10 games in, happy so far?

I think we’re about par for the time being. Currently 2 points off 2nd place offers some encouragement but it’s a bit of a false situation in some respects - I don’t think expect us to be within 15+ points of 2nd by end of the season at best.

Some decent wins, some good performances, but still fragile and capable of performances such a the Fulham or Brentford games.

The squad is a work in progress. More additions needed across the team to bring us up another level to be more consistent.

Getting knocked out the league cup was disappointing to say the very least.

Let’s see where we are after December to better assess if we’ve made real progress.
 
More like relieved than happy.

Haven’t forgotten a few weeks ago Utd were sitting on 7 points from 6 games.
 
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Keeping in mind that for 5 games we didn't have a gk, and we have already played arsenal, city, chelsea and Liverpool we are OK.

We need to buy a LWB, a CM and a second striker in January. I am not impressed with Dorgu so far, but due to age maybe we can give him 6 more months and prioritize CM and a striker.
 
The only overall disappointing game for me was against City, we never got going, just rolled over for them. The others I think we have been very competitive.

It's a close league at the moment so positions don't really mean a lot but 4 unbeaten and not getting smashed by Brighton or Forest and keeping the momentum going was something we just couldn't do before.

Big away game against a struggling Spurs now though who beat us 4 times last year!
 
I think given the run we had at the beginning of the season.

After 11 games we’ve played Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, City, Spurs (the so called big 6). We’ve also played those we’ve struggled against Brighton, Brentford and Fulham (in the last few years). Overall we are better, especially in attack but despite being one of the leagues highest scoring teams we have conceded of the highest amounts of goals.

There are pros and cons to how we play Having Amad as a wing back created a goal on Saturday but his height also cost us a goal.

We clearly have some fantastic players but zero depth. Reports are we want Semenyo in January? Where does he play? Who drops Cuhna?

I am excited to see Licha back and hope that puts a plug in the defence as De Ligt has actually been excellent overall.

I am hoping 4th but expecting 6th.
 
Happy. I expected us to try and finish in the top 8 at the start of the season, and we're there or thereabouts at the moment. Also wanted us to develop a a good playing style and synergy in the team, and that's not quite there but it's a work in progress.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Happy? With us sitting in 8th and out of one of the two cups we can win? Absolutely not. We’ve had a good run of 3 wins and some signings look good. That’s about it. Everyone has it all to prove.
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Yup, this is it.

Happy? No. Hopeful!
 
I’m happy. You can clearly see progress and the unity between the squad
 
How can you be actually happy so far? Expectations are too low.

We are doing ok, but not well enough that we should be happy as a fan base surely.
 
Yes, pretty much.

A lot results have gone exactly how I thought they'd go, 7 or 8 out of the 10.

The ones I was wrong on have been net positives, no negatives. Thought we'd draw with Chelsea and lose to Liverpool so that's +5 points.

At one point would have thought we'd have drew with Brighton but by the time we played them was going for a win so that didn't exceed expectations in the end.

Still look ropey away from home, and that needs fixing. At home we're pretty good aren't we? At least when attacking. Think we can use our firepower to overcome the vast majority sides at OT even if we're not so secure at the back.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
It won’t mean much if we struggle so much against fail to beat teams like Forest. Out run of 3 wins does indeed create some optimism, but that doesn’t equate to being happy with the season thus far.
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You can be happy without being totally delighted. I am happy at the progress as that gives me cause to be optimistic going forward - unlike how I felt at the end of last season and after that awful defeat against City earlier this season.
 
People are happy because they understand the context.

To move up the league we need constant squad improvements which arent possible in one window.
Our squad needs to be man for man better than other teams in the top 10. At the moment that’s not the case.
 
AkaAkuma said:
People are happy because they understand the context.

To move up the league we need constant squad improvements which arent possible in one window.
Our squad needs to be man for man better than other teams in the top 10. At the moment that’s not the case.
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I agree largely, although I think our squad is better than several others. But then they shouldn't be happy, because that means the manager can't improve the team without having the best players.
 
Had we signed a goalie before the season started and put them in immediately we’d have more points and not had the embarrassing results against Grimsby. That’s why doing your business early is so important. No excuse given how cheap Lammens was.

Any United fan saying they’re happy in 8th has got to be kidding themselves but given who we’ve played and how tight it is below Arsenal it’s not a bad place to be. The only game we were hammered was City away which is standard for us most seasons now.
 
Definitely not happy. Like an earlier poster said, it's about par at this point. If we can get a few more win streaks going then we can start talking about happy. That midfield is still a problem and we desperately need to upgrade on Dalot.
 
We’ve played Arsenal and Chelsea at home and were unlucky to lose the former, and have had City and Liverpool away. That’s far from the easiest start.

Was annoyed with the Brentford performance and the Andre Onana Comedy Extravaganza at Grimsby, but otherwise happy enough. There’s still work to do, we all know the midfield needs fixing, and sure, we shouldn’t be aiming for 8th, but what most fans want to see from their club is competence and progress. I’m seeing both. Not in spades, but we’re getting better not worse.
 
I thought before the season that the team should aim for getting back to Top 8 at least, and it looks like we might be able to aim a little higher than that. The three wins on the bounce gave me higher hopes than I probably should have had. That being said, I think we can have really strong home form this season, and if Mbeumo and Cunha continue to deliver I think it will be a decent league campaign.

We need to see more, but there is reason for optimism. A result vs. Spurs would be big.
 
Dropping points v Fulham and Brentford was frustrating. But saying that if we beat spurs Saturday we are in a better place than where I thought we would be. Delighted we’ve finally addressed the GK situation and hoping Sesko can get to grips with the PL
 
It feels like we’re always one loss away from the season turning from a 7 to a 4.

We’re still in a very fragile place where it can still go horribly wrong.

One sign that’s given me hope is how we responded to conceding those 2 quick goals at Forrest.
 
NK86 said:
You can be happy without being totally delighted. I am happy at the progress as that gives me cause to be optimistic going forward - unlike how I felt at the end of last season and after that awful defeat against City earlier this season.
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Yeah I’m neither happy not totally delighted. Cautiously optimistic is the best I can do given our record this past year and a half.
 
6.5/10 as of today
8/10 if we beat Spurs

That games a bit make or break re how the league table will look for us at the end of the game week.
 
Himannv said:
Happy. I expected us to try and finish in the top 8 at the start of the season, and we're there or thereabouts at the moment. Also wanted us to develop a a good playing style and synergy in the team, and that's not quite there but it's a work in progress.
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8th much more realistic, still tough but obviously love to get into Europe. We would have to have an incredible season with the current squad to achieve that. We have no bench and are currently relying on some players who are coming to the end of their careers(and can’t play a full game) or severely injury prone and that doesn’t include some of our best players going to afcon. Martinez is a case in point many fans hailing him as the second coming but he was pretty poor last time he was fit he’s even smaller than some of our other defenders when crosses are a real weakness and will no doubt be injured again within a month. Our best chance is to try and recruit one or two in Jan but that still misses the Afcon games. It’s a brave new world, there are 15/16 teams in the league that can give anyone(bar Arsenal at the moment) a thumping. Another summer needed for us to say we should be in serious CL contention.
 
AkaAkuma said:
People are happy because they understand the context.

To move up the league we need constant squad improvements which arent possible in one window.
Our squad needs to be man for man better than other teams in the top 10. At the moment that’s not the case.
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I don’t think this is a good thing. It suggests very little of what is achieved is due to coaching and particularly that we cannot punch above our weight, meanwhile Sunderland and Bournemouth have more points than us and Palace are just a point behind. All of them play better, more cohesive, team-oriented football than us, obviously attested to by the inferior squads they have. These clubs are likely to fade due to fatigue and that’s where the lack of squad depth will push them down the table as the games accumulate.

If we have to pile on the £ to climb the table, something is fundamentally wrong as what should happen in a team going places is that they hit a ceiling with what they have at disposal and then need better talent to take the next leap. I don’t think we can say we’ve done that or anything close to it. Amorim is not supposed to be a chequebook manager, so it’s a concern if our way of climbing the table is via cash injection.
 
It's been steady. Some clear improvements, but also some whiffs of last season.

How we cope with AFCON will be massive and probably set the tone for the rest of the season after that.
 
Fortitude said:
I don’t think this is a good thing. It suggests very little of what is achieved is due to coaching and particularly that we cannot punch above our weight, meanwhile Sunderland and Bournemouth have more points than us and Palace are just a point behind. All of them play better, more cohesive, team-oriented football than us, obviously attested to by the inferior squads they have. These clubs are likely to fade due to fatigue and that’s where the lack of squad depth will push them down the table as the games accumulate.

If we have to pile on the £ to climb the table, something is fundamentally wrong as what should happen in a team going places is that they his a ceiling with what they have at disposal and then need better talent to take the next leap. I don’t think we can say we’ve done that or anything close to it. Amorim is not supposed to be a chequebook manager, so it’s a concern if our way of climbing the table is via cash injection.
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I don't think you're anywhere near your ceiling with this squad yet, you're improving definitely and Amorim is getting more out of the squad this season, players are understanding thier roles and (touch wood for you!) you're doing better with injuries.

Compared to last season it is like night and day. That's partly down to your buys, swapping Rashford, Antony and Hojlund for Cunha, Mbuemo and Sesko is a massive step up, but it's also down to a huge improvement from players like Mount, De Ligt, Shaw and Casemiro.

I think you're definitely on a positive trajectory at the moment, is it enough to get back the top? I don't know, but god it's so much better than last season!
 
With regard to the season, I don’t know what I am at the moment. My #1 botheration is for a manager of ours to be outcoached and outsmarted; winning or losing is by-the-by as you can’t win them all, but how you win and how you lose are markers of progress or impending failure. If you’re getting by on individual brilliance or fluke occurrence , you will be found out. Many called Liverpool’s slide pointing out how lucky they were over how well they were actually playing, and as is normal with these things, they were exposed and have been through a crisis because of it.

We have clear weakness down the left flank and that needs addressing at the earliest opportunity with a class LWB who can also play LB. We also have an appalling defence, conceding more than anyone else in the top half of the table and only the bottom five clubs in the table being worse. Despite the rush for plaudits I’ve read on here, that’s as bad as last season and leaves us with a goal difference of +1 - the worst in the top half of the table. Because we are relying heavily on individual brilliance the concern is we get dragged back to the mean rather than progress. Outside of Mbeumo, we’re not doing well in attack.

Last season should not be a marker for this; Spurs finished behind us then and are ahead of us now; we’ve spent a small fortune since and we should be more settled and drilled. If you’re saying we’re better than last season, well for me that’s of no value because as much as I hate “We are Manchester United” chest thumping, we actually are a and as such, seasons like that should be an embarrassment and something to disassociate from as blips and glitches, so no, last season is not a barometer for this one.

Feels to me like a pendulum swinging back and forth rather than rock solid progress; I don’t know how many of us sternly look forward instead of over our shoulder, so that needs to change in the next 10 games.

I’d give it 6/10. There’s a lot of work to be done yet and Amorim has to improve considerably as a coach for me. Once/if he can hold his own, and not be baffled by the like of Dyche attacking a flank(!) i’ll be more at ease, but for now it feels to me like two injuries (Mbeumo and Casemiro) and we’d plummet because his coaching would not prop anything up in the interim. This concerns me.
 
The Boy said:
I don't think you're anywhere near your ceiling with this squad yet, you're improving definitely and Amorim is getting more out of the squad this season, players are understanding thier roles and (touch wood for you!) you're doing better with injuries.

Compared to last season it is like night and day. That's partly down to your buys, swapping Rashford, Antony and Hojlund for Cunha, Mbuemo and Sesko is a massive step up, but it's also down to a huge improvement from players like Mount, De Ligt, Shaw and Casemiro.

I think you're definitely on a positive trajectory at the moment, is it enough to get back the top? I don't know, but god it's so much better than last season!
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Posted since you have as was writing it in the interim. Think I’ve aired concerns that address what you’re saying - we’re on 16 goals conceded, so the aesthetic may be one thing, but the way things are panning out ultimately is another at the moment. Teams are not struggling to score against us.
 
We've been ok considering the opposition we've faced. I would have liked to see more goals and assists from Cunha, for me he drifts in and out of the game too much. Mbuemo has been brilliant. Defense is a huge worry, we're just leaking goals and even with 3 at the back it hasn't made us solid.
 
We're about where I'd expect for the quality of the squad so can't complain at this stage.
 
I'm not currently happy but I can see we are moving in the right direction over the last few games. Problem is, we've been burnt so many times by false dawns, I'll need to see consistent improvement over the course of the season.

After Grimsby I lost faith in the manager, he still has a fair bit to do to win me back, I don't currently believe he's the right man for the job.

I love Cunha and Mbuemo, they've been great and are proper united players. Sesko has had some moments but he deserves time given he's young and it's a new league. De Ligt has been a standout so far, great defensive performances. I've also thought that Casemiro has been having some good performances. Amad continues to be dangerous. Bruno is Bruno, he is doing well to adapt to this position that many of us feel he doesn't fit in.

Dorgu and Dalot are our weakest players. Dalot especially, he is clearly not good enough. Makes poor defensive and positional errors, "fetch that cnut" type crossing and passing. Dorgu comes across as raw and limited, maybe deserves time to prove himself.

Very happy with Lammens so far, he has had such a calming influence and I think he is the number one reason why we have had successes in the last few matches. A reliable GK that doesn't throw it in their own net is priceless.

Overall I'd go with probably a 6/10 so far, and that's being kind given the Grimsby debacle - he's lucky he's still here after that period. Fingers crossed it can continue.
 
Not happy, but settled. It's not a crisis, we'll finish higher in the table than last season, perhaps get a European spot. It helps that a lot of the other big clubs are way off it so far, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, inconsistent. So who knows, maybe CL is a possibility if there's some consistency. And Cunha and Mbeumo are endlessly watchable players.
 
For me the results will come. The performance need to keep being good, and need to see the same intensity and spirit that we have seen these past few games.

Still wished we had scored those 2 missed pens, and our defense needs to improve. Too many individual player errors, need to sharpen up and be switched on. Hope we do something in the Jan window.
 
Leftback99 said:
We're about where I'd expect for the quality of the squad so can't complain at this stage.
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You can't claim this squad is 8th place quality. We should be 4th or 5th. Individual errors and a few tactical catastrophes from the manager earlier in the season is the only reason we're lower, as well as some misfiring from new players still finding their feet.

If we can sort out the defence, because 15 goals conceded at this stage is shocking, I see no reason why we can't finish 4th or 5th. It should hopefully improve when Martinez returns so we can think about shifting Shaw out left, with Dorgu in back up and Dalot dishing out orange slices.
 
Fortitude said:
I don’t think this is a good thing. It suggests very little of what is achieved is due to coaching and particularly that we cannot punch above our weight, meanwhile Sunderland and Bournemouth have more points than us and Palace are just a point behind. All of them play better, more cohesive, team-oriented football than us, obviously attested to by the inferior squads they have. These clubs are likely to fade due to fatigue and that’s where the lack of squad depth will push them down the table as the games accumulate.

If we have to pile on the £ to climb the table, something is fundamentally wrong as what should happen in a team going places is that they hit a ceiling with what they have at disposal and then need better talent to take the next leap. I don’t think we can say we’ve done that or anything close to it. Amorim is not supposed to be a chequebook manager, so it’s a concern if our way of climbing the table is via cash injection.
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I disagree.
The reason Arsenal are where they are isnt because of the tactical improvements, that helps, but to maintain a consistently high level in the league requires a group of players simply better than the opposition.

Bournemouth and Sunderland are exceptions, who like you say will begin to level off.

I think you are also ignoring the fact the level of the top 4 status has expanded to what I’d say is a top 10.
Forest have players that beat ours man for man.
Certain Villa, Newcastle players aswell.

Then go back to the days of Fergie and ask if our dominance was a result of tactics alone, or having the best players.

Improvements in tactical play might get us to 4th, but to be back to back title challengers requires elite players.
 
Just as he did a horrible job last season and in a few games early in the season - he has done as well as can be expected this season. But it's quite obvious that Amorim has found the players he trusts - and it's a fairly small core of maybe 15-16 players. Ugarte, Zirkzee, Mainoo are perhaps the most obvious players he doesn't trust- but someone like Dalot could easily end in that cathegory unless he improves. Maybe even Dorgu - but Dorgu and Mainoo have age on their side. As for the other 3 players - I think they will go if we get a decent offer. Oh yes Bayindir is there as well - but he wont leave until next summer.
 
Mickson said:
I agree largely, although I think our squad is better than several others. But then they shouldn't be happy, because that means the manager can't improve the team without having the best players.
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Shaw < Murillo
De Ligt <> Milenkovic (De Ligt might edge it)
Dalot < Williams
Casemiro <> Anderson
Amad > Hudson Odoi (But close)
Bruno > Gibbs White (Not close, but debatable)
Sesko <> Woods (purely based on potential)
 
Lennon7 said:
You can't claim this squad is 8th place quality. We should be 4th or 5th. Individual errors and a few tactical catastrophes from the manager earlier in the season is the only reason we're lower, as well as some misfiring from new players still finding their feet.

If we can sort out the defence, because 15 goals conceded at this stage is shocking, I see no reason why we can't finish 4th or 5th. It should hopefully improve when Martinez returns so we can think about shifting Shaw out left, with Dorgu in back up and Dalot dishing out orange slices.
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After 10 games by the far the most important factor in league position is the fixture list. One thing we haven't done this season is play a bad team, in bad form. Forest would be the closest but the Dyche factor was always going to kick in at some point. Three managers sacked in the league so far this season and we haven't played any of those teams before the manager got sacked.

I guess the flipside is that we played Liverpool at a good time and - hopefully - will be playing Spurs at a good time too.
 
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