- Genuine Title Challenge: I have been a massive fan of the work Ole has done thus far and in fact, he doesn't get the respect he deserves from half of the fanbase. However, it gets to a point where progress can only be determined by success and we are at the stage now where we have to look to seriously compete. I expect that we are within touching distance of the title barring some unforeseen injuries etc.
- Champions League Progression: I am one of those who believe that even last season we had a team capable of surprising people in the Champions League. We outplayed PSG like I haven't seen from a Utd side in a decade and looked comfortable in a tough group. Now as we all know, it quickly fell apart after some poor results we crashed out but I would expect us to go one further this season and at least progress from the group. In my opinion, we should expect to progress further with this side. I think across Europe the top teams are going through a relative period of crisis and I would fancy us against most sides so this could be one competition we could pull a few surprises.
- Domestic Cups: Personally, I don't really hold the domestic cup defeats over Ole very strongly for two reasons. Firstly, the standard of the Premier League right now is brilliant, there are a number of top teams and equally a group of very hard teams below that, who are all capable of beating anyone on their day. Secondly, the calendar over Covid has been insane and there have been few opportunities to rotate or rest key players which resulted in us falling away at the tail end of the domestic cups. Progress for me would be another good run in either/both cups and if we can get to a final/win that would be excellent but not the biggest factor when accessing the season as a whole.
- Summary: Ole has built one of the strongest teams in the league on paper and I think it's now time to place higher expectations onto Ole and the playing staff. In order to call this season progress, I think we either need to improve on our league title run and win it, or push the challengers close. Alongside that, providing we don't get a group of death we should be progressing from the group in the Champions League and potentially going further. Domestic cups are a bonus, but it would be great to end this mini trophy drought. All of this also fits under the umbrella of continuous improvement to our style of football. I think with the additions we have made we should be expecting more consistently cohesive performances and ideally a greater degree of control during matches. Now this is an awfully long post and as I'm writing it I realise there are still many factors to consider so it's hard to nail down 'progress' but I truly believe Ole knows what he wants and now it's time to deliver on that.