What should be the realistic expectations for 2020-21?

saivet

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I think we should be looking to be very comfortably in the top 4 and potentially challenging if City or Liverpool's standards slip.

For the cups competitions, I think it's just a matter of competing well, particularly in the CL and not going out like we did vs Sevilla or the in group stage under LVG.
 

1988

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Some solid signings, consistency in performances, top three with an improvement on points from 19/20 season, quarter final in Champions League, FA Cup Final win, use the Carabao Cup to groom youngsters and that we continue to introduce players from the academy. I'd love to see (more of) Laird, Garner and Mejbri.
 

Gator Nate

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I'm less interested in arbitrary targets than I am in seeing more signs of development

* Continue to score goals as we have done post-Bruno's arrival
* A clear vision for how we want to approach each game
* Signs of Old Trafford becoming a fortress again
* More good recruitment
* More players becoming match winners
* A defence that can shut out games when needed
* Ole shows he's continuing to learn

That might lead us to winning something next year, it might be the year after. Either way it'll get us to the big trophies in the end.
Great list because those are the things we as a club control. Any list of hard targets can be totally submarined by bad luck and other teams making good on things. But if your list of developmental goals is met, the rest well take care of itself soon enough.
 

Bilbo

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Now the season is almost over and many of us see that the club is moving in a right direction. We are also expecting to fill up 2 or 3 key positions in the transfer market.

We also expect some of the squad members to be offloaded in the next couple of months.

Pogba's contract, Goalkeeper conundrum are the things we expect to get sorted out sooner than later. At the same time there is an excitement to see promising academy players like Mejbri, Mengi to get more chances next season under Ole.

Given all this, what should be our realistic expectations from Ole and his squad next season?

In my point of view, I would consider next season a success and right direction if we achieve the following:
1. Top 2 finish in PL
2. At least qtr final in CL
3. Either of FA cup or Carabao cup
Its better to wait until the summer business is done to start thinking about what we can achieve.
 

Tony247

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Its better to wait until the summer business is done to start thinking about what we can achieve.
It's bit of chicken and egg. You can very well set your expectations depend on how transfers go, or you can list your expectations now and see if club is going in the direction you hope for. Either way, what's there to lose? :)
 

Mcking

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Progress. If the next season goes better than the just finished/current season, then that's just about enough for me, for now.

With our squad so young with plenty of potential, we have time for now. We should focus on making the right moves and building on the season we've had.
 

RedTiger

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Realistically I'm looking at us either winning the prem or coming 2nd with a minimum CL quarter final and a domestic cup.

Forgetting next season for a second I have to say I'm lovong the hate our club is getting online on social media, absolutely loving it.
 

Mr. Ant

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Top 4, get out of CL group and see what happens but when it comes to the league I want to see progress.

No more bad runs when we look hopeless but a good season when we look like a top 4 team through the whole season and get more points. Hopefully 80 but I think 75 would do just fine.
 

Bilbo

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It's bit of chicken and egg. You can very well set your expectations depend on how transfers go, or you can list your expectations now and see if club is going in the direction you hope for. Either way, what's there to lose? :)
Nothing at all to lose. Have at it.

I'd love to see us have a deep run in the CL next season, and i think we can do that, but i fear we will need another summer window after this one before we can expect to match City and Liverpool over a full season. The squad is still bloated and we will struggle to add the depth in quality we need over just this summer.
 

Foxbatt

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We have to win something. Qualify for the CL. Be challenging for the PL. Need to be in the semi of the CL.
 

Fosu-Mens

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Fred | 2019/20 Performances
  • Learn to progress the ball into the final third without going through the middle of the pitch every time.
  • Improve the speed, accuracy and direction(as in not pass into a pressing trap) of the passing among the players involved in the build-up and in the final third.
  • Have fullbacks that stay wide and can cross with some ability, making it less effective for the weaker opposition to stay compact.
If we do this and are not laden with injuries we should be able to achieve a safe top 4 and close some of the distance between us and Liverpool/City when it comes to points and abilities as a team.
 

RiqCantona

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Minimum expectations:
  1. Pushing Liverpool and City for the title - but settle for a solid 3rd (not a scrappy one).
  2. QF run in UCL
  3. FA Cup win
By-product of those expectations:
  • Score 72+ league goals
  • Dropping fewer points at home
  • Play attacking football
  • Stop conceding stupid goals at the last minute
 

tomaldinho1

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I'm less interested in arbitrary targets than I am in seeing more signs of development

* Continue to score goals as we have done post-Bruno's arrival
* A clear vision for how we want to approach each game
* Signs of Old Trafford becoming a fortress again
* More good recruitment
* More players becoming match winners
* A defence that can shut out games when needed
* Ole shows he's continuing to learn

That might lead us to winning something next year, it might be the year after. Either way it'll get us to the big trophies in the end.
Exactly, I'd prefer to almost just ignore everyone else and see where we finish up at the end of the season points wise. We should be scoring a lot more goals, conceding less and generally looking less vulnerable in games versus weaker teams. It's actually a bit boring but managing a game by keeping possession against teams like Soton to save valuable points is where our team seems very immature - we won't be close to Pool or City unless they fall off a cliff but I hope we can get close to 80 points.

Signings now should be very select - if they aren't slam dunk we should be nowhere near them. A truly great manager improves a squad as a whole and we have a lot of young players with massive potential in my eyes.
 

Ventura

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Top 3 should go without saying, and we shouldn't be out of the title race by December. We should also expect a much higher point total than this season. We can't have half a season where we just flop around like a trout on land before things start happening, and I don't think we will. We should be challenging for multiple trophies.

This depends on us recruiting well again. More pieces of the puzzle must be in place.
 

Infra-red

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Third or fourth, but a lot closer to the top.

Essentially, we should be targeting 85+ points next season (while also trying to get to the last 8 of the CL). That would represent significant progress.

Overall, I am expecting next season to be much tougher though, with the challenge from Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs likely to be bigger than it was this year. Leicester and Wolves aren't going anywhere, either. We must improve to keep ourselves from getting dragged into a protracted top 4 battle again.
 

NewGlory

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Expectations are:

1. Exciting style of play that fans love to watch + very strong top 4 finish, without others having to suck even more for us to have a chance
2. At least quarter-final in Champions League
3. Fighting for league title (if Ole gets proper transfers in the summer).
 

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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Sell the virus Pogba, bring in Maddison or Grealish as a replacement. Declan Rice & Longstaff are long term targets so get them in, and get Kane, CF is a bigger priority than RW. We need a real poacher.

Henderson
Wan-Bissaka Tuanzebe Maguire Shaw
Rice
Bruno Madders/Grealish
Greenwood Kane Rashford​

White text. In all seriousness I’d love to see a title challenge & a good run in the CL. I’d be happy with comfortably 3rd & a CL quarter final. Hope we continue the more attacking football we’ve been seeing since January. And we badly need to improve playing out from the back.
 

RedAlert27

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It's highly dependent on who we get in the transfer window. Realistically we should be at least closing the gap on Liverpool and City and not be out of the title race too soon. We have the potential in the squad already to win a domestic cup.
 

SAFMUTD

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It depends on the players we manage to get this window, but if we do get Sancho and a CM. The minimun I would ask for is:

80+ points
80+ goals scored
35- goals conceded
UCL quarter finals


A great season would be 85+ points, and goings further than quarter finals in the UCL.

However if we dont manage to get proper players, I would ask for at least 75+ points 70+ goals and 35- goals conceded.
 

Gasolin

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It depends on the players we manage to get this window, but if we do get Sancho and a CM. The minimun I would ask for is:

80+ points
80+ goals scored
35- goals conceded
UCL quarter finals


A great season would be 85+ points, and goings further than quarter finals in the UCL.

However if we dont manage to get proper players, I would ask for at least 75+ points 70+ goals and 35- goals conceded.
Just a matter of pts distribution then because we just scored 66 and conceded 36. So we're not that far off on both ends.
 

Kjorra

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Sell the virus Pogba, bring in Maddison or Grealish as a replacement. Declan Rice & Longstaff are long term targets so get them in, and get Kane, CF is a bigger priority than RW. We need a real poacher.

Henderson
Wan-Bissaka Tuanzebe Maguire Shaw
Rice
Bruno Madders/Grealish
Greenwood Kane Rashford​

White text. In all seriousness I’d love to see a title challenge & a good run in the CL. I’d be happy with comfortably 3rd & a CL quarter final. Hope we continue the more attacking football we’ve been seeing since January. And we badly need to improve playing out from the back.
Kane doesnt work with our fluid top 3. He is also too injuryprone
 

SAFMUTD

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Just a matter of pts distribution then because we just scored 66 and conceded 36. So we're not that far off on both ends.
Yes, this season was heavily affected on the last run where we manage to win games by 3-4 goal difference but we lost 1-0 games to poor sides. Having a 30 goal difference normaly should get you more than 66 points.
 

Gasolin

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Yeah, 12 draws.
I think that's a good basis to work on, especially if your offensive output is there. Let's hope we build on that. Getting 8 of those draws to be wins, if not 10, would be fantastic business. Potentially putting us at 86 pts. We will see how things look like. Maybe there will be teams at 90+, maybe not, it depends on from whom we take those pts.
 
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I think we need to accept this is a re-building process and it's going to take time. Third place is beyond expectations this season, and for next season I just want to see more progress i.e. a few good signings with more squad deadwood moved out. I think 2020-21 is too early early to be expecting a title challenge, given how much better Liverpool and City are in comparison. We have a huge points difference to overcome. General progress with exciting football is all I ask, with trophies a bonus. We need to see that we are moving forward and building something that can really challenge in a couple of years.
 

Bastian

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I think we need to accept this is a re-building process and it's going to take time. Third place is beyond expectations this season, and for next season I just want to see more progress i.e. a few good signings with more squad deadwood moved out. I think 2020-21 is too early early to be expecting a title challenge, given how much better Liverpool and City are in comparison. We have a huge points difference to overcome. General progress with exciting football is all I ask, with trophies a bonus. We need to see that we are moving forward and building something that can really challenge in a couple of years.
I don't think even one person on the Caf is expecting us to be in the top 2 next season.
 

Bwuk

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I don’t think our current strongest 11 is far from being able to put on a challenge, but we have zero depth.

3/4 new players in and we should be closing the gap massively, if not challenging.

It’d be disappointing if we spend 200m and aren’t anywhere near.
 

keithsingleton

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We have very good first 11, so with few good additions for both first 11 and squad we should look for comfortable top 4 finish, with improvement in all areas.
I think a top 4 finish not a problem roonster. Basically when you look how bad we were mid season and then finish 3rd when no sensible United fan could of predicted it it speaks volumes for us.

Being realistic with the opening post I'll take a 3rd now with a trophy of sorts in between. If we get the possible signings, mainly a CB for me with Sancho and a out and out striker think we could push for a second.

I still worry defensively though. However, #thinkpositive. :D

COME ON YOU REDS.
 

AltiUn

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It's going to depend on our transfers, but if we keep our starting 11 mostly fit throughout the season and get our rumoured transfer targets we really have no excuse not to be challenging for the title.
 

Florida Man

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This is difficult to ascertain without the completion of the summer transfer window. In a crazy world where we get Sancho/Coman, Grealish, Perisic, and a first team quality CB, then I’d expect at the very least a league title challenge down to the wire as well as a late stage CL finish. Late stages and/or winning domestic cups also an expectation. If we add just one player, it’s hard to see us winning the League or in Europe but maybe a push for FA/League Cup instead.

That being said, the very least I expect going forward regardless of transfer activity is an improvement in fitness, and improvement in in-game management, improvement in tactical diversity, more cohesion — all of which leading to better football on display. I’ll revisit this later in the summer.
 
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I don't think even one person on the Caf is expecting us to be in the top 2 next season.
Preparation will be key for us. We need a good half dozen timewasters moved out, replaced by three or four top notch players. If we can start the season in that position, we could go well. Huge summer coming up.
 

Bastian

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Preparation will be key for us. We need a good half dozen timewasters moved out, replaced by three or four top notch players. If we can start the season in that position, we could go well. Huge summer coming up.
That's exactly what I'm thinking. Get rid of 6-8 players, sign 4 and promote those who are ready.
 

Bastian

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It's going to depend on our transfers, but if we keep our starting 11 mostly fit throughout the season and get our rumoured transfer targets we really have no excuse not to be challenging for the title.
That's dreamland. We simply have to give them room to breath and add to the squad. As far as I can tell we only have two strongly linked targets in Grealish and Sancho. Whilst both would be good, it's not enough if you are expecting a title challenge (I definitely am not).
 

Smores

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If we get Sancho that's a side that should be challenging, not necessarily win it but certainly within 10pts.
 

ArjenIsM3

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We'll likely be fighting Chelsea for third and getting 70-80 points. Still some way off challenging for the title IMHO
 

Gazza

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Anything below 4th is monumental failure. Anything above 3rd is a miraculous improvement. One hopes that if we finish 3rd or 4th then we do it with a lot more to spare and with more conviction than we did this time around.

Beyond results, the ambition has to be that we work out the glaring deficiencies we still have: namely, no attacking threat from full back positions; inability to play out from the back; inability to cope with midfield pressing; difficult breaking down low blocks. These are huge issues in our team play and if we make progress in them next year then it will be very informative of whether Ole is the man to take us forward.
 

AltiUn

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That's dreamland. We simply have to give them room to breath and add to the squad. As far as I can tell we only have two strongly linked targets in Grealish and Sancho. Whilst both would be good, it's not enough if you are expecting a title challenge (I definitely am not).
James Cooper mentioned we're after a CB as well. I disagree, Grealish and Sancho would give us arguably the second deepest attack/midfield in the league, I don't we'd have any excuses not to be challenging with that roster.

Only position after that we'd have no adequete cover for would be DM.
 

Bastian

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James Cooper mentioned we're after a CB as well. I disagree, Grealish and Sancho would give us arguably the second deepest attack/midfield in the league, I don't we'd have any excuses not to be challenging with that roster.

Only position after that we'd have no adequete cover for would be DM.
What, with two centre backs that don't compliment each other and a pair of perpetually injured centre backs as cover? As you say, attack would be very tasty, but the foundation still needs addressing, both first XI and squad depth.
 

Hanky panky

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80+ points season in Premier league and top8 in Champions league. If we get couple of good signings, i would not be surprised even a little bit better season.