Fair enough. Apologies
Thinking the unthinkable : Winning the League next season - It's alright, we're on
- Thread starter rcoobc
- Start date
I think every United fan would say the two key additions are a classy fast centre back, and a right sided quality attacker.
Get those 2 in and the already impressively turned round lineup starts to get very competitive indeed.
We have already secured Ighalo until Jan, which is a smart bit of business, and Greenwood will be that year older.
Straight away those are two huge factors over the madness of going in with only Rashford and Martial last year.
Get those 2 in and the already impressively turned round lineup starts to get very competitive indeed.
We have already secured Ighalo until Jan, which is a smart bit of business, and Greenwood will be that year older.
Straight away those are two huge factors over the madness of going in with only Rashford and Martial last year.
Honestly I'm a very optimistic type of United fan (not so much of a person in general) and I can say that surley we are looking at a two season project at best if we show strong improvement in the 20/21 season. It's not impossible and in my opinion the 05/06 season is a strong example of that. We were not ready, but heading in the proper direction.
I'd say get Sancho and Grealish, then keep Smalling (we'd be fecked if Maguire is injured), would do the trick. Getting a world class CB would be nice, but it's not realistic (money wise).
We need Sancho and preferrably a first choice midfield anchor at the very least, and see if Ighalo can stay permanently when his loan ends. In addition, we probably need another centre back since Mike and Rojo are as good as gone, Bailly is unreliable, Jones is permanently injured and not very good and Tuanzebe is still an unknown quantity at the moment. We should be looking into Thiago Silva as a Blanc-style stop-gap. He's still capable and would be free.
Then we'd have decent depth throughout the team without ever having to see the likes of Lingard or Andreas again.
Then we'd have decent depth throughout the team without ever having to see the likes of Lingard or Andreas again.
Our bench is too garbage. Probably 1-2 more summers without brainfart transfers, and then we can talk.
It could happen if our players can stay fit and we find some consistency.
Still think we are 4 or 5 signings away from a title winning SQUAD.
The first team is almost there. Sancho and a centreback with pace solves that. We also need a young ball winning midfielder like Ndidi or a deep lying playmaker like Tonali to rotate with Matic. A fast centreback to partner Maguire would be great. Lindelof is good but he is more of a Maguire backup than a Maguire partner to me. Lindelof, Tuanzebe and Mengi as backup to Maguire and someone like Upamecano. I think Bailly is good put he is injured alot and has abit too much rashness in him for me to be comfortable with him playing often.
Then you look at RB backup but maybe Laird and Dalot can cover that and Williams and Shaw on the other side especially since Dalot can play either side.
Then it's a striker. I personally think Martial, Rashford and Greenwood is enough but if a Haaland or L.Martinez become available we would be silly to not jump int he race.
The first team is almost there. Sancho and a centreback with pace solves that. We also need a young ball winning midfielder like Ndidi or a deep lying playmaker like Tonali to rotate with Matic. A fast centreback to partner Maguire would be great. Lindelof is good but he is more of a Maguire backup than a Maguire partner to me. Lindelof, Tuanzebe and Mengi as backup to Maguire and someone like Upamecano. I think Bailly is good put he is injured alot and has abit too much rashness in him for me to be comfortable with him playing often.
Then you look at RB backup but maybe Laird and Dalot can cover that and Williams and Shaw on the other side especially since Dalot can play either side.
Then it's a striker. I personally think Martial, Rashford and Greenwood is enough but if a Haaland or L.Martinez become available we would be silly to not jump int he race.
Sign sancho and WC CB,
we will challenge for sure.
pogba Bruno rashford sancho greenwood martial
We could miss any two of the above and still have enough to win games so I don’t buy the squad depth bs.
If this season shows you anything it’s that ole can win against the big teams with ease.
He could have Bruno, Pogba and Sancho next season to beat everyone else. almost 3 new signings.
The depth is there if we sign sancho and a CB, no doubt (even Michael Keane would do)
we will challenge for sure.
pogba Bruno rashford sancho greenwood martial
We could miss any two of the above and still have enough to win games so I don’t buy the squad depth bs.
If this season shows you anything it’s that ole can win against the big teams with ease.
He could have Bruno, Pogba and Sancho next season to beat everyone else. almost 3 new signings.
The depth is there if we sign sancho and a CB, no doubt (even Michael Keane would do)
I think there's still a few in that team that would need to become squad players that are a step up from the current set of squad players.The makings of something great?Since Sir Alex left, we've always been 3 or 4 players away from a real title charge. Yes Mourinho finished 2nd, well done. I'm sure he'll put that 2nd place certificate on the wall above pictures of his Champions League triumphs *unless he threw the certificate into the crowd as well.
But I'd like to say that today, we're not 3 or 4 players away from a real title challenge; we're only one player away. Stick a RVN into that team and it would chase 95 points. Or a Keane to control the midfield.
Cast out the negativity of yonder years I say. Be gone, the demons of the past.
In all seriousness, City will probably walk the league if they aren't playing in Europe and Liverpool will probably win the Champions League just to show off.
But I don't think there can be any excuses with that team. If Pogba stays, anything less than a title challenge isn't good enough.
I rate Shaw higher than Mendy, Davies, Tierney, Alonso, and maybe Chilwell. The only LB who is definitely better is Robertson (despite doing his best Moreno impression today).
He is better than all of those but Chilwell is debatable. Robertson, Chilwell and Shaw are the best 3 imo. Although that's when Shaw's fit and that's been a problem in the long term for him.
We are over-reliant on Fernandes at this point. Question marks regarding consistency from the rest. There is a lot of potential though.
Our bench has decent options for defensive mid cover with Fred and McTominay but attacking or creativity wise Ighalo is decent, but question marks over James. Lingard, Mata aren't good, not sure about the kids.
Defensively - Maguire and Wan-Bissaka are great but not sure about the rest around them. Williams looks good.
We need Martial and Rashford to start becoming consistent goal scorers - both go through long goal droughts during seasons where they lose focus, run down blind alleys at times, try not enough in Martial's case or try too much in Rashford's case.
Plenty of pluses though if we can keep majority of our squad fit we could give it a go but its about whether our squad can get that winning mentality. Not playing in front of crowds has actually broken the shackles but whether they can play under pressure again we'll see
Not sure how much covid will affect our ability in the transfer market though. I think it's a bit too soon still next year but going for top honours should be the goal all the time.
Our bench has decent options for defensive mid cover with Fred and McTominay but attacking or creativity wise Ighalo is decent, but question marks over James. Lingard, Mata aren't good, not sure about the kids.
Defensively - Maguire and Wan-Bissaka are great but not sure about the rest around them. Williams looks good.
We need Martial and Rashford to start becoming consistent goal scorers - both go through long goal droughts during seasons where they lose focus, run down blind alleys at times, try not enough in Martial's case or try too much in Rashford's case.
Plenty of pluses though if we can keep majority of our squad fit we could give it a go but its about whether our squad can get that winning mentality. Not playing in front of crowds has actually broken the shackles but whether they can play under pressure again we'll see
Not sure how much covid will affect our ability in the transfer market though. I think it's a bit too soon still next year but going for top honours should be the goal all the time.
Sancho is number 1 priority and then we need to look at some depth. Grealish and van de Beek for midfield. A better partner for Maguire would be nice but not essential. But again it would add some depth.
2 transfer windows away, i don't see it next season, but i see 3rd place as comfortable next season.
I also see the CL ban for city for 2 years means United will have even more revenue to bridge the gap from CL qualification each year.
The issue is still match winners for United a player that takes the game by the scruff of the neck to get a goal, moments of individual brilliance... currently you can get that in 2 places from the squad, there's no aerial threat, no physical presence (apart from on loan Ighalo) and there's nothing on the wings meaning teams can just play narrow against United.
The team needs a top CB to partner Maguire, a RW, and a top class midfielder to partner Bruno and Pogba.
Perhaps its also arguable that the team needs a number 9 to output 30 a season.
Then eventually the team needs real attacking full-backs if Shaw can't do it week in week out, AWB needs to be pushed every training session to be one of the best crossers of the ball in the league because his defending is already perfect.
I think at that point not only is the PL doable, but so is the CL.
I also see the CL ban for city for 2 years means United will have even more revenue to bridge the gap from CL qualification each year.
The issue is still match winners for United a player that takes the game by the scruff of the neck to get a goal, moments of individual brilliance... currently you can get that in 2 places from the squad, there's no aerial threat, no physical presence (apart from on loan Ighalo) and there's nothing on the wings meaning teams can just play narrow against United.
The team needs a top CB to partner Maguire, a RW, and a top class midfielder to partner Bruno and Pogba.
Perhaps its also arguable that the team needs a number 9 to output 30 a season.
Then eventually the team needs real attacking full-backs if Shaw can't do it week in week out, AWB needs to be pushed every training session to be one of the best crossers of the ball in the league because his defending is already perfect.
I think at that point not only is the PL doable, but so is the CL.
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With 2 or 3 good additions to the squad, we may definitely win the title next year.
Why the feck not. City are definitely no big shakes, the scousers won’t have a season like that again and Chelsea look good going forward but that joke of a defence won’t win them a title. A CB to partner Maguire plus Sancho and we are flying.
Yeah, I see us having a "Spurs" challenge next season.
We need Sancho.
If we have him, and City get a CL ban that has their stars leave then its down to Liverpool dropping a level. Maybe the hunger goes and that lets us in.
Its unlikely but far from the longshot it first appears
If we have him, and City get a CL ban that has their stars leave then its down to Liverpool dropping a level. Maybe the hunger goes and that lets us in.
Its unlikely but far from the longshot it first appears
Chelsea won it with Luiz at the back, City with Fernandinho.
Are you saying next year is... our year?
Don’t be starting that nonsense this isn’t RAWK!
Next year is our year lar.
I agree with this.
A better CB to partner Maguire and another midfielder brought in. I think it all depends on Ole's ability to maximize our talents.
I'm still not convinced we can challenge Pep and Klopp with Ole, but I hope I am wrong.
You can win the league with our defense if the attack is firing.
The main reason we haven't challenged for the league since SAF is because our attack has never been up to par. We still haven't hit 70 goals in the league, never mind 80 since his retirement.
We're nowhere near Liverpool and City. If Pogba/Bruno goes down injured we are in trouble.
To challenge for the title were gonna need something extra. Even if Greenwood can play a major role next season we need another goal threat from the right. If we got Sancho I think we'd be right there.
I'd like to see us upgrade on Shaw, he's a good player but he's never been the same since that he injury. If we could find a left sided Dani Alves he would get tons of space to put balls into the box, if he had the recovery speed.
And Inghalo is only on board for half the season, that won't do though we're lucky to have him, we'll need someone as good to come in when he leaves.
Matic has looked brilliant since break ended, but he's getting on in years and the EPL is brutal in the number of sprints required.
With all the goals from Rashford, Bruno, Greenwood and Pogba, we don't need Martial to score 40 a season, but you couldn't turn down a chance to sign Haaland.
Getting close!
I'd like to see us upgrade on Shaw, he's a good player but he's never been the same since that he injury. If we could find a left sided Dani Alves he would get tons of space to put balls into the box, if he had the recovery speed.
And Inghalo is only on board for half the season, that won't do though we're lucky to have him, we'll need someone as good to come in when he leaves.
Matic has looked brilliant since break ended, but he's getting on in years and the EPL is brutal in the number of sprints required.
With all the goals from Rashford, Bruno, Greenwood and Pogba, we don't need Martial to score 40 a season, but you couldn't turn down a chance to sign Haaland.
Getting close!
2nd best defence hasn’t exactly equated to 2nd place in the league but yea we’re good to go for a title bid.
Your opinion is this team can win a league with Lindelof, mine is they won’t. If we do feel free to come back to me; until then give me a break. I hope I’m wrong trust me.
My opinion is we won’t win it with Lindelof partnering Maguire which given his performances throughout the whole season really isn’t controversial.
There are quite a few CBs with titles I don’t rate so hopefully he proves me wrong.
Fair point.
I just think in this league you now need to be hitting a solid 90+ points & our current defence while not conceding in droves they concede critical goals - yes we haven’t done for 14 games but I’m yet to see Lindelof perform for a full season so I’m hesitant to back him for the next one.
Because we’ve had key injuries to our best players all season.
I’m not saying we will challenge but there’s no reason we can’t win the league with Lindelof. So many worse CBs have managed it.
I think if we keep Pogba and add Sancho our defence will look even better. Takes pressure off them.
I don't think Ole is good enough to manage a title challenge. He is too cautious and defensive. Not sure he is the best at squad rotation either.
Hope I am wrong. Think our first 11 can challenge. Need to raise the quality of our squad players by coaching though since we don't have money to spend like crazy.
Hope I am wrong. Think our first 11 can challenge. Need to raise the quality of our squad players by coaching though since we don't have money to spend like crazy.
If and it’s a big IF were to keep Pogba, sign Sancho plus two midfielders (one defensive & one creative attacking ) then it might be a possibility but then again nothing is ever that straightforward. Just need to wait and see what happens.
His squad management has been brilliant. Playing youth in Astana when already through to give the first 11 a rest. 8 changes against the worst team in the prem in the FA cup and scraping through against Norwich, and, after lockdown, subbing off the most important players at the 60 minute mark when the game has been won. As for cautiousness, he had to be cautious when his midfield consisted of Lingard, Fred and Pereira. But he still beat City with that midfield, which is a damn good testament to his tactical nous. There is however nothing cautious about United with the first 11.
Can we chill and stop being so like RAWK please? We're improving but still a way off winning the league. If we finish in the top 4, have a strong summer in the transfer window and start strong next season I'm prepared to have this conversation, but in the meantime, let's try to calm down a bit.
Reading through this thread I’m surprised how many times Olé is seen as the limiting factor as to whether we will win something or not. For all LVG’s philosophy and Jose’s ‘eritage, Olé is the first manager we’ve had since Sir Alex that actually seems to have a plan and be executing it. You can see/feel the direction of travel.
As woefully inconsistent as we have been this season, and for all the injury problems and the thinness of our squad we will potentially finish 3rd. There is a positivity about the club that we haven’t had for a few years, we are going places and it’s Olé who is leading us there, signing the young talent, shifting the ’deadwood’ (hate that phrase btw) improving players like Fred, blooding the youth like Brandon, Mason and Scotty. Don’t forget there was talk of the likes of Martial, De Gea and Pogba leaving and Olé has managed to get 2 out of 3 signed up on new terms. There is every chance (thanks to COVID admittedly) that he will do the same with Paul.
I think we will be there or there about next season. I feel like City are a spent force, they’ve had their time and are in decline. Especially if the appeal goes against them in anyway. I’m not convinced Liverpool will be able to repeat what they have done this year. I don’t think they have looked unbeatable all season, just a grinding inevitability about the way they have found result after result. Arsenal and Spurs are struggling, And Chelsea are an unknown - Lampard hasn’t done badly this season, but again they aren’t all that and can be beaten, even by unexpected lower teams. If we can become more consistent (and I think we are) of course we will be in with a shout.
As woefully inconsistent as we have been this season, and for all the injury problems and the thinness of our squad we will potentially finish 3rd. There is a positivity about the club that we haven’t had for a few years, we are going places and it’s Olé who is leading us there, signing the young talent, shifting the ’deadwood’ (hate that phrase btw) improving players like Fred, blooding the youth like Brandon, Mason and Scotty. Don’t forget there was talk of the likes of Martial, De Gea and Pogba leaving and Olé has managed to get 2 out of 3 signed up on new terms. There is every chance (thanks to COVID admittedly) that he will do the same with Paul.
I think we will be there or there about next season. I feel like City are a spent force, they’ve had their time and are in decline. Especially if the appeal goes against them in anyway. I’m not convinced Liverpool will be able to repeat what they have done this year. I don’t think they have looked unbeatable all season, just a grinding inevitability about the way they have found result after result. Arsenal and Spurs are struggling, And Chelsea are an unknown - Lampard hasn’t done badly this season, but again they aren’t all that and can be beaten, even by unexpected lower teams. If we can become more consistent (and I think we are) of course we will be in with a shout.
'Next year is our year'
Let's finish in the top four first, eh?
We can see what this team is capable of now, with Pogba and Bruno in the starting 11 we can now break down teams who sit back. On the flip side we've been very good on the counterattack for some time now under Ole (the pinnacle being that Bruno goal against Brighton) 
So the variety in attack is good IMO. Our ability on the ball and to maintain pressure on teams is improving also - the latter being a key development IMO.
In my opinion it's a must that we sign Sancho before expecting to challenge. We could really do with an upgrade on Lindelof as well, but Sancho is the minimum required.
I've been bleating on about the time being NOW for the club to really make a statement and flex a bit of financial muscle in this window - no other window presents the same opportunity for us to really bridge the gap.
Rather than hope we have enough already let's go balls out and sign Sancho, a CDM and a CB. That will put us right in the mix.
So the variety in attack is good IMO. Our ability on the ball and to maintain pressure on teams is improving also - the latter being a key development IMO.
In my opinion it's a must that we sign Sancho before expecting to challenge. We could really do with an upgrade on Lindelof as well, but Sancho is the minimum required.
I've been bleating on about the time being NOW for the club to really make a statement and flex a bit of financial muscle in this window - no other window presents the same opportunity for us to really bridge the gap.
Rather than hope we have enough already let's go balls out and sign Sancho, a CDM and a CB. That will put us right in the mix.
I think United need a top striker and a top defender to mount a challenge.
Other variables:
Will Liverpool be able to repeat their performance level next year?
Will City lose 8 games next year?
I think we'll come short but 21/22 season feels good if we keep progressing.
Other variables:
Will Liverpool be able to repeat their performance level next year?
Will City lose 8 games next year?
I think we'll come short but 21/22 season feels good if we keep progressing.