I want us to win the FA Cup, it's been quite a while since we last won it and it would certainly help us end a rather disappointing season on a high note. I will also be glad if we somehow manage to snatch fourth place in the remaining fixtures. European nights are always special and CL is a competition United should always be in, whether we can win it or not.
Having said that, my opinion is that the domestic cup and the bare minimum in Europe (make it to the group stage and qualification for next season's play offs) should not play a big part in any big club's decision to keep the manager. As far as lifting the FA Cup is concerned, i think that from the four semi finalists only Watford are fully justified not to sack their manager, even if they win the competition.
The mirror that shows if you have progressed as a team is always the league, a marathon during which your philosophy is constantly being put to the sword and you can't sweep your bad planning and the weaknesses that it has created under the rag until the end. European matches, especially the Champions League, is the stage where you can compete at the highest level and check out how close or how far you are from the truly elite clubs.
And in these two competitions LvG has failed miserably this season. The league is probably going to be decided at around 80 points, which is pretty low, and yet we failed to even make a serious challenge. This isn't good enough, no matter how you choose to look at it. It only shows our stagnation at an average of 65-70 points in these last three seasons when we should be looking to move forward. From the other big boys in England, who have had similarly bad seasons, two out of three have already appointed new managers while Liverpool chose to cut their losses very soon too. If the fact that the PL's most prolific underachievers over the last decade are the only ones to keep their manager is something that should worry us, i leave it to everyone's judgement.
I won't blame LvG, if he starts next season at the helm. Imho it would mean one thing, that the board has really lowered the bar of the goals set and expectations. When the football is so uninspiring and the good results few and far between, promoting youngsters to the first team on its own can't save you at a club like United. Neither can winning a domestic cup without having faced not even one of the other big clubs.
And no, it's not like Ferguson back in the 80's. Ferguson didn't have 250 million pounds at his disposal (i know we got some of that back in the end but nevertheless we spent it) or a football giant to manage when he first arrived here. Right now we can match the highest wages in the PL and we can offer a war chest to our manager for transfers. There are no excuses for the quality of the football we're being served in the last three seasons and for not being able to pass the 70 points mark in the league.
I really do hope that's not the case.
