How far off is this squad from a title challenge?

[sammsky1]

Same here, I was right up there with you on the Sancho train, I still think it was the right player but the wrong price, I’ll give that to Ed.

Agree we need a fast CB, I also think DM position is paramount in order for flexibility in midfield options and formations if we are to avoid having to play both Scott and Fred in midfield every game (they were great today in fairness.)

Agree but does such a player exist in January window?
Feels like we'll also have to muddle our way through that with some combinations of Matic, Fred, McT til next season.

 

[RUCK4444]

True but I fear Woodward is likely to get carried away and gamble on ending the season with what we have. It would be good if we could offload Bailly and Jones in the process.

What I am hoping for, though its just blind hope, is that Diallo is a sensation and adds a dimension to our attack. Our attack has carried us thus far but if we get that X factor in addition to Bruno, Rashford and Martial we could be too hot to handle for anyone and might just score our way to a top two finish.

Yeah I have Diallo in the back of my mind as well, would be amazing if he could hit the ground running but I’m not sure exactly how much first team action he will see.

The least we should be doing is looking at good/clever deals that may present themselves in January whilst always looking to clear the remaining deadwood as you mentioned.

 

[yamo123x]

Simple we need upgrades on Lindelof and AWB.

and add a flair player who carry the ball and commit players..ideal signing Jack Grealish.

 

[AneRu]

Agree but does such a player exist in January window?
Feels like we'll also have to muddle our way through that with some combinations of Matic, Fred, McT til next season.

With COVID, empty stadia and an economic downturn I think clubs, especially those in mid to upper mid tier will find a £40m cash bid too hard to resist. Clubs like Fiorentina, Napoli, Shalke or any of that ilk. The question is will the Glazers authorize it?

 

[Kyonn]

Simple we need upgrades on Lindelof and AWB.

and add a flair player who carry the ball and commit players..ideal signing Jack Grealish.

Where would you play Grealish?

 

[Feed Me]

United are an exciting outfit, but I think we lack ruthlessness at the back and up front. We scored six today, but missed probably as many highly presentable chances. We also looked, as usual, unhinged defensively, although I’m prepared to maybe put that down to the madcap nature of this specific Leeds fixture.

 

[RUCK4444]

Agree but does such a player exist in January window?
Feels like we'll also have to muddle our way through that with some combinations of Matic, Fred, McT til next season.

Yeah of course that’s the question, I doubt anything can be done at DM until the summer but there are some very promising talents out there in that position.

I just hope that we can try to be savvy and do something in January that may help us achieve consistency.

Ole has shown us all what he’s capable of doing with this team, I’m just desperate for us as a club to finish his ideal starting 11 so we can improve the consistency long term. Granted that won’t happen in January but I hope Ed’s at least looking.

 

[AneRu]

Yeah I have Diallo in the back of my mind as well, would be amazing if he could hit the ground running but I’m not sure exactly how much first team action he will see.

The least we should be doing is looking at good/clever deals that may present themselves in January whilst always looking to clear the remaining deadwood as you mentioned.

It's just blind hope, such punts always seem to work for Liverpool. It's our turn for a bit of luck.

 

[Carl]

Everton, Leicester and Wolves our next 3 games. We'll know a lot more about what this team is capable of come new years eve.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

This squad is already in a title challenge so perhaps the thread should be changed from "how long until we challenge" to "how long until we win".

 

[tenpoless]

We'll improve even more once Armadillo comes in.

 

[Red_Jamie]

However long Klopp/Pep are still around.

Pep?

 

[Carl]

Dele Alli is a must-buy if we want to win the league.

Wut?

 

[Carl]

Biggest issue with this squad is central defence. We don't have someone to challenge Maguire and lindelof. Lindelof admitted he s playing through pain.
Maguire last season played more than 50 games for us. It s highly improbable that he manages so many games again.

So imo a cb is a must in January, even if there are other positions in the squad which we need to strengthen like right wing, central defensive midfielder and another right back.

Please tell me which other side has 3 top quality CBs. I dont disagree that we could do with a CB, but not as "competition".

 

[Berbasbullet]

We aren’t in a title race yet, if we reel Liverpool into 2-3 points then yes! But we’re 5 away despite the game in hand.

 

[sammsky1]

With COVID, empty stadia and an economic downturn I think clubs, especially those in mid to upper mid tier will find a £40m cash bid too hard to resist. Clubs like Fiorentina, Napoli, Shalke or any of that ilk. The question is will the Glazers authorize it?

Which players have you got your eye on?

 

[Dve]

I think we are a couple of signings away from challenging for the title, one wide man and a DC. I don´t think we are in desperate need of a DM.

I think Liverpool and Man City are still better than us, as we saw against City where we were the team running out of steam in the second half, when we in the first had to compensate for the lack of ability, with effort. We are closing the gap though, and we are closer to be going head to head also against the best teams.

 

[golden_blunder]

About 5 weeks ago my brother said to put a tenner on United winning the PL this season. Might be worth a punt

 

[The Urban Goose]

Four players in, three players out.

In: CB, DMC, RW, ST.
Out: Matic, Pogba, Martial.

 

[sammsky1]

About 5 weeks ago my brother said to put a tenner on United winning the PL this season. Might be worth a punt

What odds did your brother get?

 

[MalcolmTucker]

Our next 3 league games are tricky. If we come out of them with 7-9pts then I'll start to believe.

 

[edcunited1878]

Three players and two years away.

What's the point of going reasonably close to challenging then unable to sustain or go beyond in the following years?

In the next two years, United will need a proper player in defense, central midfield, and forward line.

 

[AneRu]

Which players have you got your eye on?

Me? None, I no longer watch football as much as I used to so I'd be chatting a pile of bollocks if I suggested a name. It's just an observation and I think upgrading on Lindelof doesn't require a colossal CB - a solid professional, with attributes that differ from Maguire and Lindelof, would do for now and clubs that place around 4th and 8th in the top leagues usually have such a type of player and wouldnt scoff at the money in this climate.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

Everton, Leicester and Wolves our next 3 games. We'll know a lot more about what this team is capable of come new years eve.

I share that view and hope we can sign a top class CB? Who? Konate at Leipzig? But they will not sell.

 

[Dominos]

We are close, but need a couple more signings at least. A better CB, and cover for Bruno.

We have Pogba and VDB, you're not going to find better players than them willing to sit on the bench and watch Bruno work his magic every week.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

I think we can challenge with what we have but I expect us to come up short this year due to our defensive mistakes and poor structure.

We need to offload Jones and Rojo and bring in a quality CB, a good RB back up to AWB as I personally think he’s good enough to be our starting RB with a more solid back line and a quality CDM.

CB - Koulibaly, Upamecano, Konate, Kounde
RB - Lamptey (if better he keeps spot)
CDM - Philips, ndidi

Possibly a Pogba replacement but I don’t think we lose much if he goes as he’s hardly played over the last 12-18mths so his fee can help go towards the defensive upgrades.

 

[Gambit]

We're 2 games away.

 

[Falcow]

United are an exciting outfit, but I think we lack ruthlessness at the back and up front. We scored six today, but missed probably as many highly presentable chances. We also looked, as usual, unhinged defensively, although I’m prepared to maybe put that down to the madcap nature of this specific Leeds fixture.

There is a a casulaness to our play which is worrying(yes I know we won 6 - 2) but Leeds should not have had so many chances. We are sloppy with possession at times and as you say not ruthless enough. Leeds had 13 corner kicks, scored from one.

AVB is a concern also. His positioning is poor and gets caught out at times. He is peerless one on one but is weak in most other areas.

 

[Saddy]

What odds did your brother get?

I got 20-1 2 weeks ago and we are 9-1 now - still decent odds ?

 

[MancunianAngels]

You know what, just enjoy the ride.

We all love to over analyse but the last 2 matches have been a joy to watch at times.

It reminds me a little of the 2005/2006 season. Some great moments, some awful moments but enough evidence to suggest with a bit of tweaking, there's something exciting around the corner.

I feel the League Cup has become very important now. 3 games from a cup which might prove to be the catalyst for greater things. Similar to 2006...

 

[Dante]

We've scored the second highest number of goals in the league this season (only the scousers are ahead, though we have a game in hand).

The attack is great. How can it not be with Bruno, Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani and Martial (and James and Mata) to pick from?

The issue is that we've conceded the most goals of anybody in the top half of the table (and 3 more than fecking Arsenal). At the current rate of 21 goals in 13 games, it would equate to 61 goals at the end of a full campaign.

Obviously, I don't expect the defence to keep conceding at that rate. The Spurs game threw off the averages. But it's definitely our Achilles heel.

Unlike most on this thread, I don't think the answer is simply down to transfers. I think it's down to coaching the current squad to stop the repeating the same errors we keep making at the back. Ole managed to do it once by fixing Lindelof's weakness in the air. Now he has to pull off the same trick by fixing AWB's aimless positioning on cross-field balls.

 

[Carl]

I share that view and hope we can sign a top class CB? Who? Konate at Leipzig? But they will not sell.

We have bigger priorities at ST and DM in my opinion. GK probably too.

 

[Carl]

You know what, just enjoy the ride.

We all love to over analyse but the last 2 matches have been a joy to watch at times.

It reminds me a little of the 2005/2006 season. Some great moments, some awful moments but enough evidence to suggest with a bit of tweaking, there's something exciting around the corner.

I feel the League Cup has become very important now. 3 games from a cup which might prove to be the catalyst for greater things. Similar to 2006...

Aye, good post. I'd love Ole to win a trophy.

 

[sammsky1]

I got 20-1 2 weeks ago and we are 9-1 now - still decent odds ?

I got odds of 35-1 on November 1st!

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

With the way the season is presently panning out and where we are in the league table with a game in hand then of course you can't rule us out at this stage. However, right now I just feel we are not quite there just yet and will sort of fade away from the title picture come February/March. Obviously I hope I'm proven wrong of course and when we reach May, we are still in the mix and looking a good bet to make it title number 21. I just don't think we are there just yet as our defence still worries me and needs addressed.

When Diallo comes next month and if he hits the ground running from the off and has the same sort of quality and mentality like Bruno Fernandes then that's the RW position finally at last sorted. I still think we need a CB and a deep lying playmaker (Michael Carrick type). Don't know what sort of player this Moises Caicedo is that we've been linked with quite recently but if he has the same sort of qualities and leadership skills as Bruno Fernandes then we should be all over it. These are sort of characters that we need in our team.

 

[Bilbo]

About 5 weeks ago my brother said to put a tenner on United winning the PL this season. Might be worth a punt

I put £100 on at 25 to 1 about 3 weeks ago

 

[Mic]

Need minimum 3 great defenders + 1 great DM, probably a strong winger as well.
If you look at Liverpool, they have a strong back 4 + some backups, then Fabinho as a strong DM and other options around him and then a front 4 of Salah, Mane, Firmino and young Jota.

 

[Saddy]

I got odds of 35-1 on November 1st!

That was brave but well done !

 

[Striker10]

Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. I think we can challenge for sure but we really do have some daft moments. If we can tighten it up and get lucky then you never know. We could do with beating some of the big teams but it's nice to get a home win. That said, we're going the right way. We can see we're progressing but its better to be under the radar.

 

[sammsky1]

That was brave but well done !

Put down £35!