Really, where are we now?

Still meandering aimlessly since Fergie retired.

We will continue to yo-yo between the EL and CL, win a 2nd tier cup every few seasons and carry on with managerial change every 2 or 3 seasons.

For this season, we will likely drop out of top 4 and play in the EL next season and not win anything this season.
 
I think we’re better than we’re showing but there’s so much drama around the club that it’s only natural we’d struggle. The fixtures have been tough too. I have doubts about ETH but like his approach to discipline. I suspect he’s ultimately not in the top tier of managers (Guardiola, Klopp, Ancelotti, maybe one or two more) but is well in the next tier down. I’m not convinced there’s anyone else available to us that could do better. Unfortunately I think this season may be a struggle but hopefully the takeover will happen and next year could be much better.
 
This is the first time I am actually concerned this season. As my concern is with the coaching of the squad and not the players. I think our squad is a good one. Injury/availability crisis right now of course having an impact, but still enough there to have a good system.
 
SparkedIntoLife said:
I think we’re better than we’re showing but there’s so much drama around the club that it’s only natural we’d struggle. The fixtures have been tough too. I have doubts about ETH but like his approach to discipline. I suspect he’s ultimately not in the top tier of managers (Guardiola, Klopp, Ancelotti, maybe one or two more) but is well in the next tier down. I’m not convinced there’s anyone else available to us that could do better. Unfortunately I think this season may be a struggle but hopefully the takeover will happen and next year could be much better.
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I would take 7th,if it meant the takeover had some form of resolution and the off field issues started to get resolved.
 
Sure it'll be fine. Worse than usual poor start, but there is the presence available to turn this shit start around and find some form.
 
- The new manager effect has certainly gone.
- The team needs stability. On and off the pitch.
- Mix of players in their peak and we got "holes" in the squad where players either needs to be replaced or will develop
- Bad luck
 
I think that we completely messed up transfer window. Instead going forward, we made a step back which will cost us massively this season. Neither of 3 big signings is not a player who we needed THIS year. All 3 are players who you buy for already built squad. Hojlund is not game changing striker (yet) and Onana's main strength (ball playing) means nothing when we have issues in midfield. God knows why we bought Mount.

That 200 mil should have been invested much much wiser. Anyway, instead challenging for title (which was obvious step) we are stuck in fighting for 5th place.
 
A few things for me are really standing out. Injuries have EtH chopping and changing squad and formation, and it's impacting us quite a bit. We have no rhythm in our passing, no relationships on the pitch and we look so easy to play against.

What's unforgivable is how unfit we look. We were physically second best against Wolves and again today we can't compete. Players don't look like they're playing for each other either. There was a lot of negative body language on the pitch today.

It's not just individual errors / bad luck / bad defending, it's core fundamentals of the game that we're desperately lacking that's really worrying.

It's easy to do the EtH / de Zerbi comparisons, but we have to remember his Ajax team, which in a way is similar to what de Zerbi showed today at OT. Ajax went to the Bernabau and played inventive, progressive and brilliant football, hammering Madrid 4-1 on their home patch.

That Ajax team possessed probably all of the traits we are desperately missing right now. We've seen the EtH blueprint when it works, and I think with what we saw last season for periods and during his time at Ajax, he deserves time to right the ship.

What's really curious though is that we're not seeing that blueprint of what brought him his success at Ajax here at all. We don't seem to possess any of the principles and fundamentals that we thought he would bring. And we can point to not having the personel, but with the money we've spent it's absolutely shocking.
 
We are Liverpool in the 90s. There are lots of parallels,

A set of players that can occasionally look good and win the odd cup but miles off being good enough to win the league or Champions league.

Also the players get more attention for their off the field behaviour than they do on it.

An ownership that is clueless, won't improve the stadium and is sitting back watching other clubs pull away.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
I think that we completely messed up transfer window. Instead going forward, we made a step back which will cost us massively this season. Neither of 3 big signings is not a player who we needed THIS year. All 3 are players who you buy for already built squad. Hojlund is not game changing striker (yet) and Onana's main strength (ball playing) means nothing when we have issues in midfield. God knows why we bought Mount.

That 200 mil should have been invested much much wiser. Anyway, instead challenging for title (which was obvious step) we are stuck in fighting for 5th place.
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I agree.
Maybe it's too soon to judge Onana yet but I really don't see the other 2 signings having any positive impact on our season. Hojlund so too young and inexperienced while Mount will need at least 1 year to reach his maximum form(if he ever manages with us).
 
We’re where we always are, a team that might finish in the top 4. Won’t get very far in Champions League but might win a cup. This looks like a season where we won’t make top 4 and will exit in Group Stages of Champions League unless there is a big rethink.

We’re not a team building towards something on or off the pitch, not implementing a style on it, no structure or clear plan off it. Just same shit being thrown at the wall hoping it will stick for a while.
 
We are fully in the banter era of wilderness. The equivalent would be Liverpool's El Hadj Diouf era.

We still act like we are what we were a decade ago. However, we all know it's BS. We are still angry about no longer competing for titles but, after over a decade, it's become the norm.

All of us, deep down, recognise we're just a midtable club with a big name and fanbase. Few of us really think a title challenge is around the corner.
 
You can't play 2 relatively immobile midfielders at this level, and especially not against ball plating teams like Brighton, or Bayern come to that.

De Gea still in goal and our squad from last year plus a top level striker, like kane, and we would be a much better team than we are now. Fred had energy, and we are sorely lacking it now, for instance.
 
The club is rancid from top to bottom. Winning a few games here and there will paper over the cracks, but we’ll always come back to this place until the Glazers slug off.

It’s not a football club, it’s a money making scheme for utter cretins.
 
Just goes to show what a genius SAF was but he also had a good CEO/Chairman in David Gill. Took no crap the both of them and saw eye to eye. We really need this type of partnership back whoever that will be.
 
Scriblerus said:
So far this season is in meltdown. Greenwood gone (rightly imho), Antony quite possibly to follow, Sancho out of contention, can't shift deadwood, plagued by injuries, Casemiro looking like he's on the other side of the hill, midfield not fixed, injuries everywhere, dubious purchases (hope they come good but both Mount and Onana raise questions). Club looks rotten from top to bottom.
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Sums it up precisely for me. It's a perfect storm really. Its actually overwhelming. There are just so many things collectively going wrong that it's going to take years to sort out. It feels like everybody is at fault including ETH. But if everybody from top to bottom is to blame, how in the world does anything change? Is anybody actually trying to fix the problems? I certainly would not be holding my breath. This feels like years of shit piling up and not being dealt with.
 
eire-red said:
And we can point to not having the personel, but with the money we've spent it's absolutely shocking.
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This is the head scratcher for me. That money moves you closer to your blueprint, but the purchases didn't bring us remotely closer to what it appears ETH is trying to do. Just a totally bizarre Summer transfer window, but we're shocking in the transfer window compared to City, Liverpool etc.
 
From 1911 to 1951 and then from 1967 to 1992. We've always been a streak team with long gaps in mediocrity.
We might not see a PL win until 10 or 20 more years.

So where are we now? Well probably half or 1/3 into our mediocrity period.
 
Club is finished unless we get new owners that's where we are. This rot has been a decade in the making, all started when Fergie chose Moyes to replace him in 2013. We then lost Gill and those leeches put the toy story puppet in place.
 
We desperately need new owners, until that happens take joy in the times when we string some good results together and seeing things like Garnacho bursting onto the scene and what it feels like we will see from Hojlund.

Continue protesting the Glazers at every opportunity.
 
OverratedOpinion said:
We desperately need new owners, until that happens take joy in the times when we string some good results together and seeing things like Garnacho bursting onto the scene and what it feels like we will see from Hojlund.

Continue protesting the Glazers at every opportunity.
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This is my approach too. May they rot in hell
 
DSG said:
I’m with these blokes. Let’s look at positives. Garnacho deserves more time on the pitch and he’ll get it. Combination of Bruno / Mount / Pellistri / Amad / Garnacho at RW May be better than Antony anyhow. The more ETH consolidates power and gets the fans behind him, the more the Glazers will realize that don’t have the will or funds to take us to the next level. I feel like ETH is building “it’s us against the naysayers” type of mentality. I like it. Injuries are worrying, particularly along the defensive line, but Regulon is in, so we have more depth.
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He won't survive this media onslaught that will swamp him,unfortunately those leeches will and our demise continues on to next manager. Hey at least we have those memories of the Fergie days to reminisce over which is something.
 
These teams are better than us - City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Brighton, Its only Spurs, Newcastle, Aston Villa and if Chelsea get it right them to. Oh, and West Ham and Brentford have not looked too shabby.
So, 7 teams better and 3 around us. Top 10 is on just.
 
A good season will see us in the top 4/5, and a bad season will see us implode (and involve sacking a manager mid-season).
We are very, very far from the place some of our fanbase thinks we're entitled to be at.

Even with new owners, it's going to take time & smart decisions before we become a very good football team once more.
 
the_cliff said:
Yes. Still disagreeing.

Spurs away, Arsenal away, Brighton at home last season. We're one point worse off. We'll win the next 4/5 in a row.
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Still sure we're more likely to finish 3rd than do a Chelsea?
 
I said when he came in and had that little flourish after the shocking start, it would still get worse before it gets better, even then. I hope this is the nadir though.
 
I think last season we were a 65 point team masquerading as a 75 point team and my fear this season is that we will be a 75 point team masquerading as a 65 point team.

We were lucky to get so many points last season and maybe this season is when we get hit with all the bad luck
 
I look at us this season, and I look at David Moyes' team 10 years ago and I don't see a lot of difference to be honest. I'm not sure what we've been doing for 10 years, it's fairly sickening.

In fact, we may be been better 10 years ago as we had better players.
 
There is a lot wrong with this club, and while I have faith in this manager, I can honestly say I still think we’re horribly coached, especially at the attacking side of the game.

I’m not sure why. I know injuries and personnel don’t help, but when you look at spurs, Brighton or villa, you can tell the different situations in a match are drilled into them. I don’t mind it getting worse before it gets better, but we’re not seeing consistent improvement at the small details of the game.
 
Rawls said:
I think last season we were a 65 point team masquerading as a 75 point team and my fear this season is that we will be a 75 point team masquerading as a 65 point team.

We were lucky to get so many points last season and maybe this season is when we get hit with all the bad luck
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We will be lucky to get 60 at this rate.
 
As an outsider, I don’t think things will change much until your ownership is changed. Too much instability at the moment.
 
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