Why 8th place is best for Utd
NEIL CUSTIS: The position Manchester United need to finish in now is well within their grasp.
Even this team could not make a hash of it. Eighth spot and no European football next season is there for the taking. That place is currently held by Wolves, who are two points behind the seventh-placed Red Devils having played a game more.
But United can make that up easily the way this team is playing. The very last thing they need is that seventh-placed Europa Conference League place. Nobody at Old Trafford will admit it but they really do not want the Europa League either.
Yes, that night in Stockholm in 2017 when they won it against Ajax was a good one. But does anybody remember the rest of that campaign?
There is still something odd about the club celebrating any result in Europe outside the elite competition of the Champions League, no matter how far they have fallen.
And they have really fallen — and there is still some way yet to go. There is worse to come between now and the end of May, a lot worse, have no doubt.
Seven games left, among them trips to Liverpool and Arsenal, while Chelsea still have to visit Old Trafford. Mind you, would you bet a quid on them beating rock-bottom Norwich at the Theatre of Nightmares on Saturday?
For a long time, there has been talk of the need for a clearout, a new identity to the team and a manager being given time to enact all that.
Erik ten Hag is the man to do it and he will get a major boost if his midweeks are free from trips to the likes of Kazakhstan in November — I am still thawing out.