People getting excited at the idea of signing one of the best strikers in the world is not the same as them saying we need 5-6 players to compete. And much of it is weighted against the idea of him signing for City taking them even further away from us.
Our Progress
- Thread starter acnumber9
- Start date
I'm not happy with the points dropped recently. The guys seem to think it doesn't matter that we get maximum points or as close as possible. At one point we could have been 4 or 6 points off the top. We should have tried to drag the title race out as long as possible out of pride.
If I compare Ole to our previous two managers just based on what I see:
- Our forward press is better organised, but we don't capitalise as much as we should on balls won in the opposition half. A trait basically non-existent under LvG or Mourinho.
- Capacity to counter-attack is about on the same level as Mourinho, but I don't remember us being any good at it under Van Gaal.
- Possession play is poor but I feel like there is an attempt to work on it like under Van Gaal, but I didn't feel that we worked on that aspect at all under Mourinho. But unlike LvG, Ole doesn't mind being pragmatic when he's disappointed in its implementation, whereas with the former it was the only way of playing.
- Ability to work the ball out of defence, or transitioning from defence to attack, better than under Mourinho, not as laboured as under Van Gaal, but a good two levels beneath what the better teams offer.
Another view is that he almost got us into the top 4 when he joined. Did it last year, and again this year.
But we are no where near being genuine contenders for the league or even being good enough to take a CL group stage for granted and that's just based on the players we got.
- Our forward press is better organised, but we don't capitalise as much as we should on balls won in the opposition half. A trait basically non-existent under LvG or Mourinho.
- Capacity to counter-attack is about on the same level as Mourinho, but I don't remember us being any good at it under Van Gaal.
- Possession play is poor but I feel like there is an attempt to work on it like under Van Gaal, but I didn't feel that we worked on that aspect at all under Mourinho. But unlike LvG, Ole doesn't mind being pragmatic when he's disappointed in its implementation, whereas with the former it was the only way of playing.
- Ability to work the ball out of defence, or transitioning from defence to attack, better than under Mourinho, not as laboured as under Van Gaal, but a good two levels beneath what the better teams offer.
Another view is that he almost got us into the top 4 when he joined. Did it last year, and again this year.
But we are no where near being genuine contenders for the league or even being good enough to take a CL group stage for granted and that's just based on the players we got.
And I think that’s then a fair time to question if Ole is the manager to take us to the top. He’s done well and has improved each season so far. The board need to back him in the summer (and I think the super league debacle might loosen the purse strings a little) but if he was to add 3 first team players and couldn’t maintain a challenge then questions should be asked.
But for this season I think he’s done well to improve our league position & points total and get us to a major final so there’s no pout being overly critical when we’ve lost a few dead rubbers. Even the EL final is not make or break for him; we’ve improved regardless and need to invest to close the gap to the top of the table.
I kind of agree. Besides the leicester game, the Roma away, Liverpool and Fulham at home come across as unprofessional. Not a good way to build-up momentum and confidence going into a final.
There is a middle ground between ‘don’t give a shit’ and being totally hysterical about drawing a nothing game.
Funnily enough, it’s the opposite of your username.
We are looking at finishing 4 points ahead of Liverpool that had their worst season ever and played the whole year without their 3 main defenders..
2nd spot is secure unless Leicester does a miracle on ice. Congrats on the great season lads. Lets win the EL final so I can spend a good night going "I told you so"
who gives a feck about Liverpool?
Tell me your approach to anything is to make up something negative to feed your confirmation bias, without telling me you make up something negative to feed your confirmation bias
3 games in 5 days with top 4 guaranteed for the last two, one game played our B-side, next game first without our best player in defence against a top side. Like we wouldnt at least get 3 more in normal circumstances. So pessimistic you lot.
City conceded 3 to newcastle, lost with their A2 side and then lost to Brighton.
If you think motivation and fear of injuries doesnt affect games you are simply wrong.
More points, 2nd, comfortable top 4 and EL final. It is by definition progress.
City conceded 3 to newcastle, lost with their A2 side and then lost to Brighton.
If you think motivation and fear of injuries doesnt affect games you are simply wrong.
More points, 2nd, comfortable top 4 and EL final. It is by definition progress.
I mean we've had progress since this thread has been made, we're 12 points off City not 15
I'm sure we say it's the worst Premier League season every year. When was the last good one?
Depends from when you’re talking. 6 months before Solskjaer took over we finished second, 11 points ahead of 5th and had won the Europa League the year before. So we’ve progressed back to where we where with a better team.
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The people excusing us failing to win three league matches on the bounce at home because we've one eye on a final do realise we're Manchester United, right? Not some kind of mid table club with no depth. Imagine if we actually had a title to go for, but Ole already gave up on that yonks ago.
I feel like a progress is a bit of a false image. It’s more reliant on our rivals being poor then it is us being good. Going out of the champions league in the group stages & surrendering the title in January is never good for United, but given the expectations in pre season, 2nd place has to be considered an overachievement.
Unless we significantly strengthen in the summer I am worried for next season though. I feel like RB, CB, DM, RW & maybe even LW need upgrading.
Unless we significantly strengthen in the summer I am worried for next season though. I feel like RB, CB, DM, RW & maybe even LW need upgrading.
When United last won it obviously. Joking aside, the quality has been very poor. The team about to finish third had to sack their manager halfway through the season and their top scorer has 7 goals. A team that lost 6 home games in a row is likely to finish 4th. The team sitting 6th is managed by David Moyes and their star player is Jesse Lingard. The team sitting 7th also had to sack their manager.
Ok , sustainable progress then.
We've been hovering on a points per game that would give us around 75 points total for months (with minor fluctuations).. So I'm not having that we were on course for an incredible season but took our foot off the gas.
There is progress. But it's marginal. From 66 points to ~74 points. We're also the biggest overperformers of xPts in the league, which will come as no shock to anyone who watches our games objectively. There is no such thing as a routine win with this team, near enough every game is a massive struggle.
Our points haul this season is never going to get you anywhere near the league, in a high performing league you will scrape 4th, in a low performing performing league you might get 2nd miles behind the champions.
And then you have the humiliation of not being able to get out the CL group stage. Keane had it right when he said the final we're in is nothing more than a signal of failure, we should not even be in the Europa league.
All in all - results have been better than the performances, the stats say so and the eye test says so. And the results haven't even been good, if you told us before the season we'd finish on 74 points and get dumped out the CL group stage, you'd hardly be jumping for joy. It may have been seen as "satisfactory" as top 4 was bare minimum we needed and we got it, but the excitement I see on here baffles me.
There is progress. But it's marginal. From 66 points to ~74 points. We're also the biggest overperformers of xPts in the league, which will come as no shock to anyone who watches our games objectively. There is no such thing as a routine win with this team, near enough every game is a massive struggle.
Our points haul this season is never going to get you anywhere near the league, in a high performing league you will scrape 4th, in a low performing performing league you might get 2nd miles behind the champions.
And then you have the humiliation of not being able to get out the CL group stage. Keane had it right when he said the final we're in is nothing more than a signal of failure, we should not even be in the Europa league.
All in all - results have been better than the performances, the stats say so and the eye test says so. And the results haven't even been good, if you told us before the season we'd finish on 74 points and get dumped out the CL group stage, you'd hardly be jumping for joy. It may have been seen as "satisfactory" as top 4 was bare minimum we needed and we got it, but the excitement I see on here baffles me.
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You should be working for the tabloids. Major European Cup? It’s literally the smallest cup we could qualify for, it’s literally a cup no top club wants to be in… heck, we’re only there because we didn’t manage to get out of the group stage in the only big European Cup. We’ve played teams that have no chance of qualifying for the CL from their domestic leagues, the level this year is even worse than it usually is.
Hell, I want United to win next week… but let’s not pretend this is anywhere close to being the big leagues. We have the Carabao cup at home, this is the Qarabag cup.
There's progress, but it's marginal.
It's not as amazing and gigantic as people would have you think.
It's not as amazing and gigantic as people would have you think.
Think most of us would have taken a 2nd and EL final before the season. I mean, who would have been even confident of top 4?
And we did have a CL group with last years semi- and finalist.
So because we're United, we automatically have great depth? What?
Typical caf. Let's not look at context, and let's not look at where this team has come from to get to where we are. It's all bollocks and we're barely League One level... Am I doing it right? 
... True hahah
If this cockwomble is a Utd fan I'm a millionaire, we're second and in a final, only a complete wanktard wouldn't see we're progressing,
Rant over!
Rant over!
Sure, a lot of us would have taken the bare minimum of top 4 and miles behind the champions. But meeting the bare minimum is nothing to be excited about surely?
And as for the EL final... Honestly I'd be surprised if anyone on here would have knowingly accepted being knocked out the CL group stage. We're ahead of Chelsea in the league and yet they're the ones preparing for CL final.
And again, the fact that our results are significantly better than our performances have warranted is one of the key factors in assessing the season.
We’ve come from being second six months before Solskjaer took over. You’d think we were fighting relegation the way some people go on.Typical caf. Let's not look at context, and let's not look at where this team has come from to get to where we are. It's all bollocks and we're barely League One level... Am I doing it right?
We would have another 15 points on the board if we got Sancho,had a pre-season like other clubs and didnt secure top 4 early+4 games in 6 days.
Hopefully we will have Sancho plus others in August. Plus our young players will be a year older.
Its progress.
Even if Ole walked out tomorrow he has improved loads of our players plus signed the likes of Bruno.
Hopefully we will have Sancho plus others in August. Plus our young players will be a year older.
Its progress.
Even if Ole walked out tomorrow he has improved loads of our players plus signed the likes of Bruno.
This was our team for the fa cup final in 2018.
Man United: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Jones, Young, Herrera, Matic, Pogba, Lingard, Rashford, Sanchez.
Subs: Bailly, Mata, Lukaku, Martial, Romero, Darmian, McTominay.
(Shaw and Lindelof were injured).
Ole has done an amazing job rebuilding. Make no mistake that squad was going nowhere even if it finished second.
Come off it. Are you also one of them that didn't care about us losing to them on Thursday.
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Our fanbase is a joke
Same goes for your bias that all is well and progress is great.
The rescheduling probably ruined our momentum.
I would think having to manage, prioritize and throw games probably made players letting themselves go using it as an excuse. I believe we would have beaten Liverpool on that weekend.
I would think having to manage, prioritize and throw games probably made players letting themselves go using it as an excuse. I believe we would have beaten Liverpool on that weekend.
feck me. And I should be working for the tabloids.
How do you determine what's a high or low performing league? Because on one hand you're right 71 points wouldn't have us in the top 4 in Spain or Italy at present but are they high performing leagues? Certainly not based on their UCL or EL showings they're not
On the other hand we'd be sat 2nd in the Bundesliga only 4 points off of Bayern who were the best team in Europe less than 12 months ago
We've barely progressed points-wise while the quality of football is more than questionable. City are basically going to win the league with the same points total they had last year when they finished second. It's only Liverpool that have massively dropped off.
Even the overall points we've accummulated this year is actually not that impressive. Why? Because we got 66 points with half a season of Bruno. We've had Bruno for a whole season and we've barely improved on last year.
There's little point arguing with some of the people on this forum who are determined to remain blind to the obvious. So let's wait till next season where I am expecting less than good performance in the league.
Even the overall points we've accummulated this year is actually not that impressive. Why? Because we got 66 points with half a season of Bruno. We've had Bruno for a whole season and we've barely improved on last year.
There's little point arguing with some of the people on this forum who are determined to remain blind to the obvious. So let's wait till next season where I am expecting less than good performance in the league.
Leave them be. They're slightly deluded//self-entitled/arrogant/agenda-driven***
***delete as appropriate