Can we win the league?

[Massive Spanner]

No chance.

Might get top four though, mainly cause Arse and Chelsea are having terrible summer windows.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

I think going into this season believing you have a good chance of winning the league would be a disaster as if your not in the run Ole will just get more and more pressure and you will be again back where you started, looking for another new manager. Its going to take at least 2 seasons to get into a position to challenge, especially if the buying young thing is going to continue.

 

[Lord]

I'm not sure even top 4 is realistic anymore, nmthere is no passion or vision and hasnt been for years now.

 

[redshaw]

Probably not but we did get 81 points the season before and last season had league winning form for quite a while but then capped it off with our worst run since the 60s.

The potential is there but so many things have to go right for us. I feel we're on a knife edge of being a top three side or things unraveling fast. Ole needs to manifest a strong belief in his players that he can manage this team.

 

[Andy_Cole]

Only if Martial and Rashford can get 60 goals

 

[MrSingh2002]

As good of a chance as Leicester did when they won it.

CB, CDM, CM/CAM and CF away from even thinking about it.

 

[romufc]

Yes, If Ole can get the team playing well.
If we start well, confidence will be flying and Ole can play the B team in the Europa League, we do not have the pressure to win the league either. If the signings can all hit the ground running.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

As good of a chance as Leicester did when they won it.

CB, CDM, CM/CAM and CF away from even thinking about it.

The season they won you had 2-3 teams in transition, so no its not the same scenario at all.

 

[Patrick08]

I mean no not until we spend 300m and buy famous players.

More than famous players we need the right players. The boards penny pinching attitude towards solving our problems leaves is short every summer and every season. Then the players we should be signing next summer gets taken by other clubs when we are in no position to challenge again. It's is vicious cycle which will only break with putting investment in one single summer and showing ambition to gain competitive advantage over other rivals in the league and Europe.

 

[Rusholme Ruffian]

Eighth?

Where the hell has this pessimism come from?

Our most recent form?

 

[Jonty]

Yes we can but it would depend on the stars aligning. But would you want us to win it and then slip back to sixth? United need to concentrate on building a team capable of challenging for years to come and then to continue to invest in it

 

[Slevs]

*Crawls the caf for interesting threads*

Thread 1: Should we sign Balotelli?

Thread 2: Can we win the league?

 

[Ikon]

HaHaHaHa.....NO...!!!

We still have all of the same faces in the dressing room that lost to Cardiff were hammered by Everton and couldn't beat Huddersfield....!!


Realistically, fate has been kind to us in that Chelsea have a transfer ban, have lost their best player and have an even more inexperienced manager than we do, and Arsenal are Arsenal.
So if we can address some of the 5 obvious problem areas in the team (RB, CB, DMC, MC & RW) then we really should have an achievable target to get into the top 4.
That would be a good stepping stone for next season to continue the squad overhaul.

 

[Wilt]

We’ll do well to make 5th/6th.

We’re a 25/1 shot to win the prem. I can’t remember the last time Utd’s odds were so big preseason.

 

[Zlatattack]

Not a chance. Spurs, Liverpool and Man City are all better than us. 4th is the best we can hope for this season. We need to achieve that and then spend again in the summer to close the gap.

 

[red4ever 79]

Not a chance. Spurs, Liverpool and Man City are all better than us. 4th is the best we can hope for this season. We need to achieve that and then spend again in the summer to close the gap.

Sensible post

 

[red_de_pologne]

No, but I expect us to fight for the 3rd unless Ole turns out to be clueless in managing personas in the dressing room.

 

[Negative Red]

At the start of the season every team should be aiming to win the league. Realistically though, 4th is a target we should be aiming for and that depends on how successful we are in the remainder of the transfer window. With our current crop of players we're looking at 6th again.

 

[AfroBuffalo]

Yes, of course we can. The chances of it happening are very unlikely though.

I think the acquisition of a CB, RW & CM (all good signings, of course) will give us a good squad going into next season

Despite the ending to last season I still feel Ole is the perfect manager for how we want to be playing; attacking from the front with pace plus rapid counters

City and Liverpool are better than us and I tip both of them to finish higher, but, I wouldn’t write us off from the get go

 

[Bestietom]

We need top players for our midfield, not prospects. We already have good prospects here, and they should get their chance first. ( Garner, Gomes )

 

[ice-bionic red]

No. Not this time

 

[Mark Pawelek]

Not next season. I think we won't get higher than 3rd. 'pool and city surely above us.

 

[TRUERED89]

3-4 more signings required first, Sky are currently reporting United have increased their bid for McGuire to £70m.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Not yet.

 

[Needham]

- What if a great pre-season, focusing on fitness levels as well as some sort of development of a style of play will make that huge of a difference?

- What if Rashford and Martial go no the next level of their ability and kick on from there?

- Spurs should really be feeling defeated by now, they just can’t win anything, it’s all too much to take for them, surely.
Their best players probably cannot wait to get the feck out of there, their manager too.

- Liverpool and City are great and all, but who knows what will happen to their consistency? Maybe City will focus on Europe and Liverpool will simply struggle and be found out tactically by plenty.

That’s the bare minimum that should be expected at this club, with so much financial power.

This has got to be 2006/2007 all over again, six years is way too long.
Remember Camp Nou, 1 9 9 9

I like you. You have the courage to start a lot of threads, some of which are interesting. But I'm begging you to keep the meds out in some place where you can see them.

 

[Tiber]

Its going to be a real hard battle for 4th. At absolute minimum there are three teams who simply have much better players than us. City are in a different stratosphere

 

[Rojofiam]

No, because nowadays you'll need 95+ points for the title...City set the bar pretty high

 

[DRM]

No

 

[mitchmouse]

simlest question I've ever been asked (wish O Levels had been like this).

No! even Arsenal will finish above us again

 

[Mancnz]

- What if a great pre-season, focusing on fitness levels as well as some sort of development of a style of play will make that huge of a difference?

- What if Rashford and Martial go no the next level of their ability and kick on from there?

- Spurs should really be feeling defeated by now, they just can’t win anything, it’s all too much to take for them, surely.
Their best players probably cannot wait to get the feck out of there, their manager too.

- Liverpool and City are great and all, but who knows what will happen to their consistency? Maybe City will focus on Europe and Liverpool will simply struggle and be found out tactically by plenty.

That’s the bare minimum that should be expected at this club, with so much financial power.

This has got to be 2006/2007 all over again, six years is way too long.
Remember Camp Nou, 1 9 9 9

Love the optimism , although personally il just be happy if the energy and style of play improves this season and we contend in a couple years.

 

[youmeletsfly]

If we crash a few airplanes on City's and Liverpool's stadiums maybe yes.

But in reality the answer is hell nawl. We might be lucky and get top4.

 

[matt10000]

Yes but not very likely - according to Paddy Power we have a 30/1 chance of winning the EPL & a 11/10 chance of a top four place!

Winning EPL
Man City 8/13
Liverpool 23/10
Spurs 16/1
Chelsea 25/1
Utd 30/1
Arse 50/1

 

[Bestietom]

Maybe 4/5 players still needed. Much stronger midfield and more leaders, but I would expect a big improvement if we get the right players in.

 

[Volumiza]

I always try to enter a new season with optimism but even thinking of winning the league is stretching that optimism a bit too much.

There's just way too much ground to make up on our rivals and too big a mess to sort out in our own squad.

More, I'm trying to be optimistic that our team will look and play like a team heading in the right direction. For the first time EVER, I am going to say 'I'll be happy with 4th'!.

 

[Stacks]

I wonder if in other forums in other countries, teams who have finishes 30 odd points off the top are making threads about possibilities of winning the league?

 

[Shark]

We aren't winning the league any time soon. We're a giant only by name right now, everything else about the club oozes mediocrity. Liverpool and City are handing out new contracts to players that have just won major trophies, we are handing out contracts to players such as Juan Mata who's done feck all for 6 years aside from a few goals here and there. It's not good enough.

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

I wonder if in other forums in other countries, teams who have finishes 30 odd points off the top are making threads about possibilities of winning the league?

None of those teams have the financial power that Manchester United have, even with them Glazers in charge, nor do they have the history.

If you’re talking about AC Milan, then as far as I’m concerned they should be starting the next season going for the league, that should be their aim, surely someone started a similar thread on a Milan forum.

 

[sunama]

We still have all of the same faces in the dressing room that lost to Cardiff were hammered by Everton and couldn't beat Huddersfield....!!

That's exactly what I'm thinking.
We are renewing contracts of players who have been failing for the last few years.
It would be the equivalent of us renewing the contract of D.Moyes, after he got us 7th place and then expect him to win us the league.

The people who think that we'll get top 4 are not using any logic. They are pinning their hopes that we'll perform well because our fitness will be better. Unless we buy an entirely new team with "specimens" proven to already possess a freakishly high fitness level, the fitness level of players will be exactly the same as it was last season and the season before that. The mentality of the players needs to change. When this happens, the same player who was fat, overweight, huffing and puffing after 20 minutes will be doing whatever it takes to improve his physical ability (in training) and it will show on the pitch.

The truth is that most of the players in our roster do not possess the mind-set to win. Jose was a serial winner. He won many trophies with 100s of different players and when he arrived, the first thing he noted (and spoke about in an interview) was that the mentality of our players is not that of winners. This would come to pass when he demanded that they raise their game, but they didn't bother and would lose to teams in the relegation zone. This repeated itself last season, under Ole and I have no doubt it will continue to repeat itself this season.

 

[SER19]

Yes but not very likely - according to Paddy Power we have a 30/1 chance of winning the EPL & a 11/10 chance of a top four place!

Winning EPL
Man City 8/13
Liverpool 23/10
Spurs 16/1
Chelsea 25/1
Utd 30/1
Arse 50/1

30/1! I’m not remotely optimistic but I’m happy to waste a fiver.

 

[matt10000]

30/1! I’m not remotely optimistic but I’m happy to waste a fiver.

There were probably Leicester fans that said the same thing but the competition wasn't as good then