How will we do next season?

[israbeckham]

Dont get me wrong I'm a Man U fan allt he way but do we really have a chance to win anything important this time. The league title will be very hard. Chelsea... no explanation needed, and Liverpool and Arsenal seemed to have gotten better. I think we have a shot at the title tho cuz i think Chelsea will self distruct like Real Madid did in the last 3 years after winning and then getting old superstars. 2 many superstars one one team will not work!(Real Madrid, 2006 world cup for Brazil National Team, and i hope chelsea)

About the Champions League... I think it wont happen. Lets face it we just dont have that kind of quality this year out players are ether not yet in their prime or over their price... ya Rooney Ronaldo etc... but still I think we just need more quality to go all the way.

FA Cup and Carling Cup I wish Fergie takes seriously and actually plays the starters so we can have 2 Trophys..

We need 1 or 2 more sighning 1 world class striker and 1 world class OFFENSIVE Mid m(Something that Ballack or Requelme would be ideal for but... i guess they wont be comming)

Play Rooney as offensive mid? and then get one world class striker w saha?

[MtP07]

We will probably win the Super Bowl.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

We definitely need another central midfielder that is 'defensive' in nature. That is the priority. We could use a top class striker but that is the secondary concern. There are four scenarios for the rest of the window:

(1) We don't get either and we all cry ourselves to sleep knowing that O'Shea will get a considerable amount of playing time this season in central midfield. That would be a step back from last season imo.

(2) We get a striker to replace Ruud. Rossi goes down the pecking order and O'Shea gets playing time... Nothing really changes.

(3) We get another midfielder. Sweet. The midfield should be sorted and that was the main concern from last season (and the season before that and...). Although we are a striker down, it means Rossi, Solskjaer and Smith will get more time. I'm happy with that and it's an improvement over last season.

(4) We get both and I cry tears of joy. Bring on Chelsea.



* Unless we sign another midfielder to complement Carrick, I don't see him making a considerable impact.

[Rakim_22]

We will probably win the Super Bowl.
:D :D

[TheCanuck]

Hopefully we can make at least the UEFA Cup this year. I've only been following Man U closely for the past two years and I've been disappointed with the Champions League results so far. Really hope we can make into the CL QF's.

[433tom]

I'm going to make a prediction that if we pick up Senna, we will do very well and he may be viewed as the "buy' of the year in the EPL by season end. I watched him in the Champions League and the World Cup, and I think he is an outstanding DM with all the qualities we need.

Now after reading a story in the Sunday Times about him, I like him even more. His head is in the right place to play for United and in the EPL. I posted the story in the transfer rumour thread. It is worth a read.

[JC7rox]

We definitely need another central midfielder that is 'defensive' in nature. That is the priority. We could use a top class striker but that is the secondary concern. There are four scenarios for the rest of the window:

(1) We don't get either and we all cry ourselves to sleep knowing that O'Shea will get a considerable amount of playing time this season in central midfield. That would be a step back from last season imo.

(2) We get a striker to replace Ruud. Rossi goes down the pecking order and O'Shea gets playing time... Nothing really changes.

(3) We get another midfielder. Sweet. The midfield should be sorted and that was the main concern from last season (and the season before that and...). Although we are a striker down, it means Rossi, Solskjaer and Smith will get more time. I'm happy with that and it's an improvement over last season.

(4) We get both and I cry tears of joy. Bring on Chelsea.



* Unless we sign another midfielder to complement Carrick, I don't see him making a considerable impact.

Dude, your input the last couple of days has been inspiring. Keep it up, man. And I feel the same as you about Carrick. If we don't get a midfielder that is more defensive minded, then I don't see him making that much of an impact. If the situation stays this way, we're better off going to a 3 man midfield with Fletcher doing all the dirty work. I know a lot of people say that holds him back from contributing more in the offensive half, but he does a good job of it and I don't mind seeing him being that third leg if it comes down to that.

[prymetyme]

We will probably win the Super Bowl.

yeah, thats a possibility I was thinking more along the lines of the French Open or maybe the World Series. The Brickyard 500 could happen too. That is if Fergies takes them seriously

[benni...]

My honest unbiased opinion on how we will do.

1. We will win the FA Cup.
2. We will come second in the league
3. We will be CL semifinalist
4. We will win the Carling Cup.

If we buy a bread winner...

[SirManchester]

My honest unbiased opinion on how we will do.

1. We will win the FA Cup.
2. We will come second in the league
3. We will be CL semifinalist
4. We will win the Carling Cup.

wow, you're very very optimistic considering the many many problems we still face.

[Uniteder]

Hope =

Premier league winners
CL Semi Final
Carling cup winner
Fa Winner
:D :o :(


Head-
3rd in the league
FA cup winners
Carling cup semi Final
Quarter final in the Cl

[433tom]

wow, you're very very optimistic considering the many many problems we still face.

I think they are getting a bit giddy because we are going on 24 hours now without anyone getting hurt or red carded. :)

[benni...]

Nah, just trying to be positive...

[israbeckham]

I think they are getting a bit giddy because we are going on 24 hours now without anyone getting hurt or red carded. :)

lol

[SirManchester]

Fact is, this is a very unpredictable season. Even more so than any of our seasons of past, and it correlates directly to our transition period.

Clearly Ferguson is building a new team, instead of going for the traditional 4-4-2 diamond with a capable DM who can destroy, and distribute, we seem to be following Milan's example of a Pirlo/Gattusso partnership. Of course Ferguson has aimed to turn Carrick into a more box to box midfielder, but it's also pretty clear that we need more steel in our midfield. We've seen what our midfield looks like with Scholes and Carrick in the middle and it doesn't look pretty. Neither does one with O'Shea, Fletcher, or Miller in there.

With that said, we also have a forward problem. We can't predict how our frontline will do, just based on the latter half of last season when Ruud was benched. We still have an injury prone Saha, a very fresh and nervous Rossi, and two forwards who haven't played the position in quite some time in Ole and Smith. We cannot rely on Rooney alone (especially when it looks like he'll pick up a few reds every other game :rolleyes: )

I'm pretty sure we can do well domestically, even though other teams such as Newcastle, Arsenal, and Tottenham have enhanced their teams, and Chelsea and Liverpool are drifting closer to each other with every season. There is a strong possibility that we can finish second again, and at our most optimistic hope that Chelsea slip up with their clogged team sometime during the season. We can get far in the FA Cup again, most likely to the final, we just have to avoid slip ups like the one against Liverpool last season, which I think we can do if we maintain our focus.

Now for probably the most unpredictable part of our upcoming season, the Champions League. My main concern is how we're going to approach scoring goals. van Nistelroy was our main goalscorer in Europe and none of our other forwards seemed to maintain some sort of consistency in that competition. My guess is Ferguson is shifting our formation relative to Europe. A central midfield partnership of Carrick/Senna? will certainly boost our chances against other European clubs. All this planning for the CL gives me the impression that Ferguson will have to go in the transfer market for another forward. Relying on what we have now, I can't see us succeeding even though we're strengthening our central midfield.

Ultimately, I find this upcoming season to be very unpredictable. Not only is United approaching the heavy stages of a transition period (bringing in youngers, shifting formations) but the teams around us are shifting and we have to keep up. We started the preseason with some positives (winning the Amsterdam tournament) and with negatives (Rooney and Scholes red, Carrick injuries, youngster loans). Heinze will be returning, Vidic will be returning and most of all Ronaldo will be returning, so once again we don't know how exactly that will work out. I would ultimately consider this a successful season with a scenario of finishing second or third, going to the quarters of the CL, and winning the FA Cup. We'll be left with some silverware, and most of all hunger and believe that we can get better form there on.

[Rakim_22]

Hope =

Premier league winners
CL Semi Final
Carling cup winner
Fa Winner
:D :o :(


Head-
3rd in the league
FA cup winners
Carling cup semi Final
Quarter final in the Cl

:eek: Who is going to stop us from getting 2nd place in the league! The Scousers or the Gunners! Puhlease. :p

[Numquam Moribimur]

Nah, just trying to be positive...


good to hear benni ! doom and gloom can be bad for you !

[Uniteder]

:eek: Who is going to stop us from getting 2nd place in the league! The Scousers or the Gunners! Puhlease. :p
well I was using the CURRENT squad :p :(

[433tom]

Fact is, this is a very unpredictable season. Even more so than any of our seasons of past, and it correlates directly to our transition period.

Clearly Ferguson is building a new team, instead of going for the traditional 4-4-2 diamond with a capable DM who can destroy, and distribute, we seem to be following Milan's example of a Pirlo/Gattusso partnership. Of course Ferguson has aimed to turn Carrick into a more box to box midfielder, but it's also pretty clear that we need more steel in our midfield. We've seen what our midfield looks like with Scholes and Carrick in the middle and it doesn't look pretty. Neither does one with O'Shea, Fletcher, or Miller in there.

With that said, we also have a forward problem. We can't predict how our frontline will do, just based on the latter half of last season when Ruud was benched. We still have an injury prone Saha, a very fresh and nervous Rossi, and two forwards who haven't played the position in quite some time in Ole and Smith. We cannot rely on Rooney alone (especially when it looks like he'll pick up a few reds every other game :rolleyes: )

I'm pretty sure we can do well domestically, even though other teams such as Newcastle, Arsenal, and Tottenham have enhanced their teams, and Chelsea and Liverpool are drifting closer to each other with every season. There is a strong possibility that we can finish second again, and at our most optimistic hope that Chelsea slip up with their clogged team sometime during the season. We can get far in the FA Cup again, most likely to the final, we just have to avoid slip ups like the one against Liverpool last season, which I think we can do if we maintain our focus.

Now for probably the most unpredictable part of our upcoming season, the Champions League. My main concern is how we're going to approach scoring goals. van Nistelroy was our main goalscorer in Europe and none of our other forwards seemed to maintain some sort of consistency in that competition. My guess is Ferguson is shifting our formation relative to Europe. A central midfield partnership of Carrick/Senna? will certainly boost our chances against other European clubs. All this planning for the CL gives me the impression that Ferguson will have to go in the transfer market for another forward. Relying on what we have now, I can't see us succeeding even though we're strengthening our central midfield.

Ultimately, I find this upcoming season to be very unpredictable. Not only is United approaching the heavy stages of a transition period (bringing in youngers, shifting formations) but the teams around us are shifting and we have to keep up. We started the preseason with some positives (winning the Amsterdam tournament) and with negatives (Rooney and Scholes red, Carrick injuries, youngster loans). Heinze will be returning, Vidic will be returning and most of all Ronaldo will be returning, so once again we don't know how exactly that will work out. I would ultimately consider this a successful season with a scenario of finishing second or third, going to the quarters of the CL, and winning the FA Cup. We'll be left with some silverware, and most of all hunger and believe that we can get better form there on.

Nice post. Hopefully we can do a little better, but it sounds like a realistic projection at this point.

[Rakim_22]

well I was using the CURRENT squad :p :(
Ok makes sense...