Tonight's Champions League fixtures: pic.twitter.com/opr7785Req— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) September 12, 2017
The official ball for the new Champions League season.🏆⚽😍 pic.twitter.com/KZ75PZRYYN— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) September 12, 2017
Ryan Giggs on United's CL chances. www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11031454/ryan-giggs-rates-manchester-uniteds-champions-league-chances-ahead-of-basel-opener
MCN to LOL: the new super forward lines set to dominate the Champions League https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-lines?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard
Hearing the Champions League music makes everything okay ❤️(🎥 @Sergio_R81) pic.twitter.com/ZcP8RPvEQ4— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 12, 2017
We're not going to win the CL this season but if we can make it to the SF and acquit ourselves well I'll be very pleased. The main problem is that we're short on class at the fullback positions. They're not that bad but they're just not that great. And without fulbacks who can attack effectively opposing defenders can key in on our offensive players and close lanes down. Everyone here knows this and by the time we start facing top clubs we'll be found out.
Talking points from the first day of Matchday 1 www.skysports.com/football/news/11946/11033195/champions-league-talking-points-paris-saint-germain-trio-shine
That Memphis Depay is a world class winger who was rendered helpless at Old Trafford after Luke Shaw went down was, is and always will be a preposterous proposition, a thesis born of desperation once Memphis proved himself to be wildly overrated -- as were warned by Dutch posters on redcafe who laughed their asses off when we signed him. Other United forwards have done very well without Shaw -- Martial and Rashford come to mind. Ibra -- 28 goals 10 assists in 44 matches -- as well. Shaw is nowhere in sight but Lukaku seems to be doing well so far. Miki and Mata are prospering. Even Lingard has made a more substantial impact than Memphis ever did...with Shaw nowhere near the pitch. Memphis made his own bed with his horrid play and, famously, when he showed up to training in his Rolls Royce. He had proved nothing but acquitted himself as a footballer who had already conquered England. Shaw's absence is no excuse for the debacle that became Memphis Depay.
Celtic have been officially charged by UEFA after a fan ran onto the pitch and tried to charge at Mbappe. www.bbc.com/sport/football/41248903
It’s raining penalties in the Champions League – but what’s behind the increase? https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/sep/13/champions-league-penalties-referees
United are currently at the second level below the European elite - Mourinho www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/manchester-united-basel-jose-mourinho-champions-league-report-highlights-a7943841.html
That sounds about right, but the European elite group isn't that large. You'd say Real, Barcelona, Juve, PSG and then a pack of wolves in the "second level" that's maybe 8 or 9 strong which we're arguably in the middle of at best. We'll see if we can break into this mythical European elite level by the end of the season (SF in the CL will do it for me) or whether it will take a third Mourinho season to become elite again.
United are really not that far at all, to potentially being back among Europe's best. They're 2 (3 at the most if Shaw can not regain his great form) players away at this time. Jose, love him or not, is one of the best Cup/big game managers in the game still, is a huge trump card for United. As such, there is little doubt that we are closer than we might think.
We're far more than 3 players away from Elite. We have 1 elite player in our starting 11, 1 very likely elite player, and 4 potential elite players who do need to step a big step up inside the next 3 years. Then, assuming all of the above make the grade, we'd be 3 players away from being an elite team. In my humble opinion, any "elite level team", needs at least 3 or 4 elite level players spread around the field, plus a bunch of excellent ones.
Jose is a manager who has a knack of getting the most from his teams, plus he's very astute tactically, especially in knockout competitions. With the squad as it is currently made up, we could be amongst the favorites with 2 top FBs and an top notch right sided forward. Having those players would provide the quality you speak of in several positions. Add to that Jose's know how and ability in Cup competitions and there is no doubt in my mind United would be in with a legitimate chance as soon as this season. As it stands, I think we'll get there next season, provided that Jose stays the course he is on at the moment.
I appreciate the sentiment you're making. And I also agree 2 FB's and a right sided winger are the pressing needs. But, we need to pump the breaks a bit here. The only player we have who is proven consistently at the very top over an extended period is DDG. You're making a lot of assumptions in your post about several of our other younger players. They still have a lot of prove at the next level. Lukaku, Rash, Martial, Bailly - none of them have done it at this high a level, let alone consistently over a period of time.
A lot is based on potential yes, but it's still my opinion nonetheless that with the 3 type of players mentioned, our starting XI would not be looking too shabby. Coupled that with the depth available to Jose, there's a lot he could do there. Jose doesn't need (nor want really) a team full of Galacticos types: he arguably did his best work in his time at Porto and Inter. There was more top tier talent in his Inter squad, but it was still a pretty workmanlike type squad overall. I think in many ways, this current United team is looking more and more like that team. A lot of the talent is still somewhat speculative, but the longer they stay together, the more special some of them will become in my opinion.
That's a bit too harsh in its assessment of the squad. There's no universally accepted definition of an "elite player", but most of us here have a pretty good idea of who is and who is not an elite player. As for our elite players, surely there can be no question that De Gea, Pogba and Lukaku are "elite". And if he actually can regain top fitness again, Ibrahimovic. I suspect some would disagree, but it's a pretty straightforward proposition that Matic is also "elite". Unless what we mean by "elite" is the best on the planet in that position. If that's the case, then it's only De Gea. But that's not the case, is it? I didn't think so. We've got 4, arguably 5, elite footballers on the squad. That's beyond any reasonable debate. But we're clearly not an elite squad. Not yet at least. As I think I wrote back in August, to have any shot at winning the EPL and making it to the SF in the CL we need sustained outstanding performances from Martial and Miki. Chance creation will come from those two and if they aint creatin' chances we be drawing with the likes of Burnley and Stoke again. I'm actually not too worried about our defensive weaknesses, at least not until we face top opponents -- at which time De Gea will have to be in top form to save us. Whatever the problems at left and right back, we should be alright most of the time. We're not that far off: Let's see how Jones and Lindelof develop this season. Let's see how Fosu-Mensah and Tuanzebe develop. Let's see if Shaw has anything left after what Moreno did to him. Bottom line...if the players we have step up we're 1 player short. If they don't, we're far off.
Demetri Mitchell and Kieran O'Hara have been added to United's CL squad. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-utd-champions-league-squad-13617861