Ambition

[Bastian]

This is not one of those threads where you are slated for being critical and the demand is to keep in line and only be positive. But it's still a very positive thread

I've wanted Ronnie back for years for the pure romance and entertainment, as that's really what it's all about for me. We have no idea how far this group under Ole can go this season, but watching United has become as exciting again as it was under SAF. Finally.

So so so so thankful.

I think we needed this badly, for more than pure footballing reasons (on the pitch) as he brings with him demands and in his interview he was just talking about what we need to win the league and the CL. And thankfully Ole has put some pressure on the players, when asked if they could now enjoy someone else taking the spotlight he said that they now have to step up, as there is no hiding place. And the same goes for Ole and his staff. We're finally back to the right level of ambition, which we haven't been since SAF retired. Whether we get there this season or the next is not the be all for me, but I don't want to see the players or the manager talking down our chances or dampening expectations.

And that atmosphere...wow!

edit: title change. More relevant.

 

[drunkmonkmeth]

Not gonna lie felt like 2012

 

[Dante]

I first started lurking on this forum in 2006 and then joined in 2010.

The 'Caf was a different place back then. Not just because there were fewer rules which made it feel like the Wild West. But also because of the atmosphere was about optimism and belief. There were genuinely hopeful threads about trebles and quadruples. And every fixture discussion assumed we'd make it to the latter stages of the CL.

This is the first time since Fergie left that that feeling is back. Not just online, obviously. But on the streets of Manchester as well. I live in town, so I've been hearing drunken Ronaldo chants and random Siuuuu's all night. Plus, every kid seems to have been wearing a United shirt all day (not that they all stopped, but it's the vast majority once again).

It's feels special to be a United fan again.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Feels United again. This season will be special.

BELIEVE.

 

[RetroStu]

I first started lurking on this forum in 2006 and then joined in 2010.

The 'Caf was a different place back then. Not just because there were fewer rules which made it feel like the Wild West. But also because of the atmosphere was about optimism and belief. There were genuinely hopeful threads about trebles and quadruples. And every fixture discussion assumed we'd make it to the latter stages of the CL.

This is the first time since Fergie left that that feeling is back. Not just online, obviously. But on the streets of Manchester as well. I live in town, so I've been hearing drunken Ronaldo chants and random Siuuuu's all night. Plus, every kid seems to have been wearing a United shirt all day (not that they all stopped, but it's the vast majority once again).

It's feels special to be a United fan again.

To be honest, this is probably the first time post SAF where we have the team and players to properly challenge on all fronts. Adding a player like Ronaldo to the mix means we can still 'believe' that we will win games even when playing badly.

 

[SirAF]

This is the first time since Fergie left that that feeling is back. Not just online, obviously. But on the streets of Manchester as well. I live in town, so I've been hearing drunken Ronaldo chants and random Siuuuu's all night. Plus, every kid seems to have been wearing a United shirt all day (not that they all stopped, but it's the vast majority once again).

It's feels special to be a United fan again.

Love it

 

[Bilbo]

Under Jose and LVG I'd started to miss the odd game if I had plans. That had never happened before. Last 2 years I've gone back to arranging my life around United games and getting to as many games as I can

 

[Adnan]

I agree @Bastian , it feels like we've got our house in order and I actually watched MOTD in its entirety for the first time since SAF retired over the weekend.

Eventhough I'm not sure if Ole will be the manager to take us to the next step (major trophies), I feel he will at the very least, leave behind a team that most if not all prospective new coaches will want to manage. But I hope it doesn't come to that and he himself leads us to the title. But Ole along with the transfer committe have done a great job as far as raising expectations go.

There's always gonna be people who complain (like me ) but if someone asked me at the end of last season that we'd add Sancho, Varane, Ronaldo to the team, I'd never have believed them. I think it's a very exciting time to be a United fan right now.

 

[jesperjaap]

Far too early to tell. Its good we have shown ambition in the transfer mrket with the three signings we have made, who should all be quality......big mistake not signing a central midfielder though.

But if you look at our games so far, we struggled against SOuthampton, we struggled against Newcastle as well yesterday until we got a two goal margin, they created lots of chances....if Callum WIlson was playing it could have been a different result.

The atmosphere about at the moment with fans back in the ground, a good couple of signings and then Ronaldo is brilliant. There have been moments in games this season that show promise and good football coming back, but there have been several of these under past seasons under Ole too.

I am still not sure consistently over the season with our midfield weaknesses, on the pitch we will get close to some of the expectations now off of it to be honest. The quality at the top of the table is very very high this season. Liverpool now have pretty much the side that won the champions league back with injued players returning, horrible todays injury, he looks such a promising player, City are always going to be very consistent points wise and Chelsea look to have continued there form at the end of the last season an dlook efficient. Adding Lukaku who I have never lked is still going to be more effective than Werner, he will get goals even though he will miss chances in big games, still think he is hugely over rated even though a better player than we saw here....but that is arguably the best three sides in Europe all in our league.

I think the level of the league this season around the top 7/8 clubs if you exclude Arsenal (who may not even finish that high), its probably the strongest premiership in terms of number of quality teams I can remember. It isnt the best Chelsea, City or Liverpool side or of course ours in permiership history, but all four are good and the level as a whole in the top half is very high, I only think there are four weak sides this season....we have already played two of them

 

[Bondi77]

I agree @Bastian , it feels like we've got our house in order and I actually watched MOTD in its entirety for the first time since SAF retired over the weekend.

Eventhough I'm not sure if Ole will be the manager to take us to the next step (major trophies), I feel he will at the very least, leave behind a team that most if not all prospective new coaches will want to manage. But I hope it doesn't come to that and he himself leads us to the title. But Ole along with the transfer committe have done a great job as far as raising expectations go. I

There's always gonna be people who complain (like me ) but if someone asked me at the end of last season that we'd add Sancho, Varane, Ronaldo to the team, I'd never have believed them. I think it's a very exciting time to be a United fan right now.

Don't forget Heaton

 

[Adnan]

Don't forget Heaton

How could I forget..

 

[Kelly15]

Very exciting to be a United supporter. It's been a while since we had this type of buzz. Ole has done a amazing job. He handles the media very well. Has assembled a fantastic squad. His understanding of the game is on another level. Has got some fantastic coaches surrounding him. The perfect Manger for us. Once we get that first trophy under him, we will be off and flying.

We do what we want! We do what we waaaaannt! We're Man United! We do what we want!

 

[EtH]

I wouldn’t go so far as to say excitement levels are back on a level with the SAF days. That is a big statement for me anyway. While I’m cautiously optimistic, there are still serious questions over team balance / cohesion and squad utilization.

But with that said I haven’t been this excited to watch us and expectant of what we might achieve since Fergie. The return of Ronaldo not only adds obvious quality but the swagger we’ve been missing since the great man retired. Both of those statements are a credit to Ole. But the question for me is still on OGS and whether he has it in him to improve to the level of our current ambition.

Can he balance the side ? Can he solve our lack of cohesion in breaking down low blocks ? Can he change a match with substitutions ? Can he manage a squad with so many options and big personalities ? Can he rotate the squad effectively ?

These are all legitimate questions. I certainly hope the answer is yes to most if not all. Because if not we almost certainly will lose Pogba on a free and will thus have multiple holes to fill again next summer. So while I am excited and hopeful this season like none post-SAF, there is genuine concern as well should results not match our ambition this season.

 

[tomaldinho1]

We won't be playing Leeds or Newcastle every week though - the real test [insert Ole's first real test gag here] is the run coming up shortly where we have this run from GW8: Leicester, Pool, Spurs, City, Watford, Chelsea.

It's so pointless to try and predict how these games will go before we see if Ole is going to change his defensive approach from last season which obviously wasn't very successful against top 4 + Leicester (WDDDDDLL) but if we continue to attack in these games I'll start to be more inclined to say we're getting back to being an entertaining team. People are really underestimating how overpowered the top 4 are this season, gap between the best and the rest is ever growing, title will go down to the head to heads this season.

 

[Bastian]

I'm not saying "we're back" or that all of the questions over Ole and the team have been answered positively. I'm highlighting that the ambition is finally where it should be and Ole has put it on the players - and thereby himself as well. Which is how it should be. No hiding place. That is what Varane brought to a degree and what Ronaldo brings in bucket loads. It makes all the difference to me.

 

[Bastian]

How wrong can one be!

 

[AndySmith1990]

We have no ambition. Teams with ambition to win trophies wouldn't have Maguire as captain. They wouldn't have Scott Mctominay and Fred in the team. They wouldn't have a pensioner leading the line.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Feels United again. This season will be special.

BELIEVE.

@Bastian , you were not alone.

 

[Bastian]

@Bastian , you were not alone.

I'm still well embarrassed. Should have known that the culture was toxic. We've known for years that we've overpaid for players, given them way above what they merit, and always sided with them over managers. But Ronnie, I mean, he's maybe 10% of the player he was.

 

[The Firestarter]

 

[Ish]

We have no ambition. Teams with ambition to win trophies wouldn't have Maguire as captain. They wouldn't have Scott Mctominay and Fred in the team. They wouldn't have a pensioner leading the line.

I'd say cluelessness above ambition. We spent a record amount on Maguire and Fred wasn't cheap either. We've just been shite at picking/backing managers and sticking with underperforming players for too long - shite at selling as well.

What other top team would still have Jones around or failed/refused to cash in on Lingard last season - if not years before then? It's all really unexplainable when "armchair" experts make a million times more sense wrt most things football, than supposed pros running one of the biggest clubs in the world. Mind boggling.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I'm still well embarrassed. Should have known that the culture was toxic. We've known for years that we've overpaid for players, given them way above what they merit, and always sided with them over managers. But Ronnie, I mean, he's maybe 10% of the player he was.

I spent 3 years saying how sh*t OgS was then we signed Ronnie & I lost all composure. We can agree to be embarrassed together mate. ‘It feels United again’ feck me

 

[Bastian]

I spent 3 years saying how sh*t OgS was then we signed Ronnie & I lost all composure. We can agree to be embarrassed together mate. ‘It feels United again’ feck me

Agreed. I'll criticise him more often. It seems to be working.

 

[::sonny::]

Zero ambition

The strikers have my age

Lost greenwood, martial, beek and zero signings (Liverpool signed luis diaz)

Still playing with Matic, Maguire, McFred, Bailly, Jones, Mata, Lingard still in the squad

The level of the squad is embarrassing

Can’t understand why people think the future will be better

Every year is the next year…

The reality is that the club will be irrelevant in the next few years.

Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Southampton, Wolves, West Ham, Newcastle these are the competitors not surely City, Liverpool, Chelsea and even Arsenal (they have a clear project)

 

[pocco]

Very exciting to be a United supporter. It's been a while since we had this type of buzz. Ole has done a amazing job. He handles the media very well. Has assembled a fantastic squad. His understanding of the game is on another level. Has got some fantastic coaches surrounding him. The perfect Manger for us. Once we get that first trophy under him, we will be off and flying.

We do what we want! We do what we waaaaannt! We're Man United! We do what we want!

This aged well

 

[Adnan]

I'm still very optimistic and really looking forward to the future. Having followed the club from the 16s, upwards, it gives me a lot of hope with the work that is going on at youth level to catch up with City and Chelsea who we fell behind under David Gill's tenure.

And the way i'm looking at things at first team level is that we need a head coach who understands his position as the first team trainer and also understands that (like Klopp at Liverpool) he needs to embrace the club's recruitment department. And if they then recruit players for a particular way of playing the game, then I fully expect to see a identity develop when it comes to a style of play. Which in-turn will create conditions for us to challenge for the league.

But if we appoint someone and that someone is allowed their own scout(s) like we saw with Ole and Mourinho, then that could pose a issue. Rodgers and Pochettino have wanted their personal recruitment staff in the past, so need to be wary of that.

 

[L1nk]

I don't think you should feel embarassed about feeling good about this season. All things considered there's no real reason we shouldn't have improved on last season. Yes, Ronaldo coming back was maybe a sentimental decision but i'm not going to lie it was a great feeling to see Ronnie don our jersey again. Has he been playing to his standard? No, but then he isn't the only issue with this team.

I honestly think from this summer we have more reason to be optimistic than we have in years. Woodward is gone, the Glazers finally relenting and wanting more fan engagement, football people are being put in place to oversee the football side, Arnold realising he isn't a football person so won't meddle as much as Woodward, Rangnick will be consulting for at least 2 years. A new manager in the ilk of ETH. A lot of things that have happened this season alone going into this summer we haven't seen in years of Glazer ownership, maybe the penny has finally dropped. I realise maybe it will just be another false dawn, but something feels different about this than every other time.

 

[bond19821982]

Zero ambition

The strikers have my age

Lost greenwood, martial, beek and zero signings (Liverpool signed luis diaz)

Still playing with Matic, Maguire, McFred, Bailly, Jones, Mata, Lingard still in the squad

The level of the squad is embarrassing

Can’t understand why people think the future will be better

Every year is the next year…

The reality is that the club will be irrelevant in the next few years.

Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Southampton, Wolves, West Ham, Newcastle these are the competitors not surely City, Liverpool, Chelsea and even Arsenal (they have a clear project)

Because you are only looking at negatives.
I am very excited though. A new manager with fresh ideas will transform us. We have a structure in place. If someone like Liverpool can walk back after 25 years of mediocrity, we can also do with a proper manager.

Level of squad isn't embarrassing to be honest. Bruno, Sancho, Varane is still a good base to start with. We may not challenge Liverpool or City but we will do better next year.

 

[Revaulx]

@Adnan ’s posts on here are my only source of optimism

He seems to have a fair idea if what’s going on behind the scenes without being a Glazer shill or Top Red, and seems confident that the club has not only been recruiting capable “proper football men” and building a solid structure, but also is now prepared to give them meaningful decision making powers following Woodward’s departure.

We shall see what the future brings. Of course I remain very sceptical, but hey.

What would be nice would be for us to do something that increases social media engagement in the here and now, rather than as a result of nostalgia. Winning a trophy, for example. That should make the Glazers realise that there’s as much value in the present and future as there is in the past.

 

[7even]

Things you learn with age.

Every group of people needs guidance. Someone who sets the tone.

In the eighties United had a drinking culture. Sir Alex arrived and the rest is history. Today the club has similar problems even if it's not realted to alcohol. A squad who's sometimes out of control and individuals who has other priorities then football. Being elite means you has to sacrifice. Choosing rest instad of going out. Being careful with food. Stay focused and so on. Almost every player at United is elite, albiet on different levels. There is nothing wrong with their attitude but without a strong leader, a father figure who's strong enough to install discipline, create a framework the players will be lost. Mason is a prime example. Where was his mentors? The worrying signs was there for everybody to see. The trip to Iceland. Without a leadership who sets the tone it's hard for young players to achieve success. Even talented and ambitious players needs guidance. Maybe Greenwood was a lost case? I don't know but nobody will convince me that some of his behavior was unheard off before he lost his mind.

Klopp was the catalyst who transformed Liverpool to being successful. A modern Sir Alex. His leadership wasn't all about football. He took a holistic view about the club, their players and with that followed success and a club who's standing on the right fundations.

Manchester United need to find a leader who can reset the culture that Sir Alex built. Install discipline. Create a framework with the right values. We have the players even if some of them is on theor way out. We have the infra structure to develop talents. We have resources.

This is a long term project. No less then 5-10 years. Is Ten Hag a long term solution who's willing to invest 10 years of his life in a foreign country? If that's the case he's a good candidate. If not. That's why we should have a look at Graham Potter. He tic most of the boxes we need apart from playing football in aattractive way. Leading United it's more than just being present daytime at Carington. It's a 24/7 mission and a lifestyle.

There is a reason that we in the end called the last successful manager we had the Godfather of Manchester United.

 

[stefan92]

This is a long term project. No less then 5-10 years.

Luckily you are wrong here. While it is true that United need some kind of cultural reboot, it can be done much faster.

Give a new manager a preseason to get to know the players and see who is committed and who isn't and than get rid of those, maybe sign one or two true leaders for the squad and that's halfway there, the rest can evolve over 1-2 seasons.

And to be clear, you might not be able to sell the players, but you can't be forced to play the bad apples or even include them in the match day squad either. Make sure they aren't involved any more.

 

[Adnan]

Luckily you are wrong here. While it is true that United need some kind of cultural reboot, it can be done much faster.

Give a new manager a preseason to get to know the players and see who is committed and who isn't and than get rid of those, maybe sign one or two true leaders for the squad and that's halfway there, the rest can evolve over 1-2 seasons.

And to be clear, you might not be able to sell the players, but you can't be forced to play the bad apples or even include them in the match day squad either. Make sure they aren't involved any more.

Agreed.

We shouldn't expect a manager to come in with a magic wand and stay 10 years. We don't need the manager to control the recruitment in the game today which has multiple departments working to provide that support.

And even Klopp at Liverpool saw the benefit of streamlining the football operations where he understood his role as the head coach and made Michael Edwards the de facto DoF, after Edwards had been widely ridiculed by the media and Liverpool fans, before the arrival of Klopp.

 

[choccy77]

I want to play for Accrington Stanley