum on the basis of personnel changes and market signings alone, it is still early in the transfer window and the season is a marathon, not a sprint. Here's looking forward to a tremendous season for all clubs and may the best (and hopefully most deserving) teams win!

As far as United, I don't think they are getting back into the top 4 this season. Just can't see it.

-Best player just left for Barcelona.
-Next best player after that is Sturridge who is injury prone and will be closed down a lot more / less space to work with Suarez gone.
-Next best player after that is Steven Gerrard, who's 34 now, and has re-occurring groin problems. No doubt we'll persist in playing him in a "defensive" role too.
-We continue to overpay for "depth" when it's quality is what's actually needed. (Even when Luis was at the club but this wasn't apparently a priority.)
-Clubs around us have improved*; we're still signing kids for the future even though the player that is pretty much the main reason why we're in Europe is gone. All reports seem to indicate the player we want to replace him with - who's not even the same type of player if I may add and on top of that doesn't even want to join us.
-We're actually in the CL for the first time in years, 3/4 of our team hasn't been in the competition ever / in 5+ years but they'll magically adapt to playing 3 games a week it seems.

We'll finish top 4 but. I mean, we pretty much signed Southampton's best players (didn't even get their best player, mind).

*People underestimate Spurs this season too, doubt they'll finish top 4 but they'll push 4th and 5th I think.

You'll miss Suarez 30 goals. They'll have to come from somewhere.

Not to speak of all the other things he offers.

As for the defense, and defensive midfield, have you strenthened there yet?

Replacing Suarez with a whole bunch of prospects reminds me of the way Spurs 'replaced' Bale.
Of course you have a capable manager which they didn't have.

How are we supposed to know when we haven't seen any of the teams play yet? I guess Arsenal since we're the "losers" in the transfer market so far because we haven't signed anyone yet.......

I doubt City and Chelsea won't finish top 4 so that only leaves Liverpool and Arsenal though obviously there's still the option that we just get the same top 4 we had this season. Yeah I know LvG is a god and United even bought a midfielder but I just say it's an option. Anyway it's hard to decide between Arsenal and Liverpool. I don't care if Arsenal finished top 4 since Idontknowwhen they still can drop out of the top 4 and have to earn that spot. The situation changed anyway. We never had a strong City, Chelsea, United and Liverpool at the same time and we could (though that remains to be seen) have it this season.

To be honest it's a bit pointless at the moment as we don't know yet which players the teams will buy and sell. At the moment I think the chances are something like 45% Liverpool - 35% Arsenal - 10/10. If United make the top 4.