Time for a season wrap-up then mothball this thread?Darbyand wrote: ↑09 Sep 2020, 13:25 Let's have a few predictions for United this season. I'm feeling a lot more positive than last season even though my pre season prediction of 4th stays the same. I think we'll get more points, win more games, score more goals etc. It's a sad state of affairs when that feels like the limit of a club like United's ambitions but there it is. You set your expectations accordingly and I enjoyed the post Bruno signing run. Criminal he wasn't added last summer.
I posted the above last September and the comparable records were
3 Manchester United 38 18 12 8 66 36 +30 66 2019/20
2 Manchester United 38 21 11 6 73 44 +29 74 2020/21
So all in all, improvements across the board apart from the defence with some mitigation for conceding 10 in the first 3 games when they were horribly undercooked. Where would they be without Bruno who was responsible for most good things in (4 months of) 2019/20 and the season just gone? I dread to think.
HOWEVER...last Wednesday was huge for how the season will be judged and it was a major damp squib. Emery is a good coach who was easily able to put a straightjacket around United's tactics with a deep block(s). And that weakness will remain until they get more strength in depth and creativity. A genuine right sided player who can contribute goals and assists has been missing for several seasons, it'll be criminal if they don't go for Sancho this summer. I've lost count of how many goals they've conceded from set pieces and a long-term partner for Maguire is a must. After that it's probably an upgrade on McFred, particularly Fred, and I'd be surprised if more than 3 come in.
As for Ole...as I said earlier this week he's going nowhere. Whether he should be...a surprising amount of clubs have tried this inexperienced club legend route with results varying from the spectacular (Guardiola at Barca, Zidane) to the flops (Lampard, Pirlo). Ole is muddling along somewhere in between, very obviously learning on the job. As long as he keeps delivering top 4 with the current owners the experiment will continue.