Your expectations of this season?

[Wumminator]

Thought this would be a bit fun.

For contrast, this is the response to the same thread when Jose got the job.

The league cup is ours. Jose always wins that

Seriously though, I think we will challenge for the title but may just fall short and finish 2nd or 3rd. A good run and some luck could see us lift the title, but I think City having Agüero could be the difference between them and everyone else in the league.

Having a front two of Ibra and Rooney will be our downfall, but I hope I'm really wrong and they score 50 goals between them.

I think we have far too many issues to deal with to expect the consistency a team needs to challenge for the league. The first issue is our overreliance on Carrick, we don't have a genuine alternative to him. The second issue is the attack, we don't have a top top winger in the side and our 'first choice' duo is just too slow for the league. Thirdly I think our defence is a work in progress so the fitness and form of Smalling will be crucial but we have De Gea so I think he can carry us whilst Mourinho figures things out at the back.
Considering all of the above I think in Martial, Ibrahimovic, Rashford (and Pogbd) we have too much individual class in attack not to make top four and go far in the Cups.

4th place, a good run in one of the dometic cups, and quicker football than under van Gaal.

Score more goals. Finish top four.

Be competitive, but probably not win the league.

I expect Jose Mourinho to deliver Manchester United a 21st league title this season. Simple as.

Title challenge and good run in all cups. Also expecting to see much improved performances this year.

Football that doesn't make me cry (unless they're tears of joy).
Top 3.
Good runs in domestic cups with one won.
Semi final of the Europa league.

1) Top priority is a top three finish + challenge for the title until near the end at least.

2) FA Cup + EL decent showing.

3) Play the kids in the Carling Cup - couldn't care less.

Title challenge, a good run in at least one of those cups. Don't care much about Mickey Mouse cup or Europa and it will be difficult to win the second, but would be nice if we give it a go.

 

[Greek9]

Win the League, CL semis, FA cup win, Eliminated early in the League cup.

 

[Canagel]

Not really much different to the expectations we had in 2016. It's quite amusing to see that we needed a top top winger back then and we still haven't got one.

 

[#07]

We should win the title this season.

 

[Cloud7]

Is this meant to be what our expectations should be or what we expect to happen?

If it’s the former, then after all the money spent and having the “best manager in the world” then you would expect us to seriously challenge for the league/CL, if not win the league.

What I actually expect to happen is we come in third place and get knocked out in the RO16 in the CL. We may nick a domestic cup with people pointing to that as improvement and “we’re winning trophies!!!”

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Not really much different to the expectations we had in 2016. It's quite amusing to see that we needed a top top winger back then and we still haven't got one.

whats amusing is that is people were told then that we would sign mhiki and sanchez they would have been happy that we were signing top top wingers. for some reason, even though they would have been wrong then, they still feel whatever flavor of the month they pick now is the answer. fast forward 24 months and the same people could be saying we shouldn't have signed bale because he was obviously on the decline or we shouldn't have signed pulisic because he obviously had a weak mentality and was never a goal scorer etc etc

 

[Massive Spanner]

I expect him to win the title or at least mount a serious challenge, and a much better run in the CL.

I think neither of those will happen.

 

[Random Task]

We're going to surprise a lot of people this season. I fully expect a title challenge and serious one at that.

 

[bosnian_red]

Expectations for what a good job would be? Or what I expect the season to go like?
If it's what I expect the season to go like, I'd say:

• 3rd/4th place
• pretty much the same dire football as last season (people saying "it's only pre-season for these 2 games... it's the same football as we saw last season)
• quarter finals of the CL (or whenever we play against any bigger team)
• Go far in one or both of the cups, maybe win one of them

If it's what I think a good season would be and what would give me more belief in Mourinho:

• Good, attractive, entertaining football. I don't think we even play good football right now, but obviously not attractive football. After seeing how fun the World Cup was, it's almost a reminder of what's important for me in football, and as a fan, I'd much rather see us as an entertaining and quality side rather than occasionally win the league cup or some shit like that. Basically, in 2016/17 we won the league cup and Europa League. I would rather have had Liverpool's season last year where they played some of the best stuff around and made it to the CL final.
• Serious title challenge - last year yeah we finished 2nd, but it was the least confidence boosting 2nd place imaginable. There was not a single difference between 2nd and 4th, as we were all way off Man City.
• Winning a trophy - Ultimately for a real successful season, you need to win something at a club the size of Manchester United. Doesn't mean it's "win a trophy or be sacked", as the other 2 points without this I would be happy with, but you do need the substance too.

 

[Carl]

Struggle to a top 4 finish. Jose to either be gone or be under huge amounts of pressure to be gone by the end of the season.

 

[el3mel]

2nd or 3rd
CL Qf
A cup final

 

[The Brown Bull]

Jose gone by christmas due to utter boredom.
My expectations are low.

 

[El-Manos]

Have a feeling Lindelof is going to surprise a few on here this season in a good sense. Wouldn’t be surprised if he is our first choice centre back come December.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

If you look at his tenure as a whole, and the main reason most fans wanted him (and, presumably, the primary reason he was hired by the club), then it isn't unreasonable to expect a proper title challenge in his third season at United.

My own expectation, as a fan, is that we play like a top team. Not for five minutes here and there but consistently.

What I actually expect/believe will happen is a different question. I have no idea what to expect, to be honest. Could go either way. I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, I guess.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Thought this would be a bit fun.

For contrast, this is the response to the same thread when Jose got the job.

Interesting selection of comments. Turns out Mourinho more or less met most of those expectations (albeit mainly in season two). Which is in stark contrast to the two utter incompetents that preceded him, wouldn’t you agree?

 

[Infestissumam]

To quote Mourinho: "One thing is what I would like. Another thing is what is going to happen."

I would like to see a serious title challenge, at least QFs in the CL and generally entertaining football. But in all honesty, my expectations are super-low right now, I just can't see us achieve any of that with Mourinho. I think we'll struggle to finish 3rd or 4th in the league and see more of the dross football from last year.

 

[dove]

Title challenge (I think we are capable of winning ~90pts, whether it's enough for title or not depends on City), semi finals in CL and an FA cup.

 

[kouroux]

Top 4 challenge (as in no real and serious title challenge)and not much else. Zero excitment to watch games and whatever happens, hopefully Mourinho leaving the club at the end of the season

 

[Broad Street Bullies]

The results will be better than our style of play.

 

[dannyrhinos89]

The Expectations and the reality differ massively.

The expectation is we should be challenging for everything we can and winning a trophy at least

The reality is we simply won’t.

 

[Minkaro]

I think we’ll finish 4th to 6th. Knocked out in the first ko round in the CL. League cup semis. FA Cup 5th round.

 

[Steven Seagull]

The results will be better than our style of play.

This will still be true if we pick up 1 point all season

 

[Danny Roberts]

I'm starting not to care anymore! Hopefully something big will happen sooner rather than later!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

My expectations, realistically, are pretty grim. So I am, of course, hoping to be pleasantly surprised. I don’t really see the point of being a football fan if you don’t allow yourself a glimmer of hope every off-season.

 

[MoskvaRed]

League - City look the strongest again and will become the first team since United in 2009 to retain the title. United will be somewhere in the chasing pack, probably 3rd if Liverpool integrate their new signings properly.

Champions League - no realistic chance. Round of 16, maybe QF if we draw a really weak side.

FA Cup/League Cup - maybe, maybe not but neither would be enough to justify another season without a genuine title challenge.

Style of football - dull and lacking structure but enough to accumulate a lot of points in a very unbalanced league.

Manager - will continue to radiate joie de vivre and goodwill to all men.

Redcafe - will be very grim reading indeed without a fast start by United.

Owners/Woodward - probably don’t care very much if the top 4/last 16 predictions come true.

 

[Florida Man]

We can win the League and I am hopeful of it. However, I can see us finishing outside Top 4. I'm very concerned about our tactics and cohesion.

 

[Kearnkoff69]

I don't have high hopes for us this season. Best case scenario, we play like Chelsea in 2016-17 and defend like rabid dogs, grind out wins against big teams, and play scything counter attacking football with Sanchez playing the Hazard role. Worst case scenario, we look like we did for much of last season where our attackers run around like headless chickens, we struggle to break down teams except in dead ball situations and flukey goals, and we grind out a lot of 1-0 wins to a 5th place finish behind a rejuvenated Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Spurs (with City winning the title again). Could go either way at this point, but I haven't seen much to convince me that Jose's found the right formula to get us clicking into gear.

 

[Champagne Football]

Can't form an opinion until we see who else we get between now and August 9th in 2 weeks when window shuts.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

We certainly won’t be anywhere near winning the league. We will be knocked out of all the cups in the first game we play and won’t make it out of the group stages of CL. Mourinho will walk by January.

You can all quote me on that.

 

[sullydnl]

Given this is Mourinho's third year I think we should be challenging for the title. Finishing 2nd last year should have given us a platform to push on from this year.

In reality I think we're more likely to fall back than push into first. I would currently expect us to finish 3rd or 4th, though it could certainly be worse than that.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Out of any title race by Xmas at the latest.

Battle for top 4

1/4 finals in Europe

Decent cup runs in both cups, maybe even win one.

Dull, sterile football.

I think Sanchez will be much better this season though.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Not a feckin' clue right now to be honest.

A lot depends on the opening game against Leicester... if we blow them away and win comfortably then I'll actually have some expectations, but if it's a dour affair and we struggle badly, then expectations will pretty much be out the window.

 

[Minimalist]

Expectations right now are finishing 2nd at best and 4th at worst. I'm ignoring the potential meltdown scenario for now. I am hoping that we push the title winners (City) to the end, instead of it being piss easy for them.

I don't really care about the cup competitions as we've done reasonably well of late (League Cup and Europa League win and a FA Cup final last season). What I do want is for United to avoid getting knocked out by teams we shouldn't be in pathetic circumstances (Sevilla, Bristol).

And I do hope the side plays football that on average is 10-20% (if it could be quantified) more entertaining than last season. Certainly I'll be looking at the amount of chances created on average as last season we were awful at that.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Not a feckin' clue right now to be honest.

A lot depends on the opening game against Leicester... if we blow them away and win comfortably then I'll actually have some expectations, but if it's a dour affair and we struggle badly, then expectations will pretty much be out the window.

We beat Swansea 4-1 on the opening day of Moyes tenure and I went from being pessimistic about him to quite excited.

Never will I let the opening game of the season judge how I see it panning out again.

 

[Jagga7]

Think we will finish 3rd behind Liverpool and City. Dark times ahead!

 

[PepsiCola]

4th behind City, Chelsea and Liverpool.

 

[Reiver]

I was hopeful until Mourinho gave his "I don't answer your question" response. If he doesn't think we can win it then it's fingers crossed for top 4.

 

[RoadTrip]

A proper title challenge.
QF/SF run in the FA Cup.
SF fun in UCL.

League cup ... meh.

 

[Moonred]

Pogba and Sanchez to have a stormer of a season. We click somehow and play decent football. Everything magically clicks and we end up winning things.

On the grimmer side, we continue to be lackadaisical and huff and puff towards the finish line with nothing much to cherish but do enough to meet certain targets.

 

[vanderpants]

Well considering we played boring pointless football last season and won nothing , with no major signings this summer and other teams , notable Liverpool, I can see us finishing outside the top 4