Half-season verdict?

horsechoker said:
Half the season played, what do you make of it?
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Just give us the troph(ies) already.

On a serious note, we have exceeded expectations. But will need to see if we can maintain that. Don't think we are strong in several positions. We will go up and down in coming weeks., as we should. Players cant play on motivation alone. Quality and squad depth would matter.
 
Golden Nugget said:
Half way through the season; 0/3 points behind City; 3rd place. 6 points above 5th spot. Tell me that at the start of the season (especially after our start) - I wouldn’t have believed you. Arsenal is having an amazing season - otherwise we’d be up there for a title challenge.

Delighted with this; didn’t expect ETH to work wonders so quickly
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This after significant growing pains under Arteta as well. Two consecutive 8th place finishes prior to finishing 5th last season and now challenging for the title. Respect to Arteta (as annoying as he is) for building them up to this level over 3 years of smart recruitment and squad building. However, when you consider where we were starting from with a disjointed and psychologically damaged squad, ten Hag is working wonders. Yes he spent money to get us here but it's the work he's done on the leftovers from the previous eras. Rashford and Shaw genuinely look world class. I have a feeling we will see the same outcome with Sancho when he returns to the squad. Top 4 is the priority with a domestic trophy or Europa, as icing on the cake.
 
So many in here have a unique way of looking at ratings. 10 out of 10 indicates that this is the perfect season (which it is not). An ‘A+’ indicates our performance has been at minimum in the 97th percentile (which it hasn’t).

And this thread was started after a gutting 1-1 loss.
 
Woziak said:
I’d give the team a B+, the Board an F, The owners a U(ungraded) and the Manager an A-
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I'd give the board a C -they are responsible for Ten Hag and the players we've brought in, owners are Z- team B+ is a fair mark
 
Finishing 3rd would be great, top 4 is the minimum to be considered a "successful" season considering it's a transition. but more important than that is that we finally started to play with a certain system. I have faith in ten Hag we'll keep improving.
 
Looks like a year of accelerated evolution despite level of the league demands more than just a good run. Still a solid 7/10. Shoveling the club out of shit is a grinder, but this time manager is finding good chunk of solutions within the existing squad.

Gonna risk and say 2nd part could be close to historical with Glazers selling and some signs of any trophy hunt are being taken seriously.
 
Better than most thought, a push now for maybe a trophy and a top 4 finish would constitute a good season, although I want more I want a good tilt at the title, I'm being a bit optimistic but I honestly think once the club has been sold and a summer window with CL football we can attract top targets. So far I'm happy watching utd , last season I didn't.
 
B maybe.
Mostly good but some matches were unwatchable. United is still WIP
 
Happy! We play some good football and are more solid. We do however lack a good cluster that can make us challengers
 
I don't think anyone could have realistically asked for more. Plenty, myself included, were doubtful of our credentials as a top 4 team this season and we're pretty comfortable in that respect. Obviously we've been helped a little bit by teams like Chelsea and Liverpool underperforming to levels nobody could've predicted before the season started, but we've made ourselves a lot harder to beat (famous last words before Arsenal) and look like a far more cohesive team.

There needs to be continued progress, and hopefully that will come with new ownership. The fact that we're the only team still in 4 competitions should also count for something.
 
Really impressed with the mentality, resurgence of form for key players, defence and the structure of the team on and off the ball. All of our signings have played a big part so that's a bonus, although Antony looks like a dud to me.

For the second half of the season, we need to score more and improve our passing across 90mins. I'm not sure how feasible this is as the squad is limited in these areas but it will be important in achieving top four and winning any cups.

Ten Hag is a big hit for me so far.
 
Sunday is huge now. After the disappointment of Wednesday we need a result at the Emirates more than ever. Let's keep up the momentum.

Personally it's a outstanding EE for me. I was cautions coming into the season. The last thing we need is another new manager so I was willing to give ETH all the time and squad improvements he needed. To be within 3 points of City at the half way point as I said not only exceeds my expectations but shatters them. I am still preaching time but top 4 would be massive and a possible cup win would be the icing on the cake. I don't expect the cherry of a title win for another couple of seasons as we need squad depth and a starting striker.

Final verdict? Cautiously optimistic.
 
Have to be more ruthless in tight away games,until that changes then will be a battle to even finish in top 4.

The quality of football has definitely improved but we cannot keep playing for 45 mins rather than 90
 
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Very positive. Really feels like we’ve got the right man in charge, I predicted we’d finish 5th at the start and we are currently sitting in 3rd place which is great for where we are in the process. Second half will be challenging with how he handles fatigue and injuries.
 
horsechoker said:
Half the season played, what do you make of it?

Despite yesterday, I think we're in a good place and I feel increasingly confident we'll secure top 4.

If I were to grade the season so far, I'd give us a B/B+
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We are in a very good place. I feel gutted because we lost a big chance to be title contenders and this is something we did not imagine at the start of the season. Top 4 is as close to guaranteed IMO.

So frustrations aside, this looks like a super good first season for a new manager and the state we were in.
 
jackal&hyde said:
We are in a very good place. I fell gutted because we lost a big chance to be title contenders and this is something we did not imagine at the start of the season. Top 4 is as close to guaranteed IMO.

So frustrations aside, this looks like a super good first season for a new manager and the state we were in.
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Well if we had been a bit more vocal to the ref then may have not just got that penalty but also stopped Palace taking piss over FK too.

However we could negate both of these problems by just coming out in the second half and putting the game to bed but didn't and boy did we pay

Having said all that we are a very different side to last season and playing some really good stuff at times. We do need to find a solution to these Jekyll & Hyde performances though.
 
Pleasantly surprised with how good we've looked despite some poor results, overall this is probably the best I've felt about a squad and manager since Fergie left.
 
Sitting on 39 points at halfway after a terrible start. I expect/hope we will end up on 83/4 points, possibly with a league cup thrown in. Before the start of the season we would have taken your arm off for that and I will be delighted with a comfortable top 4 finish and a trophy. Other good news, the Glazers are selling up, the sooner those leaches are gone the better.
ETH has a clear vision and plan and is working towards it steadily and significantly improving various players.
Overall a very good half term report, not perfect but probably only Arsenal have been better than us. Looking forward to the second half of the season for the first time in ages.
 
Half-season: B+ but that doesn't really matter at all.

I feel like our new found form is really fragile. Could bounce back and have a great second half, or could crumble. I don't think we've been as dominant as the last 10 matches suggest, and desperately hope the attack starts to click at some point. Sancho's return could be the catalyst, or maybe Bruno is starting to get a feel for goals again.

We play twice a week now for the next few months, and that's going to take its toll, especially on our 'engine room' which is relatively old.

Still, we're soooo much better than this time last year to watch, I'll happily take it.
 
It's an a for me, eth has been dealt several tricky hands, the homelander situation, and fixture congestion for starters and is doing wonders. I genuinely think 3rd, and a league cup/europa double is possible and that is frankly amazing after the shitshow of last season. But on a personal level, I'm just so happy and grateful to actually look forward to and enjoy our matches again.
 
Before anyone grades this, I would urge them to go back and review our '3 wins in 14 games' finish to last season
 
Better than anyone could realistically have expected.

While a bit annoying, it's probably a good sign there's loads of criticism of certain players too, shows the standards are going back to high levels again.

Need a trophy this season, plus obviously securing top 4 at least.
3rd is definitely up for grabs, and with momentum who knows?
 
There's huge progress both on and off the pitch. ETH has revitalised the team, while resetting the standards at the club. Recruitment has worked, he's bedded some youth into the team, and there's a different feel about the place.

It hasn't been perfect at all, just remember those two games to start. We started from the ultimate low away at Brentford, the absolute crisis that we were in, followed by that do or die against Liverpool and the run we went on, just makes this all the more believable.

The steady progress from those opening weeks, and the reaction after the humiliation vs City. There was no new manager bounce, I think the slow, steady, methodical improvement should give us such massive hope looking to the future.

I'd almost liken it to Argentina in the WC. That team went on an amazing journey and evolution after the Iran loss. Watching us feels like that. I'd give ETH a solid 8/10.
 
Good football and big wins. Still in all the cups. Top 4 looks a certainty and feels like we’re competing for more. More than we could ask for after a horrible season but still firmly believe we should be competing for the title this year and feel that we will.
 
AlexiV said:
Good football and big wins. Still in all the cups. Top 4 looks a certainty and feels like we’re competing for more. More than we could ask for after a horrible season but still firmly believe we should be competing for the title this year and feel that we will.
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I feel we needed to spend big again the month to really justify that from where we are squad
Wise. FDJ and a Caicedo coming in just to banish any prospect of fielding last years midfield. We didn’t do it. Choose not to. Missed our biggest chance in a decade to really go for it.
Manager is doing wonders and we’ll
Get top 4 which is still great but will only increase the “what ifs” come the summer.
 
You have to be very happy with the vast improvement on last seasons woeful mess. Hopefully we can maintain consistency and get top 4.
Casamiro, Erikson and Martinez have made a huge difference to the quality and spirit in the team but ETH coaching and management is the biggest difference.
squad wise we are very fragile. If Rashford gets injured along with Martial who seems permanently crocked we are knackered. Weghorst is a back up but not sure hes at the standard we need. Recall Amad if possible. Hes to good to be on loan with our current Squad.
Casamiro also has no real quality back up should he get injured orbanned, McFred aint it.
 
Better than expected,top 4 is in the bag,still in 4 trophies,reinforcements needed.
Keep going :devil:
 
10/10
Better than i could have hoped for. Definitely wont maintain that rating cause the last steps are the hardest. But im optimistic about making them.
 
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