Would you be happy with finishing 3rd this season but with more points than last season?

Brad2020

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I'm satisfied with top 4 this year.

Yes United are number 1, and I would like them to win the championship, but realistically they are still a good 4 quality transfers away from being a top club that can realistically challenge and dominate Man City and LIverpool (Liverpool of course is suffering from major injuries)

I want to see United winning champions again in a few years because they are number 1 and can dominate every team. That is my long term expectation, I will except nothing less.
 

Foxbatt

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Why 3rd? Why not 2nd at least? We were 3rd last season so progress will be one step up the ladder.
 

BorisManUtd

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Yes, finishing 3rd with around 75 points or more would be satisfying. Then buy top DM and RW (plus possibly RB backup and ST maybe) to improve on this squad.
 

Amadaeus

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God no it's not success and I don't think that what the OP meant at all but if we finish top 3 and much closer to the leaders then it is an improvement on the previous year and a sign we are moving in the right direction.
Of course, it shows signs of improvement. However, it doesn't meet the standards expected at United
 

pav1790

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Why 3rd? Why not 2nd at least? We were 3rd last season so progress will be one step up the ladder.
What do we do to show progress after we are first? ( If the reply is win CL - then what after that? And so on. )
 

Olecurls99

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It depends on 2 things. How big a points total do we get, and how are the performances on the pitch.

The points improvement has to be significant on last year, so going from 66 last year to 70 points this year for example would not be satisfactory. We're currently on course for 78 points at our current rate so any less than that will be a disappointment - we should be aiming for 80+.

I also want us to actually look like a top team in our performances. If we got 80 points by winning games in the manner we did against say West Ham, Wolves and West Brom, then I'm not going to be jumping for joy. If we get 80 points by actually playing well in most of our games then that's a much better prospect.

As long as there's significant progress in terms of results and performances then I'm content.
Where's a nutshell when you need one? Nail on the head Mr Dominos and you make a cracking pizza.
 

RedSky

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Jumping up to 75 points and being in the title race would be a big step up from where we have been. It would be a disappointment and clearly none of us would be overly happy with the outcome. But it's worth reminding ourselves of where the forum predicted we'd finish at the start of the season.

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/predict-the-top-6-20-21-in-order.456505/

The above puts things into perspective. We shouldn;t be expecting miracles when the expectations at the start of the season were fairly muted. Still, I just hope we're in the fight with a few games remaining. That'd be great.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Depends. We really should be going for a trophy this year but in terms of progress we should be expecting 75-80 points with the squad we have, maybe at the higher end of that spectrum now. 75 would actually make the 2nd half worse than the 1st. It also depends on the football. 75 points playing average football won't get us anywhere.
 

DRJosh

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wow loads of rational responses on here. Thought I'd find more people demanding that winning the league would be the only acceptable form of success because "we're united".

Personally, a top 3 finish with a couple of good performances against the Top 4 sides would be an achievement. I can't see us winning a trophy. Bruno isn't superman and immune to being tired as we have recently witnessed.
 

cyril C

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Only if we are in the fight, i.e. within 5 points from Champion, all the way until April, not some mathematical possibilities
 

Nikelesh Reddy

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Last season we had 66 points and we might finish 3rd again but with potentially more than 70 points. In that situation the dense football media and fans will say we haven't improved but at the halfway point we are top and in title fight, something which we weren't last season.

I think only the most optimistic fans think we can win the title and Liverpool and City are likely to be the top 2 with 80 plus points.

So would you be happy with 3rd or would you consider this stagnation?
No that wouldn’t be stagnation at all...Let’s not forget that we haven’t finished in the top 4 consistently since 2013.Infact we haven’t had 2 consecutive top 4 finishes since then...So if we can finish 3rd again,while closing the gap on the champions(to about 6-10 points)that would certainly represent progress.Even without a trophy,Ole would have earned another season at the club...
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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80 points was my initial expectation, that's the way I see it as progress for Ole's full 2nd season from his 1st full season.
 

passing-wind

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Given the circumstances a challenge for the title would be a feasible requirement. After being dumped out of the UCL in the group stages I've no idea how people have welcomed the idea of 3rd with no trophy. Ole has to either challenge for the league and or top 4 with a domestic cup.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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80 points and I'd be happy. Big ask this season though. Ole is certainly on the right path, hopefully he can keep this up.

I'm curious though whether the board and Ole don't see this January window as an opportunity given the weakening of the league.
Doubt we will go for someone in January now.

However, this season could be used as measurement how far we are from winning the league for 2021/2022 season. Promising finish in the league could trigger the board to give Ole 3 new signings for the XI that he never had last summer.
 
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jeepers

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Don’t give a flying feck to be honest as long as we finish top 4 whilst collecting as many points as possible against teams outside the top 6.

The attitude and team spirit has definitely improved.

I want to see Ole’s timing of substitutions and ability to affect games when we need goals to improve.

I also want to see our transfer activity in the summer window because it doesn’t seem like we will get anyone this Jan window.

If Ole improves in those aspects, and we buy the right pieces for our team, then I say we have improved this season.
 
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Yagami

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Depends. We really should be going for a trophy this year but in terms of progress we should be expecting 75-80 points with the squad we have, maybe at the higher end of that spectrum now. 75 would actually make the 2nd half worse than the 1st. It also depends on the football. 75 points playing average football won't get us anywhere.
My thinking, too.

If we finish 3rd with us showing significant progress in our general play to build on for next season I think that'd be fine. If we finish 3rd playing the disjointed way we do now; relying on individual magic and Bruno pens then no.
 

Jibbs

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Anything less than 21st title in 2021 will be a disappointment.
 

bosnian_red

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3rd place with 80 points will be solid progress and along the lines of what I expected at the end of last season. We need to be winning something though, and between the Europa League and FA Cup, have a good chance. Especially the Europa League where we are the strongest team, unlike the FA Cup.
 

Johnson Yip

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Let's be realistic - can you imagine back in the summer that we would sit on the top in mid January? In some sense, we're already over-achieving (long may it continue). We will be inconsistent and we may go into a slump sooner or later, but we already saw signs of progress here. I would say, top 3 or top 4 with 70+ points total is an acceptable and reasonable target for this season. FA Cup or Europa League trophy would be nice surprise.
 

Longshanks

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Yes of course It would be acceptable it what the expectation was at the start of the season.

It may come with a tinge of disappointment if we are still very much in the title race come April but ultimately it would be significant progress and we haven't managed 2 consecutive top 4 finishes since SAF retiered.
 

Doracle

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If we don’t do better than last season now, then we’d have had an awful last 20 games - 29 points. No one will be happy with that, even if it’s sufficient for us to finish 3rd again.

If we get 75-80 points then I think all of us have to be happy with that. That’s good progress from last season and will mean we’ve remained relatively consistent in the second half.

Anything beyond 80 points will be a fantastic achievement, even if we finish 3rd.
 

GazTheLegend

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80 points was my initial expectation, that's the way I see it as progress for Ole's full 2nd season from his 1st full season.
I don't think we will get 80 points. Anything above 70 is realistic and a sign of progress. We have too many glaring problems to fix before we can get into 80 point territory which, let's be honest, any team attaining should be champions with this year. I think City will get high 80 points, sadly, and that's too high a bar for us right at this minute - but we are on the right track.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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I don't think we will get 80 points. Anything above 70 is realistic and a sign of progress. We have too many glaring problems to fix before we can get into 80 point territory which, let's be honest, any team attaining should be champions with this year. I think City will get high 80 points, sadly, and that's too high a bar for us right at this minute - but we are on the right track.
Re-evaluate end of the season depends on the circumstances but I’ll just stick with my initial expectation before this season started was to close the gaps from last season which 80 points so next season we can make another progress to challenge the league or may be get closer to 90 points (Even though we are right now challenging).
 

Tom Cato

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I'll be happy if we win the title. Or any title. But preferably the Premier League. In fact I'll be ecstatic.

If we get 2nd I'll be pleased by the progress
If we get 3rd with a significant portion more points than last year, I'll be pleased by the progress.

4th would be very dissapointing.
 

justsomebloke

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I think it's pointless to expect a particular table position. That depends as much on what you can't control (how other teams perform) as on what you can. I think 75-80 points is a reasonable expectation for progress. If we get that, I'll be happy. If we get more than that, I'll be very happy.
 

justsomebloke

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Of course, it shows signs of improvement. However, it doesn't meet the standards expected at United
Feck "the standards expected at United". We've not been a contender for seven years, those standards are long dead and we've no right to expect anything. It's got to be built anew.
 

troylocker

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Hey, everybody, a "let's move the goalpost to set us up for disapointment again"-thread!

Ole-outers: Finally, I'm in! (If we meet your freshly moved goalpost: I told you we could do it. If we don't: That fecking PE-teacher fecking choked it again, hasn't got it in him, get rid!)
The rest: pfff, WTF
 

foolsgold

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Trying not to over think things, one game at a time but at end of season I'd be more focused on the gap from the top. If we finished 4th 7pts from the top that'd be progress on last years 3rd spot 33pts from Liverpool. Ole badly needs a trophy though.
 

Bebestation

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It depends on how we lose points. If we lose/draw some odd matches in a close season when Guardiola has city looking like Barcelona with his false 9 tactics then so be it.

However;

The one thing I dont want to see is us go through the 5-8 game blip that we sometimes have had during Ole's tenure. We sometimes look like we are in really good unbeatable form before we start losing game after game and it takes some time for us to get up.

If we can avoid that I'd be happy even if we finished 3rd.
 

Rightnr

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I am only satisfied if we are all the way in the title race and end up within five points gap.
This for me. I'd imagine it'd mean a mid-70s points finish with a 80-point champion.

We need to be within 5 points of winning the league and even that might be this season only.
 

always_hoping

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Short answer is yes to thread title, as it would mean United will have finished in the top 4 for two seasons in a row the first time since Ferguson retired, something. As it stands only 4 points ahead of the 5th placed team with 20 games to go so a long way to go.
 

Smores

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If we're lower than 80pts with this team it would be underperforming. I don't really care about position as much as being close to the eventual winner if it isn't us.
 

matsdf

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More points? What? When did we start comparing points between seasons? We had 89 pts in the 2011/12 season, and what a wonderful season that was.
 

Neil_Buchanan

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At the start of the season I would probably have taken it, a few months ago then I definitely would but considering our current position then top 3 is a minimum expectation so I would not be happy to accept it right now. We can still call this a successful season with a top 3 finish (depending on a few other factors) but right now we can hope for more.
 

Adisa

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Imo, there are two better teams than us. So you can't have many complaints if we finish third.
 

r0663664

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3rd is good considering our poor start. With a good transfer window, we will be seen as a challenger to all. We still need a striker, DM, RW and CB. Realistic ED will probably buy only 2 unless we sell e.g Martial, Pogba, Fred then it is possible that we get all 4 players.
 

Withnail

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If we're lower than 80pts with this team it would be underperforming. I don't really care about position as much as being close to the eventual winner if it isn't us.
If you look at the projections 80pts could be enough to win the league and 80 pts is probably the max we could hope to finish on.

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/premier-league

We've gotten approx 2pts per game so far and we'd have to increase that to 2.15 pts per game for the rest of the season to get to 80pts.

We could go unbeaten for the rest of the season with a win rate of 55% and still not hit 80pts.