What are your expectations for the new season? [2024/25 edition]

Judging from Fulham's game, we should aim for Top 4 automatic qualifications to CL.

Our play is still largely slow especially on attack. We have too many safe passes around and not enough penetrating passes when in attack.

We need to play at much higher intensity and speed to create scoring chances. Our attack play is still lacking like last season. We are still nowhere near City and Arsenal play.

We should be fighting Top 4 with Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle, Spurs and Villa. 6 teams for 2 champion league spots.
 
Good OP.

My expectations are simple. We had a good window, we have a good squad now. So:

- We must finish above Liverpool now that their legendary manager left and was replaced by a Dutch newbie without any improvement in the squad whatsoever.
- I expect him to finish above Spurs who haven't meaningfully improved their squad either.
- And I expect him to finish above Newcastle who certainly have not improved their squad either.
- I honestly would also expect him to finish above Chelsea who have brought in a new, unexperienced manager on the back of a chaotic couple of seasons. But they have a strong squad on paper, so that one might not be obligatory.

Where does that leave us? Top 3 or top 4. In any case, if we want to justify having Ten Hag as our manager he needs to do better in his third season than these newly hired guys at similarly or worse equipped clubs do in their first, and better than Howe or Postecoglou with poorer squads.
Because if he doesn't, he's not pulling his weight. Certainly, finishing behind Slot would be absolutely unacceptable.
 
I wasn't optimistic even before the start of the season as I haven't seen any marquee signing, no one who could raise the team to a new level. We signed some useful players like Mazraoui, de Ligt and (presumably) Ugarte but no real star and honestly the fact that ten Hag is still the manager completely killed my enthusiasm. I predicted 6th place, and after 4 rounds I see no reason to change my mind. 6th place, and that's all or even worse, depends on how Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham will perform.
 
FortunaUtd said:
Good OP.

My expectations are simple. We had a good window, we have a good squad now. So:

- We must finish above Liverpool now that their legendary manager left and was replaced by a Dutch newbie without any improvement in the squad whatsoever.
- I expect him to finish above Spurs who haven't meaningfully improved their squad either.
- And I expect him to finish above Newcastle who certainly have not improved their squad either.
- I honestly would also expect him to finish above Chelsea who have brought in a new, unexperienced manager on the back of a chaotic couple of seasons. But they have a strong squad on paper, so that one might not be obligatory.

Where does that leave us? Top 3 or top 4. In any case, if we want to justify having Ten Hag as our manager he needs to do better in his third season than these newly hired guys at similarly or worse equipped clubs do in their first, and better than Howe or Postecoglou with poorer squads.
Because if he doesn't, he's not pulling his weight. Certainly, finishing behind Slot would be absolutely unacceptable.
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Klopp or no Klopp we are not better than Liverpool. They will score loads more goals than us.

I still think that 5th might be our absolute ceiling.
 
Todd said:
Klopp or no Klopp we are not better than Liverpool. They will score loads more goals than us.

I still think that 5th might be our absolute ceiling.
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We must be better than Liverpool without Klopp. If we aren't, we have the wrong manager.
 
Todd said:
Klopp or no Klopp we are not better than Liverpool. They will score loads more goals than us.

I still think that 5th might be our absolute ceiling.
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Their keeper is better, their best defender is better and so is their best forward. However I'm not convinced their squad is better.
 
FortunaUtd said:
We must be better than Liverpool without Klopp. If we aren't, we have the wrong manager.
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It's been blatantly clear for at least a year that we've got the wrong manager and many of the wrong players.

There is absolutely a ceiling with this manager and these players. Anyone who thinks that this squad could wind up competing for the league or seriously compete if we ever get back into the CL isn't living in the real world.
 
Beat palace Saturday and things are looking rosy again. Palace is probably the toughest for us in the next few week. I’m quite confident we’ll beat spurs.
 
FortunaUtd said:
We must be better than Liverpool without Klopp. If we aren't, we have the wrong manager.
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This is a rather odd take.

We have no control over how good Liverpool are, only ourselves. Liverpool could be excellent under Slot or terrible under Slot, whichever way it goes wouldn't effect whether ETH is doing a good job or not.

If we get 75 points this season and Liverpool get 80, does that mean our manager is worse than if we get 75 points and Liverpool get 70?

We'd have the exact same performances in both scenarios, but yet somehow in one scenario we have the wrong manager, and the other scenario we have the right manager? Doesn't make much sense.
 
I'd want 4th, though i think its a tall order. It probably depends on form and performances more than final position really. Some good cup runs, playing well against and beating good teams would help.
 
We've scored 1 goal in 10 Anfield matches. Liverpool have scored 23 in 10 Old Trafford matches. All I want is to score a goal at Anfield this season, is that too much to ask for?
 
Dominos said:
This is a rather odd take.

We have no control over how good Liverpool are, only ourselves. Liverpool could be excellent under Slot or terrible under Slot, whichever way it goes wouldn't effect whether ETH is doing a good job or not.

If we get 75 points this season and Liverpool get 80, does that mean our manager is worse than if we get 75 points and Liverpool get 70?

We'd have the exact same performances in both scenarios, but yet somehow in one scenario we have the wrong manager, and the other scenario we have the right manager? Doesn't make much sense.
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Good post!
 
Dominos said:
This is a rather odd take.

We have no control over how good Liverpool are, only ourselves. Liverpool could be excellent under Slot or terrible under Slot, whichever way it goes wouldn't effect whether ETH is doing a good job or not.

If we get 75 points this season and Liverpool get 80, does that mean our manager is worse than if we get 75 points and Liverpool get 70?

We'd have the exact same performances in both scenarios, but yet somehow in one scenario we have the wrong manager, and the other scenario we have the right manager? Doesn't make much sense.
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Yeah. Not to mention Liverpool (frankly) has a significantly better roster, so if ETH is just as good as Slot as a manager we'll probably finish behind them.

To me Liverpool's performance is irrelevant. I would expect minimum top 5 in the Prem for ETH to keep his job.

We should be at least in the semi-finals or further of the Europa League as well (current betting odds give us about a 20% chance to win it, second behind Tottenham).

Obviously a lot depends on the details so it's hard to make blanket statements, but a top 5 finish or Europa win get us in the UCL next year. Either would make for a successful season.
 
FortunaUtd said:
Good OP.

My expectations are simple. We had a good window, we have a good squad now. So:

- We must finish above Liverpool now that their legendary manager left and was replaced by a Dutch newbie without any improvement in the squad whatsoever.
- I expect him to finish above Spurs who haven't meaningfully improved their squad either.
- And I expect him to finish above Newcastle who certainly have not improved their squad either.
- I honestly would also expect him to finish above Chelsea who have brought in a new, unexperienced manager on the back of a chaotic couple of seasons. But they have a strong squad on paper, so that one might not be obligatory.

Where does that leave us? Top 3 or top 4. In any case, if we want to justify having Ten Hag as our manager he needs to do better in his third season than these newly hired guys at similarly or worse equipped clubs do in their first, and better than Howe or Postecoglou with poorer squads.
Because if he doesn't, he's not pulling his weight. Certainly, finishing behind Slot would be absolutely unacceptable.
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You rate Chelsea above Liverpool?
 
bb8 said:
Yeah. Not to mention Liverpool (frankly) has a significantly better roster, so if ETH is just as good as Slot as a manager we'll probably finish behind them.

To me Liverpool's performance is irrelevant. I would expect minimum top 5 in the Prem for ETH to keep his job.

We should be at least in the semi-finals or further of the Europa League as well (current betting odds give us about a 20% chance to win it, second behind Tottenham).

Obviously a lot depends on the details so it's hard to make blanket statements, but a top 5 finish or Europa win get us in the UCL next year. Either would make for a successful season.
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They don't have a "significantly better" squad. They have the quartet of Alisson, van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold, and Salah. Other than them, their squad isn't anything special when compared to the other top 4 challengers. And 3 of those 4 probably won't be there in 2-3 years time, maybe even all 4 will be gone.
 
Rojofiam said:
They don't have a "significantly better" squad. They have the quartet of Alisson, van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold, and Salah. Other than them, their squad isn't anything special when compared to the other top 4 challengers. And 3 of those 4 probably won't be there in 2-3 years time, maybe even all 4 will be gone.
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Ah, so other than having the best four players on the pitch when we play, they aren't significantly better? Hahaha that's exactly my point.

Whether those guys are on the team in 2-3 years is irrelevant to how the standings shape up this year. As of right now, they have a significantly better roster. Having a few extra stars makes a heck of a lot of difference.
 
bb8 said:
Ah, so other than having the best four players on the pitch when we play, they aren't significantly better? Hahaha that's exactly my point.

Whether those guys are on the team in 2-3 years is irrelevant to how the standings shape up this year. As of right now, they have a significantly better roster. Having a few extra stars makes a heck of a lot of difference.
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I think having 4 all-timers across your squad and not being able to challenge for the league in 2 of the last 4 seasons, is a big symptom of their squad not being that great. It's arguably 3 as well, because they were never winning it last season, they had no right even being in it as long as they were.

Their defense is good, but there's not nearly enough depth in there. Their midfield is average. Their forward line is a few decent players + Salah. Nunez could change that but it's been two seasons and he hasn't found his scoring boots + he isn't as good of a fit into Slot's system as Klopp's.

Having 4 all-timers in your team, and the best they can usually do is carry you into the top 4. Is that a good squad? FSG have blood on their hands, they've just thrown away 1 more year of those fours' primes too by not doing anything on the market this summer.
 
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League
The top 2 teams are hitting around 90 plus points and 90 plus goals. Our target should be 80 goals and 80 points. Round about. Anything around that - 76 goals and 79 points or 75 goals and 81 points etc is a successful season. That means we can build from there and look to get 90 goals and 90 points the next season. Something around that i.e 85 goals and 87 points and we will be pushing the top 2. Then in the third season we should be really pushing the top team and hitting 90 plus. That might not be enough to win it but we should be going into the final weeks really close.

Europa.
We should be getting to the semi final or final and only beaten by a top team. Like none of the teams in it should beat us but if a good Champions league team drop down or a good team play the best game in their history then ok. But we should not go out by our own failures. This should set us up for the Champions league next year. If we cant compete in the Europa we have no chance in the Champions league. Next season goal should be quarters of the Champions league at least. Then semi the next year then finals.

The rest is up to the Gods but that's the level we should be at the next 3 years
 
Rojofiam said:
I think having 4 all-timers across your squad and not being able to challenge for the league in 2 of the last 4 seasons, is a big symptom of their squad not being that great. It's arguably 3 as well, because they were never winning it last season, they had no right even being in it as long as they were.

Their defense is good, but there's not nearly enough depth in there. Their midfield is average. Their forward line is a few decent players + Salah. Nunez could change that but it's been two seasons and he hasn't found his scoring boots + he isn't as good of a fit into Slot's system as Klopp's.

Having 4 all-timers in your team, and the best they can usually do is carry you into the top 4. Is that a good squad? FSG have blood on their hands, they've just thrown away 1 more year of those fours' primes too by not doing anything on the market this summer.
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I never said anything about their squad being "great". They're a lot better than us right now, that's it. I hope we surpass them in the next 1-2 years.
 
I'd be happy with a fourth place finish with signs of reasonable improvement from last season. But fourth is the bare minimum. I don't care about silly cups. The PL and CL are all that matter.
 
My expectations for this season is to see some clear identity and get more control of games.

We have assembled a competitive squad now ( although there is still room for some solid improvement ) and hopefully injuries wont be as severe as last season so the aim has to be now to dominate games.

Simply winning games isn't enough because the manner of some of the wins last season was pretty bad , I still wonder how we won a lot of them - it was quite reliant on other teams inabilities to be clinical.

The finishing position in the league to me is not as important as the identity and manner we take the game to the opponent. Even if results are not favourable against the teams we should be beating we need to be left wondering after the game how on earth we didn't win considering the performance.

This to me would be clear progress and if you are dominating games its only a matter of time before it turns in to wins.

Weather ETH can do this is another question but for now he is in charge and its time to back him , if he cant show progress in the better environment he is now in then Ineos need to do there job and find someone who can.

Obviously champions league qualification is massive and thats my hope for the season but if we are still getting outplayed like what felt like the majority of games last season and fluke it its going to paper over the cracks once more.
 
"The top 2 teams are hitting around 90 plus points and 90 plus goals. Our target should be 80 goals and 80 points.". The target was always there, every season. But we never even had a chance to achieve these numbers. And honestly, I don't see a slightest chance that this year we will. No quality wingers, injured Hojlund, and Zirkzee who isn't a prolific scorer to say the least. I don't see 80 goals here, 65 as a maximum. And if you don't score 80 goals You won't get 80 points.
 
Top 5 is very competitive. City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Villa.

We are a tier below with Spurs, Newcastle, Brighton and Man Utd. I think we will finish around 6th-9th.

Hopefully we can win the EL to qualify for next year CL.
 
Yakuza_devils said:
Top 5 is very competitive. City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Villa.

We are a tier below with Spurs, Newcastle, Brighton and Man Utd. I think we will finish around 6th-9th.

Hopefully we can win the EL to qualify for next year CL.
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Agree. If we don't win Europa League, we'll not be competing in Champions league.
 
Realistically, we’re not going to be near top four at the end of the season. 5th apparently qualifies us for the CL now (only what I’ve read here, not sure) and maybe we’ll be only 4-5 points off fifth, but our form is so far off even minimal expectations it’s going to be a very difficult season for all of us here.

This may sound unduly superstitious but I believe we’re suffered long enough and as club supporters deserve to see United put in a proper PL challenge but we’re nowhere close to being at that level.

Probably 7th in the PL.
Maybe a long run in the EL.
A domestic cup is possible.
 
lex talionis said:
Realistically, we’re not going to be near top four at the end of the season. 5th apparently qualifies us for the CL now (only what I’ve read here, not sure) and maybe we’ll be only 4-5 points off fifth, but our form is so far off even minimal expectations it’s going to be a very difficult season for all of us here.

This may sound unduly superstitious but I believe we’re suffered long enough and as club supporters deserve to see United put in a proper PL challenge but we’re nowhere close to being at that level.

Probably 7th in the PL.
Maybe a long run in the EL.
A domestic cup is possible.
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Well 7th should be end of Erik
 
I'm expecting Europa. I don't think we'll get up to much in the league. There are four sides comfortably better than us. Maybe even five or six. So we would need a number of sides to fall apart for us to have a chance. I think we will have a new manager next season and hopefully we are in the Champions League.
 
He’ll be gone by Christmas and this season will be a write off.
 
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