The whole plan that Ole is working to implement is not, and never has been, about catching up to Liverpool and City right away. It would be a fools errand and the club know that. Those two teams are (hopefully) at or around the peak of their cycles right now, and yes they will continue to sign other players and may not dip considerably or at all, but the likelihood is that they will not sustain the level that they are currently playing at. Key players will age, coaches will move on, hunger might decrease. They may make some mistakes in the transfer market. It happens to every squad. Those two teams are so strong because they have been outstanding in recruitment, and United have been little short of woeful in this department for too many years.
I love what the club are doing now, and Ole is a huge factor in this, but this squad are still in their infancy as a unit. If we get our business right again this summer, then we close the gap, but its too soon to expect us to compete with Europe's elite next season. The goal is to be the best placed team to capitalise when the current cycle of dominance by those two teams comes to an end, and right now we are doing everything right. I'd say we are a year ahead of schedule.
This is a very well put summary. The way we have been going about business for the last 6 years has been about now now now. This doesnt work as well, unless you are Chelsea.
This is why I was not critical on Ole getting rid of Lukaku, Smalling, Rojo, Herrera, Sanchez etc and yes in the short term we have struggled but I would rather struggle for one year and get the right players in.
There was no point panic buying for a CM and ST, it would have been detrimental to Martial, Greenwood's development. He has given the chance for everyone in the squad to show what they can do, some have taken the chances some haven't.
The recruitment and plan was never to catch liverpool and city this season, there was no way we would have done that, rather it was to have squad peaking when they drop and we can take advantage of this.
Looking at the squad now, in 2 years we will have the core players in their prime, with couple more players it can grow into something special.
City will have to replace Silva, Aguero, Fernandinho and still haven't replaced Kompany.
Liverpool in 2 years will have Salah, Mane, Bobby, VVD, hendo all 30 plus so will need a revamp.