Another 4 Or 5 Wins For Europa League – Pardew
Posted on March 17th, 2012 | 16 Comments |
Pardew said: “We don’t want to slip. We are saying we are going to push for Europe now and let our fans know we are going to try to push for it. We are going to need four or five wins and if we don’t beat Norwich, that’s going to look difficult in nine games, because that means the task will be that much harder.”
“But if we win, then can we win three or four of our next nine? I think we can, and that would put us in with a great chance of Europe, so it’s a very important game. It’s tough to get into Europe. You have got a team with the finance and quality of Liverpool who could run us down. We will have to hold our hands up if that happens, but we are going to give them a good fight for their money.”
“We are definitely focusing on Europe now, make no mistake about that, we have got ourselves into that position. But Alex Ferguson will tell you the last 10 games are the most important ones and we are in them now, so we will see how we get on.”
The 10 games United have left are split nicely – 5 at home and 5 away.
Home Games: Norwich, Liverpool, Bolton, Stoke and Manchester City
Away Games: West Brom, Swansea, Chelsea, Wigan, Everton
There’s a mix there of what look like easy games on paper and some tough looking fixtures. But if we are going to win 5 games, which would they be?
Lets look at the 5 games at St James’ Park first.
Norwich has to be one of the games we just have to win. Norwich are a tidy outfit who have done well this season, but when they beat us at Carrow Road earlier in the season we were “defenceless”. It will be a different game this time but it will depend upon which United team turns up – the one that thumped Manchester United or the one that capitulated to the likes of Wolves and West Bromwich Albion.
Liverpool will present a much stiffer challenge, but again we have the team to beat them, remembering that this will be a “six-pointer”.
Bolton should also be in our sights – not having the best of seasons and given our results this season we should expect to be too strong for them.
Stoke City were doing well, hit a blip, and seem to be coming back. But they’re not the team they were and should also be target for 3 points.
Manchester City – it goes without saying this will be a tough one. I was in the Leazes End in 1968 (I think that’s when it was) when City won the league in that very game. History repeating itself?
If things don’t go well at home, where could we pick up wins on our travels? After the performance at Arsenal I think we can be more bullish about our prospects here. I wouldn’t expect anything at Chelsea or Everton, but the other 3 games are definitely possibles!
What isn’t clear from Pardew’s statement is whether he’s talking about winning 5 games and losing 5 – or whether he calculates we need to win 5 and pick up some draws?
It would be nice to finish the season with an unbeaten run to finish as we started! Can’t see that happening, but you never know!
So that’s my assessment – what does everyone else think? Your Views welcome below.
NUFCBlog Author: UTD111
UTD111 has written 59 articles on this blog.
Sorry Alan pahdoo , but you reckon wrong , I looked at last 3 seasons and between 62 and 72 points would secure a 5th / 6th spot …for europe .
Thats an average of aboot 65 punts , and that means 21 points from last 10 games ..
Thats 6 wins 3 draws and a loss !
Or 7 wins 3 losses …
If we did only win 5 , and lost 3 which is quite likely the 2 remaining draws would give us 17 points !
Thats 61 points , sure doubt thats enough and can see liverpool and everton finishing strong , so methinks wor manager’s 4 or 5 wins is WRONG ….need more Al back to school please !….