Arsenal had a squad that finished 5th in the PL, added Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko, and Saliba, which on paper is not a massive increase in quality, and then pushed for the title.
United performed worse than 5th but it has also been claimed by many that this is not becuase of squad quality but because players were unavailable due to injury. A more available 'squad' finished 3rd two seasons ago.
There is big difference between the 2. Arsenal was in an upward trajectory having finished 8th and 8th, however they had the right profile players.
The United that finished 3rd and the one last season had our key players underperforming. Casemiro, Varane and Rashford were all immense in that top3 finish. All of them fell off last season. So in reality, it's like us losing 3 key players on top of an injury crissis, which for whatever reason gets overlooked on here.
So before we get back to the top 3, we need to replace the contributions those 3 made in that season.
Edit: forgot to add Martinez and Shaw who were both crucial for our defensive stability as well as our buildup from the back. So in reality we missed 5 key players last season hence the league position.
As soon as Ineos decided they were happy to keep him after an outstandingly poor season, they set the standards. They then doubled down on it with a new contract. They then backed that up with looking to hire more dutch coaches to help him do his job. They've well and truly insulated our bald genius into the club, made him bigger than any manager since Sir Alex.
I think they realised we're shopping in the lower tier of players and won't be challenging for years to come, so they realised he's a manager that is happy with that. I suspect this is probably why the talks with Tuchel fell apart, as he wouldn't accept this sort of role. For Ten Hag though, he can blame everything and everyone else until he's blue in the face now, as he's not responsible for anything anymore. He's untouchable.
Get a grip mate. INEOS did the only right thing in the current. They kept the coach and his staff in a period of transition as not to cause too much disruption in an already chaotic takeover situation.
For once we are being run as a club. We identify multiple targets, we make bids, we negotiate and if we can't get a deal, we move one. The fact that we're being linked with past it players on enormous wages is a good indication that INEOS has changed our transfer strategy. But for whatever reason that is viewed as targeting lower tier players. Can't please the fans, can you? We either sign overpriced mercenaries or lower tier players.
Sir Alex targeted plenty of "lower tier" players that ended up being good for the club: the likes of Vidic, Evra, Chicharito, Carrick, Nani, etc He himself said that he was looking at their personality first, before ability comes into play. ETH was doing the same thing. Say what you will about his signings, but you can't accuse them of being lazy, unmotivated, overpaid, etc You know, the usual monikers that follow most of our signings in the post SAF era. With INEOS overseeing the football matters, we can finally target some players who have both: good personality and some under the radar abilities.
The new contract that you so lament is just an amended version of his current contract with the stipulation that ETH will surrender most of his control on the footballing side, something most fans would agree is a positive development.
And as for Tuchel? What the feck did that guy do that he is considered some sort of Messiah on here? Won the CL as interim? So did DiMateo. Do we want to bring him here as well? If it were Klopp or Ancelotti, I'd be on board with you. But that guy is an even bigger fraud than ETH. Every single club he's been too, he's always failed to deliver on his job. Last thing we need is a poor man's Conte(who himself is a walmart version of Mourinho) running this team and throwing his toys out of the pram when things don't go his way.
