What are your thoughts right now on the season ahead?

[sglowrider]

I think we will struggle initially -- Moyes will undergo a steep learning curve.

He will naturally rely on his prior experience at Everton to get by but he will learn that its different at United -- challengers versus perennial winners.
Thats why he should have offered to keep that kept some of the (winning) management team under Fergie. This is a strategic blunder on Moyes part and hopefully we don't pay for this big time.

 

[Shane88]

I'll be happy with top 4 this season, FA/League Cup would be great as well. Then hopefully Moyes can push on from that.

Some people probably think that's setting the target way too low, especially since we're Champions but I think with a new manager, new coaching staff and possibly losing Rooney, there could be some teething problems.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

Assuming they don't leave, Rooney and Nani along with RVP, Chicharito and Kagawa will score enough goals to keep us in the mix domestically and in Europe. I'm not too woried.

If Carrick and Vidic stay fit we can go far. Moyes is working with a class team here new midfielder or not.

 

[devilish]

I think he'll get all the guidance he asks for. I also would like to say that it's not like SAF has left us with a sinking ship. Midfield is an issue, certainly, but Moyes has already said that he will be looking into that. We don't need to sign Fabregas in order to improve our CM options either. A couple of decent players will do for the time being.

SAF has left Moyes an abundance of players who will all improve: DDG, Rafael, Fabio, Smalling, Evans, Jones, Cleverley, Chicharito, Welbeck...Every one of these players can improve, some a little, others dramatically - and not a few of them have a truly sky-high potential. Then we have largely unproven talents like Zaha, Januzaj, Lingard, Powell, Keane - all of whom could get a chance sooner rather than later.

I honestly don't think Fergie would've stepped down if he hadn't been convinced there is enough talent in this team to keep us winning. Moyes will have to manage 'em well, of course, but the talent is there.

I've never said that he left him a sinking ship. In my opinion he left him with a good side, with chronic problems which are set to get worse with time unless they are tackled in an effective way. Giggs is one year older, Fletcher keeps postponing his return date (which may well be his retirement date), Carrick is not a young fellow anymore while Cleverley/Ando has yet to prove to be first team material. Not to forget the rumors surrounding players like Rooney and Evra.

There's absolutely no guarantee that young players will improve. Promising kids can easily lose their way or get stuck to a level. FFS at one point SAF likened Wallwork to Bruce and said that Wes is twice as good as Rio. Ando was likened by some fans as more promising then Fabregas. Where are they now? Lets face it, with all the promising defenders we have the defense look terribly shaky without Rio and Vidic and both are at their wrong side of their career.

The club is heading to a hell of a transition period and plenty of bubbles may end up bursting. I can understand SAF for not wanting his wife to live alone however there wasnt a worst time for him to leave especially when we appointed someone who had never lead a big side.

 

[Interval]

Someone just needs to eliminate devilish. He is a moaner of some atmospheric levels. And what's with all the moaners being persistent as well?

 

[Randall Flagg]

I've never said that he left him a sinking ship. In my opinion he left him with a good side, with chronic problems which are set to get worse with time unless they are tackled in an effective way. Giggs is one year older, Fletcher keeps postponing his return date (which may well be his retirement date), Carrick is not a young fellow anymore while Cleverley/Ando has yet to prove to be first team material. Not to forget the rumors surrounding players like Rooney and Evra.

There's absolutely no guarantee that young players will improve. Promising kids can easily lose their way or get stuck to a level. FFS at one point SAF likened Wallwork to Bruce and said that Wes is twice as good as Rio. Ando was likened by some fans as more promising then Fabregas. Where are they now? Lets face it, with all the promising defenders we have the defense look terribly shaky without Rio and Vidic and both are at their wrong side of their career.

The club is heading to a hell of a transition period and plenty of bubbles may end up bursting. I can understand SAF for not wanting his wife to live alone however there wasnt a worst time for him to leave especially when we appointed someone who had never lead a big side.

He was left the league champions and an outstanding squad. Also has money to spend. I don't think many managers walking into a job have been as spoilt for choice.

There was no perfect time for Fergie to leave, but this summer was certainly a better time than last summer.

The only gaps moyes needs to fill is the centre of midfield. So far he has failed to do that.

Defensively at times we have looked shaky but I still can't think of many sides in the world with as much talent to choose from for a back four. It's something that can easily be sorted and is not down to lack of quality.

 

[devilish]

Someone just needs to eliminate devilish. He is a moaner of some atmospheric levels. And what's with all the moaners being persistent as well?

thats a very intelligent and mature way to discuss an argument isn't it?

 

[devilish]

He was left the league champions and an outstanding squad. Also has money to spend. I don't think many managers walking into a job have been as spoilt for choice.

There was no perfect time for Fergie to leave, but this summer was certainly a better time than last summer.

The only gaps moyes needs to fill is the centre of midfield. So far he has failed to do that.

Defensively at times we have looked shaky but I still can't think of many sides in the world with as much talent to choose from for a back four. It's something that can easily be sorted and is not down to lack of quality.

As I said I am not saying that our side is shite. However its not as good as many portray it to be. That's all.

I think that the best time for SAF to leave was after we won the third CL. I dare to say that it was better for SAF to leave last season then this season. The new manager wouldnt have had the pressure to defend the EPL title, Gill + Scholes would still be around and Guardiola was still available. However you cant really blame SAF for wanting to leave on high.

 

[Unam333]

To be honest, I'm not very opportunistic right now. Strange really, because our current squad is almost the same as last season's. The results and the performance in preseason don't help either. If Sir Alex was still the manager, I will have little fears about our current state.

One (good) signing can change everything though.

 

[Freak]

I think our style of play this season will be more pleasing on the eye with greater tempo. Moyes will inject that into the team. A lot of times last season we looked lazy and sluggish and just wanted to see out games by playing it slow and steady.

 

[Mr Anderson]

I'm excited. The end of an era with Fergie, means the birth of a new one. It was a sad day seeing him step aside, but he left us in a healthy state.

We do need atleast 1 CM in, we all know that. Moyes will need time to learn his squads strengths and weaknesses on and off the pitch, so time is needed for that. I'd like him to concentrate on the league and get the first season under his belt. If we are in contention going into the last run of games (which we are capable of anyway), I'd be a happy camper. 2014/2015 is where I'd expect us to push on a bit more with a squad Moyes is happy with.

 

[Garethw]

We seem to have been written off by every pundit in the country. Every so called "expert" seems to think its going to be a two horse race between city and Chelsea.

Hopefully we can get a couple of quality new players in before the start of the season and then come out of the traps like a thing possessed.

Even with Fergie in charge, this season would have been incredibly difficult with our rivals strengthening the way they have.

In all likelihood we are in for a few barren seasons while the new manager adjusts and we adapt to his style of play and management.

I just hope that are fans are prepared for this possibility and remain behind the new boss as he is going to be under enough pressure and scrutiny from the press alone.

As long as the new manager gets us playing entertaining football and keeps us competitive I'll be happy.

 

[duffer]

We seem to have been written off by every pundit in the country. Every so called "expert" seems to think its going to be a two horse race between city and Chelsea.

I've not seen any pundits predictions yet, they are alway good for a laugh. I'm interested to see who has written you off, could you link please?

The bookies have it very close (Skybet):
Chelsea 9/4
Man City 12/5
Man United 12/5.

 

[Revan]

We seem to have been written off by every pundit in the country. Every so called "expert" seems to think its going to be a two horse race between city and Chelsea.

Haven't we been written off every year? It's more wishful thinking by ABU than anything else.

At the moment, assuming that neither of top 3 teams will make any transfer, I think that City are favorites, with us on second place. Chelsea need to sign at-least a top striker in order to make a good challenge (unless Lukaku surprises some people but still I think that it is too early for him).

 

[Swaters16]

I think it's close. The start will be a huge factor. If we get stuck behind early there may be no coming back. If one of City or Chelsea win their first few matches then they'll be in the driving seat. A good start is very, very important with our early fixtures.

 

[1211+subs]

I have every confidence Ed Woodward is pulling up trees as I type to bring in big name players

 

[Brightonian]

We did? Thought we won most albeit squeaky results.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012–13_Manchester_United_F.C._season

Parallel universe?

Fair enough, some draws and some scraped 1-0 wins. But we were against very poor opposition - much worse than this tour - so the results are still relatively much worse.

 

[Man-United]

It will be very interesting how many new players we got in the squad come august 17th when we play our first Premier League fixture.
Only three weeks to go now so we're getting closer and closer to see some action in the transfer market. If we get a new central midfielder in we are more than fine for this coming season.

 

[Decotron]

I've never said that he left him a sinking ship. In my opinion he left him with a good side, with chronic problems which are set to get worse with time unless they are tackled in an effective way. Giggs is one year older, Fletcher keeps postponing his return date (which may well be his retirement date), Carrick is not a young fellow anymore while Cleverley/Ando has yet to prove to be first team material. Not to forget the rumors surrounding players like Rooney and Evra.

There's absolutely no guarantee that young players will improve. Promising kids can easily lose their way or get stuck to a level. FFS at one point SAF likened Wallwork to Bruce and said that Wes is twice as good as Rio. Ando was likened by some fans as more promising then Fabregas. Where are they now? Lets face it, with all the promising defenders we have the defense look terribly shaky without Rio and Vidic and both are at their wrong side of their career.

The club is heading to a hell of a transition period and plenty of bubbles may end up bursting. I can understand SAF for not wanting his wife to live alone however there wasnt a worst time for him to leave especially when we appointed someone who had never lead a big side.

cheer up man. You can choose to look at every side in that manner if you wish. Look at Barca in the same regard....

 

[jojojo]

Right now, despite being the title holders, rather than chasers, it reminds me of the summer of 2006. Big players (for RvN read Rooney) potentially leaving and us struggling to get what we wanted in the transfer market.

That time around we had Saha, Rooney and especially Ronaldo who stepped up. We got Scholes back, like a new signing, and we got Carrick in. The rest is history.

This time around the forward squad looks a little stronger - but there's no Ronaldo to really shake things up. The defence looks a little weaker as Vidic and Rio age. But the midfield? Apart from Cleverley it's hard to see anyone improving, and overall that means it's getting weaker.

So to the transfer market. I won't be bothered if we fail to get a marquee signing - I don't need to see Fabregas, Bale or Ronaldo sign for us to have faith. I am very bothered that actually there's a fair bit of movement this summer and we apparently aren't interested in any of it.

We seemingly weren't that serious about Thiago, we weren't interested in players like Isco, Illarramendi etc either, we don't even appear much interested in the midfield surplus at Madrid. So what are we looking for / waiting for? Until I see who comes in I won't understand the ones we've chosen to ignore.

My predictions then - we will make useful signings, a couple of our youngsters will start to get into the team. We'll be in the top 3 after a tight title race. There or thereabouts in the cups.

 

[Comsmit]

Its going to be a long hard season. Make no mistake teams will be gunning for United like never before, and I fully expect a few tonkings to occur. The key is how do they respond to setbacks? Under Ferguson they closed ranks, including the media, licked their wounds and began picking up results again...the tonking wasn't allowed to fester. We need to start well, a slow start and its trouble as far as I'm concerned. Mourinho will be priming Chelsea for a fast start to put pressure on United, and City have the right manager and some really clever signings to push them on.

The lack of investment so far amidst all the media bluster and promises is a real concern. Its getting very late in the day to make major signings. A couple of injuries to key personnel in midfield and things look a bit desperate indeed. I expect a strong challenge for the title but in Europe without investment we could fall further behind the elite, which in the long term has a negative effect.

 

[pocco]

What makes you think we'll receive a few 'tonkings'?

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Right now, despite being the title holders, rather than chasers, it reminds me of the summer of 2006. Big players (for RvN read Rooney) potentially leaving and us struggling to get what we wanted in the transfer market.

That time around we had Saha, Rooney and especially Ronaldo who stepped up. We got Scholes back, like a new signing, and we got Carrick in. The rest is history.

This time around the forward squad looks a little stronger - but there's no Ronaldo to really shake things up. The defence looks a little weaker as Vidic and Rio age. But the midfield? Apart from Cleverley it's hard to see anyone improving, and overall that means it's getting weaker.

So to the transfer market. I won't be bothered if we fail to get a marquee signing - I don't need to see Fabregas, Bale or Ronaldo sign for us to have faith. I am very bothered that actually there's a fair bit of movement this summer and we apparently aren't interested in any of it.

We seemingly weren't that serious about Thiago, we weren't interested in players like Isco, Illarramendi etc either, we don't even appear much interested in the midfield surplus at Madrid. So what are we looking for / waiting for? Until I see who comes in I won't understand the ones we've chosen to ignore.

My predictions then - we will make useful signings, a couple of our youngsters will start to get into the team. We'll be in the top 3 after a tight title race. There or thereabouts in the cups.

Our situation in central midfield is ridiculous. The amount of seasons that have gone by where it has been a problem and we've failed to address it while good midfielders keep switching clubs is frankly a bit laughable. This was the summer that was supposedly going to fix that finally, but it's not looking good to be honest. We've left it very late now and still seem to be keen on a player who isn't likely to come. I'm sure we have our reasons to peruse but if is goes against us we could be n a real fix.

 

[Comsmit]

Because managers will be a lot bolder when setting their teams up. United without Ferguson will encourage teams to lose tHeir apprehension.

 

[kouroux]

In the previous season, not a lot of teams were coming scared to United. More than ever the team was put under pressure, the fear factor of Old Trafford has decreased a little.

 

[Brightonian]

In the previous season, not a lot of teams were coming scared to United. More than ever the team was put under pressure, the fear factor of Old Trafford has decreased a little.

Didn't seem to do us too much harm though.

 

[kouroux]

Didn't seem to do us too much harm though.

In terms of result you're absolutely right. The home record was great even if teams were attacking United more than usually (Southampton and Tottenham being examples for that).

 

[Chesterlestreet]

In the previous season, not a lot of teams were coming scared to United. More than ever the team was put under pressure, the fear factor of Old Trafford has decreased a little.

Agreed. To me it seemed we got nothing for free from anyone (in the league, at least) in the last couple of seasons. We ground out more wins than we grabbed in spectacular style. That said, we've never really been a team to simply coast through, getting our wins handed to us: We've usually played a very open game under Fergie, allowing the opposition a bit of leeway, if you will.

What I think Moyes can add to this team is a sense of urgency - a bit more of that relentless effort which is precisely what strikes fear into an opposing side. In Fergie's last seasons we had become so used to winning that we sometimes (or oftentimes, actually) seemed to just sit back and wait for something to happen - and something usually did happen, so it worked! But that was Fergie all the way - we can't keep playing like that, now that he's no longer in charge. And I don't think we will either: My hope is that we'll see a return to a faster and more aggresive United - a side that can hopefully kill off those "easy" matches early. That will make things easier for Dave in his first season.

 

[Brightonian]

In terms of result you're absolutely right. The home record was great even if teams were attacking United more than usually (Southampton and Tottenham being examples for that).

It's always a two-edged sword. When the 08 team were at their peak, almost every team came to OT and shut up shop from the first whistle. That's why that team used to get those huge strings of clean sheets (having a peaking Vidic, Rio and Van der Sar didn't hurt, obviously). But it did make it harder for us to open teams up a lot of the time.

Whereas when you have less of the fear factor, opposition managers come here with visions of grandeur. Their team goes 2-0 up, you see them celebrating wildly, but you know we've already come back from that scoreline to win 3-2 five times already in the season. Lo and behold, their attacking mindset leaves gaps which the likes of RVP and Hernandez ruthlessly punish.

I actually remember last season seeing managers like Lambert and Adkins celebrating 2-0 leads and thinking 'you poor deluded bastard, haven't you watched us this season?' because previous recoveries had made me so confident that we could grab the win anyway.

 

[kouroux]

I agree, there were a few matches where you just knew United would come back to win them due to their nature (very open). In hindsight it was great to watch but at the time the rollercoaster of emotion was too much

 

[Garethw]

I've not seen any pundits predictions yet, they are alway good for a laugh. I'm interested to see who has written you off, could you link please?

The bookies have it very close (Skybet):
Chelsea 9/4
Man City 12/5
Man United 12/5.

I listen to talksport to and from work every day mate, every single pundit/host etc on their has completely written united off.

 

[duffer]

I listen to talksport to and from work every day mate, every single pundit/host etc on their has completely written united off.

Talksport twice a day, every day? Holy feck you masochist.

Also, you should not really say "every pundit in the country" when you really mean a few bellends like Mick Quinn and Stan Collymore.

 

[Theon]

I can't understand how Chelsea are favourites

Us and City have much better squads IMO

 

[duffer]

I can't understand how Chelsea are favourites

Us and City have much better squads IMO

Much worse managers though.

 

[paceme]

It's always a two-edged sword. When the 08 team were at their peak, almost every team came to OT and shut up shop from the first whistle. That's why that team used to get those huge strings of clean sheets (having a peaking Vidic, Rio and Van der Sar didn't hurt, obviously). But it did make it harder for us to open teams up a lot of the time.

Whereas when you have less of the fear factor, opposition managers come here with visions of grandeur. Their team goes 2-0 up, you see them celebrating wildly, but you know we've already come back from that scoreline to win 3-2 five times already in the season. Lo and behold, their attacking mindset leaves gaps which the likes of RVP and Hernandez ruthlessly punish.

I actually remember last season seeing managers like Lambert and Adkins celebrating 2-0 leads and thinking 'you poor deluded bastard, haven't you watched us this season?' because previous recoveries had made me so confident that we could grab the win anyway.

Got to agree with this, it got to a point where I didn't worry when we conceded a goal because you just knew we'd score as many as we needed :lol;

 

[Theon]

Much worse managers though.

Moyes > Mou

 

[duffer]

Moyes > Mou

When you put it like that and after looking at what they have done in their respective careers (they are both 50), you are right.

 

[Theon]

But seriously, Mourinho might have a better record but I don't think he's enough to win Chelsea the league.

Not even close, which is why I find the odds so strange.

 

[duffer]

He "might" have a better record?

 

[Feed Me]

He "might" have a better record?

He's not using "might" to imply doubt.