What can we expect this year? (Your expectations for 2016/2017)

Wumminator

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I know we were only fifth place last year, but could we expect a Premier League title this year? Mourinho has seemed to put the dampeners on this saying it is unlikely. But we've spent more than any other club, increased our wage bill dramatically. Can we expect a title challenge after finishing fifth last year, winning a trophy and spending massively?

Should we expect a direct improvement on our football? Mourinho has suggested today we won't be playing a counter attacking style, with Rooney and Ibra not fast enough to play that style.

What are your expectations for the season ahead? After the money we have spent I think a title challenge and a few trophies would be fair.
 
The league cup is ours. Jose always wins that :D

Seriously though, I think we will challenge for the title but may just fall short and finish 2nd or 3rd. A good run and some luck could see us lift the title, but I think City having Agüero could be the difference between them and everyone else in the league.

Having a front two of Ibra and Rooney will be our downfall, but I hope I'm really wrong and they score 50 goals between them.
 
I think we have far too many issues to deal with to expect the consistency a team needs to challenge for the league. The first issue is our overreliance on Carrick, we don't have a genuine alternative to him. The second issue is the attack, we don't have a top top winger in the side and our 'first choice' duo is just too slow for the league. Thirdly I think our defence is a work in progress so the fitness and form of Smalling will be crucial but we have De Gea so I think he can carry us whilst Mourinho figures things out at the back.
Considering all of the above I think in Martial, Ibrahimovic, Rashford (and Pogbd) we have too much individual class in attack not to make top four and go far in the Cups.
 
4th place, a good run in one of the dometic cups, and quicker football than under van Gaal.
 
I expect Jose Mourinho to deliver Manchester United a 21st league title this season. Simple as.
 
I expect a bumpy ride at the beginning of the season. Too many changes both in terms of playing style and personnel, especially in the attacking half. Jose knows the PL like the back of his palm and he can offer good guidance but none of the newcomers has PL experience (Pogba has a little) and they're all gonna need some time to settle in Manchester.

We also go into the season with the willingness to take some risks which we don't know if they will pay off. We don't know how Bailly will handle being a first team regular at a club with much more pressure to succeed and in league which is played at a different pace and style than the one he's used to throughout his development in Spain. Next the holding role where Carrick and Morgan, the ones who've been played there, are not similar players and the utilization of one or the other in the starting lineup might bring tactical changes in our whole setup. Then there's the lack of depth behind our first choices in the attacking positions and the "fear" that, midway through the season, we may have to rely on players who haven't shown much in the previous seasons.

I can see us having some catching up to do in the second half of the season. But i don't think we'll have such a bad start as LvG's first season or a catastrophic month (or two) like last season. We'll be more consistent in our performances and if the league will be decided at around 80 points, the chances are that we will be in the title race. But if someone is able to achieve 85+ points, which means they will hit the ground running and retain a high level of performances throughout the season, that team(s) will probably finish above us.
 
  • More goals from defenders
  • More red cards
  • More goals
  • Less injuries
  • January signings (2)
  • Rooney dropped regularly
  • Pogba to be good but not great
  • Zlatan to start well then fade
  • Rashford to be our top goal scorer
 
We should expect to challenge in and around the top 4. Anything else is a bonus.
 
Title challenge and good run in all cups. Also expecting to see much improved performances this year.
 
Gambit said:
Yes but I always start the season reasonably expecting us to win every competition we're in.
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You 'expect' that?
Hope is one thing; expectation is another.
 
bcubed said:
Football that doesn't make me cry (unless they're tears of joy).
Top 3.
Good runs in domestic cups with one won.
Semi final of the Europa league.
Click to expand...

Exactly this. Realistic objectives that are attainable. I'm not one of the we should win everything brigade and would really be happy this year with just an improvement in the football we play.

I would just add to that list...two or three more upgrades on what we have already.
 
itso 7 said:
I think we have far too many issues to deal with to expect the consistency a team needs to challenge for the league. The first issue is our overreliance on Carrick, we don't have a genuine alternative to him. The second issue is the attack, we don't have a top top winger in the side and our 'first choice' duo is just too slow for the league. Thirdly I think our defence is a work in progress so the fitness and form of Smalling will be crucial but we have De Gea so I think he can carry us whilst Mourinho figures things out at the back.
Considering all of the above I think in Martial, Ibrahimovic, Rashford (and Pogbd) we have too much individual class in attack not to make top four and go far in the Cups.
Click to expand...

Our first choice wingers are too slow for the league? Really Martial is too slow! :eek:
 
Gizzyspop said:
The league cup is ours. Jose always wins that :D

Seriously though, I think we will challenge for the title but may just fall short and finish 2nd or 3rd. A good run and some luck could see us lift the title, but I think City having Agüero could be the difference between them and everyone else in the league.

Having a front two of Ibra and Rooney will be our downfall, but I hope I'm really wrong and they score 50 goals between them.
Click to expand...

How many times did we hear those same words last Season. I'd be more worried about Iheanacho than Aguero.
 
RedRonaldo said:
Top 3, challenge for title all the way. More goals.
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This.

I think Jose was right when he said the PL has changed massively since SAF left, that no one team will dominate. All i want from this season is for us to make strides forward, more goals, better results against teams we should be beating and challenging for the title. Another cup win would be great too
 
Twigginater said:
I know we were only fifth place last year, but could we expect a Premier League title this year? Mourinho has seemed to put the dampeners on this saying it is unlikely. But we've spent more than any other club, increased our wage bill dramatically. Can we expect a title challenge after finishing fifth last year, winning a trophy and spending massively?

Should we expect a direct improvement on our football? Mourinho has suggested today we won't be playing a counter attacking style, with Rooney and Ibra not fast enough to play that style.

What are your expectations for the season ahead? After the money we have spent I think a title challenge and a few trophies would be fair.
Click to expand...

We haven't spent that much so far though. Zlatan was free, Mkhitaryan and Bailly cost £30m each and Pogba hasn't come yet. I don't think it's reasonable to expect us to challenge for the title on the basis of spending £60m, I think Mourinho is the factor that should transform us into title challengers more than that.
 
Sarni said:
We haven't spent that much so far though. Zlatan was free, Mkhitaryan and Bailly cost £30m each and Pogba hasn't come yet. I don't think it's reasonable to expect us to challenge for the title on the basis of spending £60m, I think Mourinho is the factor that should transform us into title challengers more than that.
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It's gonna be 160 million and a massive wage coming in along with a new manager. That's massive!
 
See no reason why a title challenge wont happen. Dont even expect to win the title as a lot goes down to luck, but title challenge is a fair expectation. Winning a trophy, be it the league, europa, fa cup of capital one cup would be a great start as well. Most important thing is to enjoy watching United again though and properly look foolrward to games and not be bored out of my mind during our games like with Van Gaal. Even if we won the treble with him, I wouldnt want his style.
 
Twigginater said:
It's gonna be 160 million and a massive wage coming in along with a new manager. That's massive!
Click to expand...
When it's £160m confirmed then I'll agree, this should be changing the picture.
 
I wouldn't usually expect a title challenge from a manager in his first year, however, other clubs don't seem to be that far ahead, so why not?

If come may conte, klopp or pep are above us in the table then it's on mourinho.
 
It amazes me to see just what kind of effect the passed 3 years have had. Not only in the players minds, as Mou pointed out that things have become automatic for the players which they need to unlearn, but it would seem some automatic default thoughts us as fans have is very evident of the passed 3 years as well i.e "top 4 hopefully" "FA Cup final please" etc.

Granted some of us are still adamant that we should be challenging on all competitions that we in but how many who say that actually believe we can do it? Very few I'd think and maybe rightly so given what we've been through and also the increased unpredictability of football these days. No one is guaranteed or has a divine right to win anything, its all earn.

That being said, I was browsing some of the greatest pics thread and stumbled on a pic that reminded me of the winning culture and mindset that not only the players had, but even from the fans, we genuinely knew that we will be thereabout or winning whatever we were fighting for.

Can't post pics yet unfortunately, but its this one
http://www.footieanalyst.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-Infographic.jpg


We've somewhat forgotten just how great our winning mentality was. To win 3 premier league trophies in a row on 2 different occasions. For the better part of 20 years being constantly first or second, and only 3rd three times, that kind of winning mentality has eroded away by virtue of the horrific 3 years we've had to endure.

So what I expect as a fan, is for Mourinho to bring back that winning mindset to both players and fans alike. Even though its hard to expect something like that without first experiencing it, I really hope that we win the title this season, I believe getting our hands on that trophy or any one for that matter (bar the CS) in Mourinho's first season will give us that hunger again, that belief that was a part of this club and its fans for so many years.

So here is to hoping we get that 21st Title and bring it where it usually belonged the passed 26 years.
 
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Top 2 and a good league and FA Cup run. First few weeks we'll have mixed results due to Mourinho needing time to get his methods and tactics firmly embedded into the player's minds. The new players will need time to settle in and the whole squad will need time to gel together.
 
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