Can this team challenge for the title?

[svn]

I think we have to.

Liverpool and City aren't the unstoppable sides they have been in the last few years. I think the top 4 is going to be really close this year, and I fancy us to be in the title race come May.

 

[El Zoido]

We definitely can. We're within reach of top spot despite playing relatively poorly all season. Now imagine if we actually hit some form like we did in the second half of last season. I expect Rashford, Martial, and Greenwood are going to get better as the season progresses, Pogba too. I think our overall performances will get better as the season goes on. I certainly don't expect us to actually win the league, but we could be up there.

 

[Maureen-yo]

Klopp got 500mil to build his team and Pep 800mil.


Ole got 240mil and 50mil of that went on players for the future like Armadillo.

He cant be expected to challenge.

How much did Ranieri get at Leicester?

 

[Grande]

Too early, I think.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Nothing has changed my view. Our team is good enough to challenge for the league in comparison to what our rivals have but some here intentionally want to underrate the current team so much to prove their opinion right.

Challenging the league quality should be on City or Liverpool squad level. Our squad isn’t on that level. We don’t even know if Chelsea & Spurs can keep this in long period of time. We have seen this times and times again Arsenal collapsed in January or February after being in the good position to challenge up to December or January in the past. If those two can do it by end of the season, we should be able to do it.

 

[432JuanMata]

1 point out of 9 against 3 of the top 6 this season all at home aswell(though he are better away) we have City next at home if we win that I’ll say yes based on the fact we would move 4 points ahead of them and Liverpool are missing key players for a good while. If we lose to City then I don’t fancy it.
Overall I would say no we are too inconsistent and over a full season I think it will show. Though this season feels like the Leicester season with Arsenal and Spurs 2nd and 3rd, if we want to win the league anytime soon this would be the season to do it.

 

[MikeKing]

I would like us to, and I think we might be able to challenge but if I'm honest I don't think we're there yet. It's not just because of Ole, we have the same issues we've had before we're just better with Bruno, and we need more players like him to be able to win the league not just once but actually challenge every season.

 

[VanGaalEra]

Of course we can, since Bruno has come in we’ve got 51 points in 24 games. That equates to around 81 points over a 38 game season.

By adding Cavani, Telles and VDB I believe our team can reach 84-86 points this season which may well see us win the league! Jose knows the same and is setting spurs up to reach around that figure.

Just got to hope our rivals keep dropping points and we can continue this run!

 

[roseguy64]

We can if Rashford, Martial and Greenwood hit form. The December/January period will be make or break. If we're in the title race at the end of that then we'll stay in it until the end.

 

[Morpheus 7]

This thread is going to age well by the end of January. Does anyone genuinely believe we will from what we have seen from us, no whataboutery. Have these performances suggested that we can?
In the freak season when Leicester won the league, you could see a charge early on. Question was could they sustain it, other teams were poor and they done enough. The league is going to level out in the new year. I have no problem with optimistm. Just have a huge problem with deluded bstards that can't process what they are watching. I understand how Liverpool fans became deluded, it's starting in this fan base.

 

[RedSky]

We'd probably be top of the league right now with a proper pre-season and had we backed Ole in the summer...

Makes you wonder where we'd be if we had signed Grealish or Sancho... reminds me of the frustration about us not signing Bruno in the summer and waiting till January.

 

[Tarrou]

I think we need a Bruno level signing in January to get us there, but in the DM position

and our forwards need to find their form soon as well

our performance level is too high in variance to challenge atm

 

[Wibble]

This thread is going to age well by the end of January. Does anyone genuinely believe we will from what we have seen from us, no whataboutery. Have these performances suggested that we can?
In the freak season when Leicester won the league, you could see a charge early on. Question was could they sustain it, other teams were poor and they done enough. The league is going to level out in the new year. I have no problem with optimistm. Just have a huge problem with deluded bstards that can't process what they are watching. I understand how Liverpool fans became deluded, it's starting in this fan base.

We aren't consistent enough to win the league. A top 4 place will be a result again.

 

[reelworld]

How much did Ranieri get at Leicester?

when you resort to an outlier like Leicester, then you're not making a good point

 

[marktan]

This thread is going to age well by the end of January. Does anyone genuinely believe we will from what we have seen from us, no whataboutery. Have these performances suggested that we can?
In the freak season when Leicester won the league, you could see a charge early on. Question was could they sustain it, other teams were poor and they done enough. The league is going to level out in the new year. I have no problem with optimistm. Just have a huge problem with deluded bstards that can't process what they are watching. I understand how Liverpool fans became deluded, it's starting in this fan base.

Our level of performances aren't good enough, but we do have a decent amount of talent and now good depth options for injuries. In any other season I'd expect Liverpool to run away with the league, but this is a covid compressed season and half their team is now injured. As such I think Chelsea have a good shout to the league this season - purely because they have crazy depth. In a normal year we're still a top RW and probably a full back or midfielder away from challenging, but if we can keep our key players fit then we have a reasonable chance just due to all the other top teams also dropping points. I don't think we're going to win though, imo it's between pool and Chelsea, maybe City if the attackers improve. I think we'll round off top 4.

 

[r0663664]

If we buy a DM and our 2 young signing step in on the right winger with decent contributions then we might have chance if Ole stop conceding goals thru free kick and corners.

 

[RashyForPM]

How much did Ranieri get at Leicester?

Tbf, he said ‘can’t be expected’. Literally not a single person thought Leicester would even come top half that season. They were dead certs for 20th place, and Ranieri was the clear favourite to get fired first.

Back to us though, we’re playing well now but as many have said, we’ll need to beat City next week for me to really think that we are in a title challenge.

 

[Ekeke]

We have the same (Joint 6th worst in the league) defensive record as Liverpool without Van Dijk. We have a lot of work to do in that area before we even think we could challenge

 

[mikel]

I don't see it. I think they need to find consistent form before anyone thinks about winning anything. Top 4.

 

[Maureen-yo]

Tbf, he said ‘can’t be expected’. Literally not a single person thought Leicester would even come top half that season. They were dead certs for 20th place, and Ranieri was the clear favourite to get fired first.

Back to us though, we’re playing well now but as many have said, we’ll need to beat City next week for me to really think that we are in a title challenge.

I'm not even a believer that we will challenge, I think that we will scrape top 4 but to suggest that we..won't win because we haven't spent as much as Klopp or Pep is just nonsense.
Spurs are title contenders and Jose hasn't spent as much as them or us for that matter.

 

[Andy_Cole]

We have the same (Joint 6th worst in the league) defensive record as Liverpool without Van Dijk. We have a lot of work to do in that area before we even think we could challenge

To be fair we shipped 6 goals in one game.

 

[Ekeke]

To be fair we shipped 6 goals in one game.

That isnt a vote of confidence. Not many teams have

 

[Andy_Cole]

That isnt a vote of confidence. Not many teams have

Just highlighting, outside that game, our defence has been okay.

 

[Ekeke]

Just highlighting, outside that game, our defence has been okay.

That would still not be in the top 5 defensive records if we conceded 3 instead of 6, half the amount. So not good at all

Of course you could omit every game we concede in, makes talking about it pointless. We've conceded a lot.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Admire your confidence.

So.. this is our year eh?

 

[hungrywing]

We have the same (Joint 6th worst in the league) defensive record as Liverpool without Van Dijk. We have a lot of work to do in that area before we even think we could challenge

TBF, if we're just going by goals conceded there, then around nine of those goals are due to the whole teams-running-through-Matic-Pogba thing. Once Ole realized it wasn't going to work, it's been better, and hopefully by the end of the season it shows as more of a blip than a trend.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

This thread is going to age well by the end of January. Does anyone genuinely believe we will from what we have seen from us, no whataboutery. Have these performances suggested that we can?
In the freak season when Leicester won the league, you could see a charge early on. Question was could they sustain it, other teams were poor and they done enough. The league is going to level out in the new year. I have no problem with optimistm. Just have a huge problem with deluded bstards that can't process what they are watching. I understand how Liverpool fans became deluded, it's starting in this fan base.

Indeed.

 

[Josh 76]

I think we need a Bruno level signing in January to get us there, but in the DM position

and our forwards need to find their form soon as well

our performance level is too high in variance to challenge atm

I agree with this. This team was crying out for a Partey or a Tiago Silva. The crazy thing is they were both available at a cheap price, but Utd went for VDB.

 

[DeGea]

Need to be more consistent and need another player like Bruno. We also need to not lose against our top 4 rivals. Consistency is key.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

If we can get a settled eleven, hit some form, some luck and no injuries, we can compete. Not sure we can win it, Liverpool and City are still very strong, Chelsea look good but we just need consistency.

 

[Nani Nana]

Probably not. No real alternative to Bruno, poor right wing, average CBs.

 

[bsCallout]

We seem somewhat like Liverpool the season before Allison and VVD.

We need our own CB and a top CDM.

But other teams are bad so we have a decent chance for sure.

 

[Idxomer]

No way.

 

[tenpoless]

The january transfer window is becoming more important than ever. If we make use of it well and our results improve just like when Bruno came I'd say we'll have a chance. Although that does not necessarily we'll win the league. Sign no DM and I expect us to finish 4th or 5th place.

 

[MancunianAngels]

Top 4 and finishing with any trophy would make for a successful season.

 

[onetwo3oclock4oclockrock]

Well, for the last 10 months we have picked up more points than any other club in the PL, so why not?

 

[nokoya]

We seem somewhat like Liverpool the season before Allison and VVD.

We need our own CB and a top CDM.

But other teams are bad so we have a decent chance for sure.

CDM ？ We already have 7 central midfielder no matter DM CM CDM AM all central.

Look at how we success under 92'ers, Beckham Giggs natural winger each side. We need someone like them to delivery not keep buying central midfielder.

Getting another Central midfielder will not increase our performance and will be stuck like current situation only, depend on individual skills.

 

[Bwuk]

Unless our forwards can hit form we’ll always struggle as we concede far too many.

Hoping that Greenwood can kick on after yesterday.

 

[Gasolin]

This thread is going to age well by the end of January. Does anyone genuinely believe we will from what we have seen from us, no whataboutery. Have these performances suggested that we can?
In the freak season when Leicester won the league, you could see a charge early on. Question was could they sustain it, other teams were poor and they done enough. The league is going to level out in the new year. I have no problem with optimistm. Just have a huge problem with deluded bstards that can't process what they are watching. I understand how Liverpool fans became deluded, it's starting in this fan base.

Yeah so far we have the most pts over 24 games, so we just need to continue the trend . Simple math.

 

[redshaw]

We should seriously aim for that even if lands us in a solid second or third. Then we can build and establish yourselves. Having a "realistic" aim of securing top 4 is open to being in and out the top 4.