28 Mar 2015 23:18:02
After settling for a CL spot this year where does that leave us in terms of next years target? Hypothetically if we finish next year in a CL spot with no silverware would it be fair to say goodbye to LVG or will we find excuses as to why he didn't succeed such as 'we had over 50 injuries', 'our team is still demoralised from Moyes' or 'the managers still learning his best 11 and the universal game of football as he has only managed in other Western leagues'?
I will probably get some stick here but for me next season with the squad we have and the inevitability we will add to it anything less than a sustained title challenge to the end, quarter finals of the CL and a domestic cup or if the other first two objectives are completed even at least a domestic final cup appearance is not an unrealistic target.
28 Mar 2015 23:39:44
If we get top four this season and build the way the club are expecting to during the summer whilst keeping De Gea, then I fully expect us to be challenging for the title next season. If we didn't improve on this season I would replace the manager in an heartbeat.
29 Mar 2015 05:54:27
If we get CL this season, I would expect a title challenge at the very least.
29 Mar 2015 10:13:56
I think there are a few factors that determine the target for next season, how we do over the summer will be important, if de gea leaves who we replaced him with and whether we sign the correct players in the correct places early enough in the summer for them to settle in over pre season. Once we know this then we will have a realistic target, but I would imagine the target is to make sure we get the players that will help us challenge early enough in the summer.
You seem to have decided that 50 injuries at the beginning of the season isn't a good enough reason for the team to not play how you wanted them to, whereas i see it as quite a major issue that decimated most of the plans before Christmas, so if we had major injury problems to key players again next year then your aims might not be possible.
I would think we will have a good chance of challenging chelsea next year at the very least, the champions league is a tricky one but I would expect us to get through the group then it depends on the draw, I wouldn't fancy us to beat Barcelona, Munich or madrid over two legs but we should be able to get to the quarters without meeting any of them like you suggested.
29 Mar 2015 11:00:48
One thing for sure is that the players we need to sign in summer need to be bought in order to fit the formation we are going with. Too often have players been played out of position because we quite simply can't fit them all in.
If it is a 4-3-3 we are going for then a RB, CB(2), CM and at a winger are needed in terms of first team players. Clyne, Hummels, Naingolan and Bale - something like that would fill a need. We then could use one or two squad players like Depay, Ings etc. However, if it was me I'd be throwing money at Spurs for Kane as well.
29 Mar 2015 12:25:19
50 injuries was a major factor. I also note since the boss replaced the first team physio the injuries have cleared up somewhat, even with the usual suspects like jones and smalling.
I would expect a league challenge, the confidence is back, players like Herrera have settled. The only worries I have regards transfers is the future of de gea and and whether or not lvg an woody end up arguing on targets.
29 Mar 2015 12:26:39
O and fresh i'd like to see Kane do it consistently for a second season first. I think next season some teams may figure him out. I'd hate to be done by levy for a flash in the pan.
29 Mar 2015 13:00:59
Let's nip one thing in the bud it wasn't 50 injuires at the same time I was being very sarcastic.
GDS your first paragraph looks to me like your already making excuses. If De Gea leaves, he leaves. We have Valdes - WC, CL winner - to take over or a new keeper will be signed and if all goes to plan tactically he shouldn't have to do half the work DDG has done this season.
Secondly you say a lot depends on getting the 'correct players through the door' which is fine as we would all like the team strengthened but I am a believer that this squad is good enough to challenge the way it is if some lads up their game like they have done in the last two games against tough opposition. What if we spend heavily on the 'wrong' players? That would also be on the managers head.
29 Mar 2015 13:25:15
It is not only the injuries that have been a problem but having Rooney, Falcao, RVP and ADM's salaries to meet, the manager simply had to start out with the presumption that they would be playing in most of the matches. Add to that Fellaini and Mata, both expensive acquisitions, and one can empathize with the dilemma - built-in unbalance. Now we have but one goal and that is to make it into the CL, and I would expect LVG to make no further compromises.
After the debilitating experience of last year, if we make top 4, it has to be considered a relative success, despite the unerring sense that we should have done better, especially in the first 10 games when we had a relatively easy schedule. And if we accomplish that minimum goal then the manager deserves an opportunity to continue the squad's development.
From my point of view I hope he will decide that we need to get rid of RVP. If the terms of purchase and salary remain as high as previously reported, then the same goes for Falcao, but at 20m and a lower salary I would risk it. He is still relatively young and could yet have a future. One way or another we need one additional top class goal scorer. We also need to be grooming a replacement for Michael Carrick. As for the defence, now that it's more settled, it looks more comfortable than it did early in the season, so my opinion is one more RB and CB. So, yes, we could be 4 players off having a team that's ready to compete with the best.
29 Mar 2015 13:48:20
JMB,
Excuses about what exactly? You asked a question as to what the target should be next year and I answered it, what exactly am I making excuses for? To win a league title you need a bit of luck and things to go right for you, there are other teams with players with similar ability to us so it can come down to the small things to decide the destination of the title. We will be much better equipped next season to challenge for the title but so will chelsea and will be a team who have just won it, so it can come down to smaller things like number of injuries and whether signings settle quick.
You seem to live in a football manager world, all the bad things are the managers fault, all the good things are just luck and anything that goes wrong are just excuses. You are beginning to get quite boring.
Do you think valdes is as good as de gea? I take it from your post you do, which is laughable. Of course losing de gea would make a difference, otherwise we would just stick Ben Amos in net and win the league anyway.
29 Mar 2015 13:49:58
And 'lets get one thing clear' I never suggested the injuries were at the same time, they were mainly before christmas though and decimated our plans whether you like it or not. You have decided injuries don't make a difference to a season whereas anyone with common sense knows that they do, especially to key players.
29 Mar 2015 14:41:23
GDS - you have just said that 'a few factors will determine our targets for next year' then rhymed off these factors as being De Gea, a good pre-season and some decent signings. So if De Gea leaves then we shouldn't target the title? If we have a poor pre-season we should drop our target to just a CL spot? If we don't sign anyone then our target with the squad we have should be to replicate this season? Give me a break.
All those stipulations you have made are irrelevant to our targets. Our targets should be set out on July 1st and if we have a few issues regarding players or transfer dealings along the way then so be it. Yes in this league a little bit of luck goes a long way but that is not what you said in your first post, you said if certain scenarios play out we should alter our targets.
I think it's you who lives in a fantasy world. We are one of three biggest teams in the WORLD and have one of the best squads in the league. We pay premium ticket prices, have an abundance of talent and deserve to be up their challenging for the title. All this and your telling me we have to scale back our targets if we lose a goalie, lose some friendlies and fail to add to an already star studded squad. That's just downright delusional.
I think Valdes is capable of playing in goal for us yes. Did I say he is better? Of course I want to keep De Gea but things change quickly in this game. Do you expect the keeper next year (who ever that may be) to individually save as many points as De Gea did this season? If you do then that's laughable as surely your hero LVG should have the defence sorted after a year in the job.
Everyone has injuries, not just United. What key players really spent lengthy time on the treatment table this year other than Carrick? Rooney? No. Herrera? No. Mata? No. Blind? No. Felliani? No. Young? No. DDG? No. Your point about injuries is invalid because every team gets them FACT!
29 Mar 2015 17:40:07
Europe will be to blame next season if we aren't fighting for the title. There will be some excuse, every club has them, but many of our fans seem to have forgotten who they support - we are not Arsenal, excuses like this are for the weak, even Arsenal fans have gotten fed up of using them!
I hope we have a good summer and he has learnt to pick players on form and to stop meddling with the system. Clean slate next season, but we have to stop making excuses for the team and manager, it really hasn't been good enough all season and our expectations shouldn't drop with the performance. He is paid to manage problems, he hasn't only added to them.
30 Mar 2015 00:07:15
Whatever I say on this site tweedle dee and tweedle dum are there to tell me I am wrong. JMB you asked a question then when I gave an answer you say I'm living in a fantasy world. Why ask the question if you don't want people's opinions?
30 Mar 2015 00:22:34
GDS you are the one that claimed my post was laughable and that I am living in a football manager world. Now you are name calling with your tweedle dee and twedle dumb, why even bother with those types of remarks? Don't give it if you can't take it mate.
30 Mar 2015 01:50:32
Does anyone else think this constant flirting between GDS and JMB is getting rather tedious? They should get a room.
Just saying. :-)
30 Mar 2015 06:57:40
Here, here Herbie!
30 Mar 2015 09:14:49
Herbie,
I can't post an opinion on here without JMB and Beast telling me my opinion is invalid, it is not flirting but I agree it is very tedious, think I may be due another break. I am a very happy United fan at the minute and being told my positive opinion is wrong is depressing beyond belief.
30 Mar 2015 23:36:29
GDS
Never let people pull you down, that's just been a defeatist.
You are 1 of the best posters on here without a doubt, you would be missed so just suck it up and carry on.
The point I guess I'm trying to make regarding yourself and JMB is its the same thing all the time, I'm surprised the "my dads bigger than your dads not come out yet"
Both you and JMB are invaluable members on this site you just have to sometimes agree to disagree and move on. Stay cool.