What the pundits & media are saying about us

[doom]

Another year of change for some big teams - City, Chelsea, Manu - lots of personnel changes won't help their cause. Arsenal will eventually collapse in a heap - will this be the year? Liverpool - inconsistent. Spurs, no changes to starting 11 - much better back up options young ones maturing.. can only bode well. Leicester will surprisingly be the surprise again, some good players in though Kante out, woefully underestimated this season (as is Spurs) though I think the champions league may be too much for them.. and then they'll drop into the Europa. They will be top at some stage then fade.

Hey doom mongers... It's going to be a great season!!

 

[spurs mental]

The league is Liverpool's to lose

No European football
Klopp
Incredible attacking players
Other sides rebuilding with new managers

Anything top 4 will please me

And us?

 

[shelfboy68]

And us?

Think he is trying to say that we wont win the league which on that point i agree, however i think Utd under mourinho will be a different animal and so imo i think we will be fifth again.

 

[spurs mental]

Think he is trying to say that we wont win the league which on that point i agree, however i think Utd under mourinho will be a different animal and so imo i think we will be fifth again.

I don't agree with this at all.

City under Guardiola have a whole host of new players and we all know about Aguero's injury record. United have a bunch of new players as well, although with serial winner Mourinho they will be harder to beat, but I'd still fancy us to beat them at home anyway. Chelsea have a manager who is untested in the league and still haven't quite sorted their aging squad.

I agree Liverpool will be a threat but I think we will still finish ahead of them. We are a year ahead in our progression and have a very settled squad.

 

[slartibartfast]

This is the same Maurinho who led Chelsea to relegation form with his ego.
That ego is still there. Throw in Ibrohimovic with his ego and a petulant Pogba and I think we're gonna see a huge shit storm if things don't go rosey. Can see Rooney spitting his dummy out as well.
Can't wait.
It may all go great for them but I think it'll end in tears.
Anything could happen this season. I think us, Citae, Manure, Chelscum, Arse are all capable of winning it but equally as likely to finish 5th or 6th.
I don't see Liverpool in the top 4 let alone winning it.
Gonna be interesting. Can't wait.

 

[shelfboy68]

I don't agree with this at all.

City under Guardiola have a whole host of new players and we all know about Aguero's injury record. United have a bunch of new players as well, although with serial winner Mourinho they will be harder to beat, but I'd still fancy us to beat them at home anyway. Chelsea have a manager who is untested in the league and still haven't quite sorted their aging squad.

I agree Liverpool will be a threat but I think we will still finish ahead of them. We are a year ahead in our progression and have a very settled squad.

Tbf i never stated that we would or wouldnt finish above liverpool nor did i say anything regarding whether our squad was more settled than theirs.
Liverpool have bought well so far from what i can see and like many others will be a threat, what i did say is that i thought Utd might well win it and we probably will not make top four.
The winner of the EPL this coming year will be back with one of the usual suspects again imo.

 

[beats1]

Heres the thing we didnt get a high points total last season, for us to get top 4 this season imo if we emulate last season we wont do it

Last season was the statistical anomaly.

We have to improve to make top 4

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Heres the thing we didnt get a high points total last season, for us to get top 4 this season imo if we emulate last season we wont do it

Last season was the statistical anomaly.

We have to improve to make top 4

Our best period last season was really good, so I think our ceiling is pretty much spot on. When you talk about improving, I picture improving on our bottom worst performances, and maybe pacing the goals out in a way that allows us to win more games ( we scored a lot last season, but not always in a productive fashion).

 

[LexingtonSpurs]

Heres the thing we didnt get a high points total last season, for us to get top 4 this season imo if we emulate last season we wont do it

Last season was the statistical anomaly.

We have to improve to make top 4

I don't disagree with the premise that we will have to improve - but I'd be surprised if there are 4 teams with 70+ points this season.

Too many squads capable of taking points off each other to see 4 break away from the rest.

 

[thinktank]

I don't disagree with the premise that we will have to improve - but I'd be surprised if there are 4 teams with 70+ points this season.

Too many squads capable of taking points off each other to see 4 break away from the rest.

It's a fair point. It's going to be more competitive than ever. Fine, fine margins. A very exciting season ahead.

Key for us: take our chances in front of goal. Squandered far too many good situations last season; we simple cannot afford not to capitalise on most of those this season. Must. be.clinical.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

I don't disagree with the premise that we will have to improve - but I'd be surprised if there are 4 teams with 70+ points this season.

Too many squads capable of taking points off each other to see 4 break away from the rest.

I see it differently, I think it will be a season of extremely clear differences. Loads of weak squads on one end and loads of interesting signings on the other end IMO.

 

[SpurinChicago]

My only worry with the optimism pervading the opinions of pundits and supporters is the reaction if things do not start off well. A significant sector of our support tends to look for someone to blame. That someone is almost invariably the manager. Failing to live up to heightened expectations leads us to chop and change. So I am expecting a top 7 finish and remaining patient with Poch's plan. Hope more pundits have us finishing outside the top four. Predictions have absolutely no bearing on league finish.

 

[shelfboy68]

My only worry with the optimism pervading the opinions of pundits and supporters is the reaction if things do not start off well. A significant sector of our support tends to look for someone to blame. That someone is almost invariably the manager. Failing to live up to heightened expectations leads us to chop and change. So I am expecting a top 7 finish and remaining patient with Poch's plan. Hope more pundits have us finishing outside the top four. Predictions have absolutely no bearing on league finish.

On the whole most of us fans are happy with the way the club is developing and can see no reason to dig out the manager although i take your point.
It would be unfair to expect us to challenge for the title and or get top four on a regular basis with the tight ship we operate, so like yourself i expect to finish outside the top four 5/6th most likely although there could be threats to that with liverpool, west ham and maybe everton all pushing for spots, so we need to brace ourselves for the most competitive league ever.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

We had an good season but we were hugely benefitted for a spectacularly shit sky 4. That wont happen again.

You just need to stop.........

 

[eViL]

We're not finishing top 4 ffs. Christ almighty people. Only chance we have of that is if Modric or Bale come back or anpther world class player comes along

We got extremely lucky last year where the sky 4 all had down years and we were a fighting chance from a fighting chance at the title until we managed to fuck that up and finish 3rd in A 2 horse title race(who says spursy is dead?!) That chance wont happen 2 years in a row. City, Chelsea and United will be MUCH better this year. Arsenal could fuck up for 30+ games but they'll still finish above us because we havent proven we can string along a 38 game season under Poch. The top 4 will be back to normal.

We have a fantastic opportunity to distrupt it but look at this transfer window. Are we taking that opportunity? No. Will we? No. Can we? Well, no. We have a stadium to build.

I keep hearing people spout this 'Sky four had a bad season' bullshit but I think the League was just more competitive than ever..

League Championships don't lie.

 

[voxy28]

Good to see the positive from our supporters but we have some unknown going into the season mainly how the 2 Manchester team form in the 1st half. For me the most important is to finish strong in the first half before we know how we stack against them. Don't forget we have UCL which will add pressure to the team esp with injuries.

Our starting 11 will match any top teams but if we start to rotate, then there will be some uncertainty. I would judge after the 1st 3 games when Dembele is not playing.

 

[nattydredd]

Personally, I'm not sure if these pundits know more than the average fella, down the boozer, after a 6 pint haul..just my opinion after being subjected to hours upon hours of waffle. I tend to ignore them...it helps maintain a sense of balance and sanity.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[MyNameIsNicolaBerti]

You just need to stop.........

No. I don't think he does. If people don't appreciate that both us and Leicester were able to capitalise on a poor season for the big money teams then they're living in a fantasy world.

That's not to say that our performances last season weren't a sign of improvement. They were, and it was a great season because, in spite of the failures of the top teams, we still had to play well to be up there. But I think people are kidding themselves if we're an automatic title contender this season or even a top four team. It will be a big fight, and a harder one than last year, and not just because of the strengthening of opponents, but also because of our CL campaign. That's not to say it won't happen, but personally, I see us fourth or fifth this season and I think fans have to be realistic and not over egg their expectations.

 

[TheHood]

I keep hearing people spout this 'Sky four had a bad season' bullshit but I think the League was just more competitive than ever..

League Championships don't lie.

A more competitive league does not translate into Chelsea spending most of the season in the bottom half of table. Jose didn't find himself out of a job simply because the likes of Southampton and Leciester had the seasons they did. The same applied to the likes of United and City as well. Both clubs had lame duck mangers who were hindering their respective clubs potential. There is a multitude of factors that effected the elite clubs last seasons, many of which have now been removed. It's naive to suggest that we didn't benefit from that last season and equally naive to believe that those clubs resolving many of those issues doesn't posr a threat to us this season.

 

[Adam456]

Gazetta Dello Sport have reported Pogba is in Manchester today to complete his medical.
http://www.gazzettaworld.com/news/transfer-market/pogba-touches-manchester-united-move/?

Yeah saw that. Been imminent for ages though hasn't it