Agreed. I think Ole needs to up his squad rotation. We have a big squad and he doesn't utilise it enough. This means first teamers get overused and tired, backup/rotation players don't play enough to build up any form/trust, and young players don't get the minutes they need to develop.
What are expectations for next season?
- Thread starter Crashoutcassius
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Agreed. I think Ole needs to up his squad rotation. We have a big squad and he doesn't utilise it enough. This means first teamers get overused and tired, backup/rotation players don't play enough to build up any form/trust, and young players don't get the minutes they need to develop.
I'm not trying to be cruel here, but we won the fecking treble, dude. We won back to back to back league titles, we won the league plus the FA Cup numerous times. That's our history. Getting wood over the Carabao Cup is small time. Maybe you've only been supporting United for 4 years?
Laying the foundation of excuses for a failed season I see. The manager succeeded in lowering the expectation of the fans and bring it down to his mediocre level. The toxic one with a second season 82 points, second in the league, no trophies = failure. Ole 74 points, second position, no trophies = success!!!
The Prom Queen used to have all the guys fighting over her. That was long ago, there is nobody on the scene for her right now because she is far from what she used to be. She is in no position to turn her nose up at the reliable accountant (Carabao Cup) right now, in all honesty, it's doubtful whether she can even land him.
If it's all about how much you spend, why do teams bother to send 11 players to the pitch? Just create a theoretical league played on paper that's based on expenditure.
Money is important, but how you spend it and what you do with the players you spend it on can make a huge difference.
It really depends on how our transfer window goes. All our rivals will most likely be heavily strengthening so we ourselves need to do the same because we need to make up for our weakness which is having a lesser coaching staff and manager.
Sound like a Liverpool fan in the 90s reminiscing about their glorious past
All depends on the transfer market. If City and Chelsea get the players they want and we don't then top 4 and a cup is the limit of my expectations. If we get the players we need and City/Chelsea don't then top 2 and a good run in Champions League is what I expect.
Our expectations should not dependent on what our rivals do , if board delivers minimum 3 first teamers to Solskjaer then title challenge and deep run in Champions league should be least expected from the team irrespective of how our rivals fare in the market.
We are already miles off City. You think them signing Kane and Grealish will have no bearing on whether we can challenge them next season? Chelsea too if they sign Haaland.
Bare minimum is serious title challenge and a trophy. Carabao cup, FA Cup or even the fecking Champions League. Chelsea have proven twice you don't need to be the best team in Europe to win it.
That's just a cop out Liverpool did it just not that long ago , we have some gaps in first eleven sort those out then we should be competing no excuses please and it's same Chelsea and Liverpool as well.
Man City are not invincible they can be reeled in, we need to get our house in order and not worry what our rivals would do in the market because that's not something we have control over.
Can't really say until we have seen the transfer window.
That being said, I would expect us to have at most a decent transfer window, which would mean we will not get closer to City and will probably be overtaken by Liverpool and/or Chelsea. We will probably finish comfortably in the top four and get one or two semi-finals, but that will be it. There will be spells of really good results that will look like progress, but also infuriating results that should not happen. In the Champions League, I would expect us to maybe reach the quarter-finals and go out when we meet real quality opposition - will of course depend on both group and knock-out draws.
That being said, I would expect us to have at most a decent transfer window, which would mean we will not get closer to City and will probably be overtaken by Liverpool and/or Chelsea. We will probably finish comfortably in the top four and get one or two semi-finals, but that will be it. There will be spells of really good results that will look like progress, but also infuriating results that should not happen. In the Champions League, I would expect us to maybe reach the quarter-finals and go out when we meet real quality opposition - will of course depend on both group and knock-out draws.
If Ole stays on with us despite not being give the transfer funds this summer (i.e not a single first team signing), it will go a long way to showing his overall ambitions for the club. No self-respecting manager will stay on.
Why did not Liverpool think the same when they won the CL and the league a year after?
That ship for Ole sailed long time ago. He is happy to hang on to the job no matter what happens.
Sorry but what are you talking about?
Ole has turned the culture around at OT which has been missing ever since SAF left. There has been progress, hope, and a vision instilled. If the club don’t give him an over abundance of funds you say he just wave a white flag and call it a day? What piss poor attitude. Ole loves the badge to death as SAF did. When SAF endured the teams he did with little initial backing, should he have left? I’m guessing he was also not “self respecting” & just happy to “hang on to the job”?
...Ole has shown before even when he didn’t have the maximum available funds, he still did the right thing for the badge. By not settling for second fiddle players and buying for the sake of it as all the previous managers post Fergie did. José settled for players like Lindelof when he couldn’t get a Maguire just to fulfil his own ego to be able to say he at least got a new player. Ole has not had a single failed signing. He also bit the bullet when he knew he wouldn’t have the sufficient funds to replace the old guard deadwood players (Smalling/Fellaini/Alexis/etc) he moved on from by playing an entire season with a lack of player options. If he was really selfish as some of you are making it out to be (that he’s holding onto his job, whatever that means), he would’ve kept those players and not have left himself with a short handed squad. That in itself proved Ole was looking out for the badge and its paid off in the long run thankfully. At the time, it was a gruelling challenge for him in which he was put through the meat grinder which he graciously acknowledged and accepted and is now better for.
what garbage. Sorry to say but it really infuriates me when people jump to such conclusions and can’t seem to appreciate the positive change that has occurred. Jesus.
This might not be the board for you, if you start calling United fans Liverpool fans. Maybe you should stick to the newbies forum.
, we don’t compete in isolation.You're a bit tightly wound aren't you? Take it easy man
4th behind City, Liverpool and Chelsea in that order.
We’ll probably finish just outside the top six, maybe eighth if Oli doesn’t (isn’t aloud) to bring in at least 3-4 new signings, including a replacement for De Gea.
This is a good point, in fact "Being Man Utd." can sometimes work against you, rather than for you.
What I mean is, back when you were on top, Old Trafford was a fortress and for a mid-table team or even a lower table team to get even a point was massive surprise and a quite infrequent occurrence.
But now, that 'fear factor' isn't there and also the mid-table teams in 2020/21 are better then the equivalent teams 15-20 years ago, so they know that with a really good performance and a huge effort, they can beat Man Utd. and the odds against such a result are now often 3-1 or 4-1 not 9-1, 10-1 like back in the day (I'm guessing betting figures, but you know what I mean).
As regards the thread title, I'm afraid it is likely to be 4th or 5th and this is for three reasons, one of which I have written about before (and two I haven't):
i) Because Man Utd managers have it written into their contract that CL muct be achieved, OGS plays ultra-safe against the other title rivals knowing a set of draws with the odd victory and a good season against the rest of the league, will most likely safeguard his job. The trouble is, that strategy will not win the title or indeed maintain a challenge to the final month.
ii) Liverpool are unlikely to have such a disastrous season as last year (and even then they pulled it out of the bag to get 4th) as their injury problems should be resolved. Leicester could kick-on after being so close the last two campaigns and if Rafa goes to Everton, they may get more points than this recent season. West Ham may surprise again. Arsenal? Villa? Leeds? In other words, it is no longer a 'top-six' it is more like a top ten.
iii) On the assumption that the vaccine roll-out continues to be successful and no new variants pop up that are vaccine resistant, fans should be back in August and all the grounds filled to capacity. Will Man Utd. go a season of away matches undefeated, when that happens?
We always aim for fourth. Sometimes we outperform and get third or second. Sometimes we dip below and the manager gets fired. But fourth is the financial sweet spot.
If we wanted better we wouldn't have McFred or Lindelof in our first 11
If we wanted better we wouldn't have McFred or Lindelof in our first 11
To deal with the last point first; maybe not, but then again the same thing is likely to improve our home record.
If you should be correct that the club's strategy is no more ambitious than securing top 4 finishes, then we are of course unlikely to keep up with or exceed clubs who aim higher, and who have the resources to boot. But I don't see that there are convincing reasons to assume that is the case. I hope I'm right.
The transfer window will be a strong indication. It is now plain and clear where we are, and what we need. The foundation is in place, club identity largely restored, harmonious squad buying into the program, significant progress in results. We have, by and large, gone as far as we are going to go with what we have - further steps now requires investment in better players. Without that, it's not going to happen. With the strong likelihood that City, Chelsea and Liverpool will all make major investments in this window, and with United still having more and bigger holes to fill than these teams have, that means addressing at least 2-3 of our outstanding needs. If we don't, we should expect to regress in my opinion.
Impossible to say until we see how the transfer window goes. If we get Sancho, a quality midfielder and a quality defender - then expectations should be raised. Not to the level that only winning the league is good enough - but we should be closer and we should do better in the cups.
But if Liverpool, Chelsea and City have a better transfer summer than us - well then top-4 is a realistic target again. We need 3-4 quality players in
But if Liverpool, Chelsea and City have a better transfer summer than us - well then top-4 is a realistic target again. We need 3-4 quality players in
It should be competing for the league or CL but like others have said, we are Arsenal now and will happily accept top 4 and maybe a domestic cup.
was it embarassing the 4 times fergie won it?
especially 92 and 2010 when they were the only trophies we won
No matter who we sign;
1/4- 1/2 final in cups
4th spot in PL.
Pretty much it will be like this season. Which, based on our new standards, will be rated as amazing season
1/4- 1/2 final in cups
4th spot in PL.
Pretty much it will be like this season. Which, based on our new standards, will be rated as amazing season
As we are - tight battle with Chelsea and Liverpool for 2nd.
2-3 major signings, last longer in a brave battle for honours.
2-3 major signings, last longer in a brave battle for honours.
We came 2nd this season by 5 points, despite giving up for the last few.
Ok, 2nd or 4th. Same thing. It is 4th spot trophy
If we sign Sancho it'll be ridiculous if people here treated just finishing 2nd/3rd without any title challenge again to be good enough.
In fact even without signings like Sancho we should be challenging for the league next season.
However some will probably be afraid of saying it out loud because deep down they're themselves afraid that Ole might not be able to deliver such thing so best to predict something simple.
In fact even without signings like Sancho we should be challenging for the league next season.
However some will probably be afraid of saying it out loud because deep down they're themselves afraid that Ole might not be able to deliver such thing so best to predict something simple.
Feck me, people saying Carabao is the aim…
City, Pool, Chelsea, United can all win the PL next season as it stands - we look like we’ll have Sancho as well. Time to front up.
City, Pool, Chelsea, United can all win the PL next season as it stands - we look like we’ll have Sancho as well. Time to front up.
Not getting relegated?
Honestly, before transfers are done I have no clue what I could expect from our team next season.
Honestly, before transfers are done I have no clue what I could expect from our team next season.
Why exactly would a team that finished a distant second in a season where two of the main competitors gravely underperformed suddenly win the league without any major signings? Because you'd really really like them to?
Because this team is good enough to challenge for the league no matter how many of you try to convince us otherwise.
And us finishing distant second has to do with us collapsing completely after going top and losing points to relegation fodders which is a problem of the team's mentality rather than just quality.
No, it obviously isn't. I'm not going to try to convince you. If you prefer to delude yourself, go right ahead.
Expectation:
2nd or 3rd with a trophy and hopefully a higher points total.
Prediction:
4th with no trophies. (Will change depending on everyone's transfers etc)
For Ole to keep his Job he should have to win a trophy or Have a real title challenge where we finish within a few points of the leaders.
2nd or 3rd with a trophy and hopefully a higher points total.
Prediction:
4th with no trophies. (Will change depending on everyone's transfers etc)
For Ole to keep his Job he should have to win a trophy or Have a real title challenge where we finish within a few points of the leaders.
I hope it is ok to do what I just done - to quote something on one thread, on a different thread, but its just this above, from Dave Smith is one of the most interesting things I have read here recently (its from the no trophy in 4 years thread), but I think it applies to this discussion too.
I think Man Utd. are in a serious situation - as the years roll by from the last Premier title, the last good CL run, the more and more difficult it becomes to repeat it. Look at Liverpool as a prime example, they nearly won it in 2014, but the pressure after a 24 year gap was so intense, they just couldn't quite do it. In fact it took another six more years. Heck, if one goes back in time Man Utd. themselves had a similar situation: 1967-1993 a 26 year gap and I think there are 2 reasons these things happen:
As I have said, as the time between titles grows bigger, the desperation to win, the pressure to win, becomes immense - this can lead to errors in decision making, switching from manager to manager in search of the solution & buying short-term 'galacticos' instead of developing youth team players.
The other problem is, once the duration becomes - well a bit as it is now - none of the current outfield players have prior experience of winning the league with Utd. so its all 'new', again adding more pressure, so if they did manage to mount a title challenge into April/May 2022 it would take an extraordinary effort not just physically, but mentally, to get over the line first.
Anyway my prediction is this: one late transfer e.g. Ronaldo 8th or 7th. Several decent transfers including a new keeper and a manager willing to at least try and beat his main rivals: 1st or 2nd.
Oh and if you only buy Harry Kane, you'll finish below Leeds.