Has Ole given up on next season already?

Minimalist

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Actually I think Ole is hedging and I am not sure that it is a very wise tactic. Miraculous is not even Leicester winning the title again (because they have done it before) or Wolves, Everton or West Ham. Miraculous is Crystal Palace, Brighton, Norwich or Sheffield United. Miraculous is not United. That statement by Ole is utterly nonsensical.

Back in 2004/05 and 2005/06 when Jose Mourinho won back to back titles, with Chelsea funded by Roman Abramovitch's cash, I do not recall Alex Ferguson ever saying that it would take a 'miracle' if United were to win the title in 2015/06. Look at our once great rivals, Liverpool, every season they seem to think that they are going to win the Premier League title, but it is that unrelenting expectation and optimism that has brought them to the very brink of doing just that.

Ole needs to start talking like a United manager . I recall David Moyes made similarly unguarded and frankly stupid comments as Manchester United manager. Ahead of the home game with Liverpool in the 2013/14 season, he announced to the waiting press that Liverpool were the favourites, only for Brendan Rogers to say that, he would never see an opposing team as favourites when Liverpool play at home.

If Ole is trying a bit of amateur psychology on both fans and opponents it is ill-judged and he should stop. United can out-spend most of their rivals and it is not unreasonable to expect that United should be competing on and at their level. Furthermore, we have seen what the current squad is capable of when they put their collective minds to it. If the players delivered that same level of commitment over the course of a 38 game season, we would absolutely be in with a shout of winning the title. Is it that Ole doesn't think he is capable of getting that level of performance from the players?
Comparing this to United and Chelsea in the mid 2000s is stupid beyond belief. Seriously go have a lie down.
 

ArjenIsM3

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We need to be realistic. There's no way we're challenging for anything next season. There's no quick fix. We need a rebuild similar to what Liverpool did and it took them what? 3 years to get to this stage? It's naïve to think we can do it in 1.
 

Livvie

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FFS, the world and his wife say that United have to rebuild and can't do it overnight, that it could take a couple of seasons at least - so with a rebuild of the entire team underway, it's obvious to Stevie Wonder that if we win the PL next year, it will be miraculous. That's realism. I suppose it would be better if Ole came out and said we're going to win the lot - which he actually might well be saying in the privacy of the dressing room. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 

AJ10

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Actually I think Ole is hedging and I am not sure that it is a very wise tactic. Miraculous is not even Leicester winning the title again (because they have done it before) or Wolves, Everton or West Ham. Miraculous is Crystal Palace, Brighton, Norwich or Sheffield United. Miraculous is not United. That statement by Ole is utterly nonsensical.

Back in 2004/05 and 2005/06 when Jose Mourinho won back to back titles, with Chelsea funded by Roman Abramovitch's cash, I do not recall Alex Ferguson ever saying that it would take a 'miracle' if United were to win the title in 2015/06. Look at our once great rivals, Liverpool, every season they seem to think that they are going to win the Premier League title, but it is that unrelenting expectation and optimism that has brought them to the very brink of doing just that.

Ole needs to start talking like a United manager . I recall David Moyes made similarly unguarded and frankly stupid comments as Manchester United manager. Ahead of the home game with Liverpool in the 2013/14 season, he announced to the waiting press that Liverpool were the favourites, only for Brendan Rogers to say that, he would never see an opposing team as favourites when Liverpool play at home.

If Ole is trying a bit of amateur psychology on both fans and opponents it is ill-judged and he should stop. United can out-spend most of their rivals and it is not unreasonable to expect that United should be competing on and at their level. Furthermore, we have seen what the current squad is capable of when they put their collective minds to it. If the players delivered that same level of commitment over the course of a 38 game season, we would absolutely be in with a shout of winning the title. Is it that Ole doesn't think he is capable of getting that level of performance from the players?
I don't know what more laughable you comparing Fergie's United vs now (highly doubt any of these players would get into that side ) or that bold part.:lol:
 

Leif GW

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Is it Moyes coaching us again?

Don't like the guy. At the start, grinning and talking about how great we are - now he's going to be 'ruthless' (whilst resigning Young, Smalling and Jones:lol:) and it is a 'miracle' if we win the league next year.

Beat it, Gollum.
 
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fastwalker

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I don't know what more laughable you comparing Fergie's United vs now (highly doubt any of these players would get into that side ) or that bold part.:lol:
Do you know what I find funny? I find it funny how quickly people forget how Alex Ferguson got the best performances out of his teams, even when the players were not the best. That was not his only great talent, but it was certainly one of them. Ferguson, turned average players into good ones and good ones into world beaters. One thing I can tell you is that if Alex Ferguson was manager at United now, those players would be delivering consistent performances and United would not be languishing in 6th. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that those players are capable of delivering not just better performances, but also consistent ones. They have shown that they can, when they want to. Clearly there are a number of areas that need to be urgently strengthened, but for the most part, what is missing from this United side is not ability, it is effort, leadership and consistent application.
 

Shark

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We need to be realistic. There's no way we're challenging for anything next season. There's no quick fix. We need a rebuild similar to what Liverpool did and it took them what? 3 years to get to this stage? It's naïve to think we can do it in 1.
They began their rebuild by hiring a proven manager at the top of his game. We’ve hired a complete rookie to lead our rebuild. It will got far worse before it gets any better.
 

lysglimt

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Liverpool just did that this season.
Liverpool were in a very special situation where they basically had 2 positions messing up a lot of Points (goalkeeper and central defender) - and they got one of the best in the World in each position. We are not in that position
 

ArjenIsM3

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They began their rebuild by hiring a proven manager at the top of his game. We’ve hired a complete rookie to lead our rebuild. It will got far worse before it gets any better.
After hiring an experienced manager didn't work three times in a row we tried something different. Shocker.
 

JustAGuest

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It seems you need at least 90 points to challenge for the title now with Guardiola in the league. It's really obvious we are not in a position to achieve that.
 

sullydnl

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We will be nowhere near next year's title winners. Realising that doesn't mean you're giving up on next season, it means you recognize the limitations of what we can actually do from our current position. People who think we can challenge are delusional and I'd sooner not have a delusional person in charge.

So no, I don't think he's given up on next season. I think he believes we can make big changes and improvements next year and return to the CL, which is the first step in the multi-year rebuild that is coming. Kicking that rebuild off well is the aim for next season.

Whether Solskjaer should be publicly acknowledging that we have zero chance of winning the league is a more nuanced question. On the one hand you could say that even if true it isn't something a Manchester United manager should openly say. That he should publicly keep to the "Manchester United should always be challenging" front and be realistic in private.

Personally though I think being honest now is the right move. At some point next year it's going to become clear (again) how far we are from challenging. If Ole then has to pivot from some unrealistic spiel to a more pragmatic assessment of where we are then he would recieve more criticism for doing so than he will for delivering the realistic assessment now. He ain't going to be able to kid anyone long into next year so why even try? Level expectations now while his strength at the club is relatively high so everyone approaches the start of his reign on the same page.
 

purgethefallen

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No he has not ‘given up’.

What he has done is point out certain realities some of our more entitled supporters seem unwilling or unable to grasp.

They simply can’t handle the truth that the glory days are over and it’s going to take time, effort and luck before they return.
Well said. Don't forget all the "he's not good enough for Man United" brigade as well.
 

crossy1686

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Is it Moyes coaching us again?

Don't like the guy. At the start, grinning and talking about how great we are - now he's going to be 'ruthless' (whilst resigning Young, Smalling and Jones:lol:) and it is a 'miracle' if we win the league next year.

Beat it, Gollum.
State of this. Got to be a rival fan
 

lysglimt

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Don't like the guy. At the start, grinning and talking about how great we are - now he's going to be 'ruthless' (whilst resigning Young, Smalling and Jones:lol:) and it is a 'miracle' if we win the league next year.

Beat it, Gollum.[/QUOTE]

People like you make me regret spending so much time here.
 

Leftback99

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We're currently 18/1 for next season's title and i expect it will be higher by the time the season kicks off.
 

el3mel

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Just like LVg and Mourinho, they all started talking brilliantly, positive and optimistic with high expectations, people say they are talking like a proper United manager, then several months later of watching this squad regularly the tone changes and they try to down expectation, become negative and pessimistic about the results.

I don't like his quotes and they are very Moyes esque but sine he he is having exactly the same trajectory as the previous 2 managers it only shows how all our managers get shocked by the crap quality of our players after watching them for a month or 2 and realize their earlier positive quotes were rubbish and we will never win with this shite so they have to lower the expectation.
 

L1nk

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Some of our "fans" need a massive reality check here. What happened when Jurgen Klopp came to Liverpool, that was like 4/5 years ago now? Only now are they really going at it on all fronts.

You all want to be challenging for the title every year, but you need to realise this isn't the glory days anymore, surely the years since Fergie has retired have taught you this, it seems like a big portion of fans have learned absolutely nothing. Our squad depleted and full of shit, the club is rotten from top to bottom, it is wholly unrealistic to be challenging for the title and CL etc under these conditions, we don't have Fergie anymore.

We need to completely reset, and under Ole, and after the past few seasons, we should be under the conditions to really do this now, you people need to have bloody patience. Of course we shouldn't fall flat on our ass but if you genuinely think we should be challenging next season you need the biggest wake up call and reality checks of your life, it won't happen, three quarters of our squad need to be thrown out on their ass for starters, but it won't happen, the entire culture of the club needs to change from what we've become, signing big name marketable players of questionable consistent ability that don't give two shits about the club beyond the extortionate amount of wages we pay them needs to go for a start.

I am absolutely all up for the signing of young quality players, blooding them in with youth and some experience, and watching the team grow together, hopefully into a formidable team capable of challenging on all fronts again, isn't this what everyone has wanted? Well it isn't going to happen in a season, i'm willing to give Ole the 3 years, as long as, like Liverpool, there's noticeable improvement and direction of our team and play on the field.
 

K2K

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"Can Manchester United score? They always score"
I would like to believe that he has not but if he did then I am not sure what he is still doing here. No one is expecting us to challenge for anything but the least we can hope is some watchable football and TOP 4. Is it too much to ask? Instead we seem to be worried about Everton, Leicester and Watford.
We are probably closer to those teams than we are to the top. We are actually getting worse under the current management with each passing game.
 

Josh 76

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Christ on a cracker! Embarrassing! :lol:



The narrative hasn't changed, he still believes and more importantly wants to challenge / win titles.

He's just saying it will take time, we aren't going to go from 29pts from Champions to champions.

In the last 5 seasons we've finished

  • 17pts from Champions
  • 15pts from Champions
  • 24pts from Champions
  • 19pts from Champions
  • 29pts from Champions (it will be more tomorrow evening)
Avg of 20pts from Champions

We've literally seen the gap to PL Champs double under Jose's tenure, but folks bemoan the LVG era?

Anyway, Ole needs to close an avg 20pt gap and then increase it, realistically we need to win an extra 25-30pts if City's form continues as has.
Feck me those point tallys are worrying. We were closer to the League leaders in the 70s and 80s.
 

ivaldo

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We are signing some dude called James who should be going to Leeds. Yes he’s given up and once again the club is backing a dud.
"Some dude called James." Doesn't know who he is but knows he's shit. Right.
 

steakpie

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He's right though. At the moment our level is Everton, Wolves, Leicester. You can argue we're maybe a little stronger but there isn't much in it!
I completely disagree.
We only finished low in the table because we had Mourinho for a good part of the season. Before Ole came in, we were 11 points off top 4, and had a goal difference of 0.

If you added 11 points to our current tally, we would comfortably in 3rd place, behind 2 superb teams/managers.

I don't like this small mind mentality, it just sets up excuses if he fails. I like the manager to have a little bit of arrogance and positivity.
 

The Man Himself

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Being realistic about next season based on where we are doesn't equate to giving up on next season. Is there no end to shite threads to like these?
 

IrishRedDevil

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Pathetic, weak comments from Ole. Gives me absolutely no hope to be positive about next season.

When Jose come out with similar he was slaughtered.

At the start he was talking about how good our players were etc, now the sudden change of tune. I understand our players aren’t as good as he initially thought, but why did he blow his load so early and say all the positive things? Naive!
 

Zexstream

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Ole looks to be taking a leaf from Fergie's playbook.

It seems a lot of fans are either too young or forgotten the years of Atkinson and the huge rebuild Fergie had to perform.

Even then Fergie nearly lost his job, it took an FA cup run to save him and the rest is history.

Ole recognises there is no instant fix, it will take time , investment and new blood.

If Ole can emulate a quarter of what Fergie achieved ill be happy.
 

fergieisold

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I completely disagree.
We only finished low in the table because we had Mourinho for a good part of the season. Before Ole came in, we were 11 points off top 4, and had a goal difference of 0.

If you added 11 points to our current tally, we would comfortably in 3rd place, behind 2 superb teams/managers.

I don't like this small mind mentality, it just sets up excuses if he fails. I like the manager to have a little bit of arrogance and positivity.
We have a massive job this summer. We've just lost Herrera, and might lose Pogba. That leaves us with next to no midfield. If that isn't fixed we'll finish 6th or 7th next season.
 

Kapardin

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We have a massive job this summer. We've just lost Herrera, and might lose Pogba. That leaves us with next to no midfield. If that isn't fixed we'll finish 6th or 7th next season.
Technically we are likely to finish 6th with them, so we will probably finish 8th next season with no replacements. Imagine a midfield of Fred, McTominay and Pereira for 38 league games...
 

AJ10

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Do you know what I find funny? I find it funny how quickly people forget how Alex Ferguson got the best performances out of his teams, even when the players were not the best. That was not his only great talent, but it was certainly one of them. Ferguson, turned average players into good ones and good ones into world beaters.
One thing I can tell you is that if Alex Ferguson was manager at United now, those players would be delivering consistent performances and United would not be languishing in 6th. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that those players are capable of delivering not just better performances, but also consistent ones. They have shown that they can, when they want to. Clearly there are a number of areas that need to be urgently strengthened, but for the most part, what is missing from this United side is not ability, it is effort, leadership and consistent application.
Fergie was a special manager but he's not here any more, so don't see the point of bringing fergie into this.

You were on a roll until that bold part. Lingard can be Messi but only when he wants to/Jones can be Vidic But only when he wants to :rolleyes:. They showed consistency over the course of 14 games then fell apart, yeah they really showed everyone how they can perform over the season. Big difference between being consistent over the course of a season and over certain number of games. Over the course of a season we see players real quality and its usually wise to take their performances over the season rather the certain number of games as that can lead people (you) to believe they are far better than they actually showed over the season.


You think we're not missing quality in this team?

Young
Smalling
Jones
Rojo
Matic
Lingard
Fred
Baily
Lukaku

If only they put in more effort and showed leadership then that will completely Erase their limitations such as ; Pass/Cross/Shoot/Dribble/Defend/Composure/Control of the ball/Footballing Intelligence.
 

matt23

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I should hope he has. Forget about the title, forget about top 4. We need to rebuild the culture of the club and by the sounds of it we're looking for young hungrier players.

I think anyone hoping for a title challenge with a new manager and a dressing room full of young players is going to be disappointed. My best expectation is that we'll see glimpses of a brighter future, hopefully we start to build a team of players willing to run for 90 minutes bare minimum, I expect us to be inconsistent though.
 

Mainoldo

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How can you write him off if you don't even know who he is?
Why are you confident he’s going to succeed. I don’t know him as much as 80% of people on here. So my point should be as valid as someone not writing him off.
 

Paul_Scholes18

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We should be bloody going for the title next season. We might fail because City are better than us, but we should bloody go for it. That a United manager goes out and say we don't have a chance to compete with Pool and City so we might as well give them the title doesn't sound right.
 

ivaldo

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Well considering not many do. Can we call it 50/50? Or you going to support that he’s a good player?
I’m not going to lose my shit for signing a prospect. I don’t have to decide he’s a horrible player who should have signed for Leeds without knowing anything about him, and nor do you.
 

Mainoldo

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I’m not going to lose my shit for signing a prospect. I don’t have to decide he’s a horrible player who should have signed for Leeds without knowing anything about him, and nor do you.
£15m the report fee is. Not £1m. It’s a very expensive punt don’t you think.

So yes questions have to be asked, considering his profile and where we are signing him from.
 

Toad

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Don’t know why people get pissed off with comments like that. He clearly has his head screwed on, you can’t make up that many points over a summer especially if we don’t have champions league to attract some players. It’s going to take a good 3 years to be anywhere near challenging and that’s if we have a ‘miraculous’ time in the transfer market with no mistakes.
 

Nytram Shakes

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Next season shouldn't be the priority, we arn't gonna compete next season, we need to accept that, our aim should trying to be ready to compete in 3/4 years. Have a plan about how we are going to get to that point, bringing in players who will be in thier prime in that period, who will fit into a way of playing.

Not we should give up on next season, our manager and team should try to do as well as they possibly can, but it isn't the priority.
 

Paul_Scholes18

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Next season shouldn't be the priority, we arn't gonna compete next season, we need to accept that, our aim should trying to be ready to compete in 3/4 years. Have a plan about how we are going to get to that point, bringing in players who will be in thier prime in that period, who will fit into a way of playing.

Not we should give up on next season, our manager and team should try to do as well as they possibly can, but it isn't the priority.
I think that type of mentality might see some players like Pogba wanting to leave if we are building for a challenge 3 years into the future.

I think we should go for it next season. Although not just buying old players past the prime of course.