Look at it this way....

[carheex]

We just finished runners up - that means only one team finished above us, and they're about to sell their best player! It doesn't matter how much money you have in the bank - if you sell the best winger in the world, who do you replace him with?
Without spending a penny we've now got our best chance ever of winning the premiership!

[DannyMan2006]

We just finished runners up - that means only one team finished above us, and they're about to sell their best player! It doesn't matter how much money you have in the bank - if you sell the best winger in the world, who do you replace him with?
Without spending a penny we've now got our best chance ever of winning the premiership!

I think we remain in the same situation. No point worrying about what other teams have to do. We will still need to get 85 points and upwards to win the title. Ronaldo was a big player for United, but with £80m in the bank I would expect them to make the squad stronger overall, unless he has a bad year in the transfer market.

Still, in effect they may have to replace two top players in the summer if Tevez doesn't sign on. They'll still get at least 85 points though IMO.

[Van Halen]

We just finished runners up - that means only one team finished above us, and they're about to sell their best player! It doesn't matter how much money you have in the bank - if you sell the best winger in the world, who do you replace him with?
Without spending a penny we've now got our best chance ever of winning the premiership!

Good point, if only football was that clear cut. As Harry Redknapp and Cesc Fabregas said last week - manure are definitely weaker. If you look at how many points Ronaldo generated for manure each season with free-kicks, penalties, diving, cheating etc etc. I remember a certain Thierry Henry leaving Arse some time ago, I don't believe they've won a trophy since!

[Craig_H]

I think we remain in the same situation. No point worrying about what other teams have to do. We will still need to get 85 points and upwards to win the title. Ronaldo was a big player for United, but with £80m in the bank I would expect them to make the squad stronger overall, unless he has a bad year in the transfer market.

Still, in effect they may have to replace two top players in the summer if Tevez doesn't sign on. They'll still get at least 85 points though IMO.

What they'll need to do is get another player who is as good a matchwinner as possible to what Ronaldo was. Because as a team, they didnt create loads of chances, but Ronaldo was always there to make the difference in a match and win it for them.

They can make the squad stronger overall, but unless they find themselves carving out chance after chance in games, they might struggle to find that winning difference which Ronaldo provided so often.

[red g]

What they'll need to do is get another player who is as good a matchwinner as possible to what Ronaldo was. Because as a team, they didnt create loads of chances, but Ronaldo was always there to make the difference in a match and win it for them.

They can make the squad stronger overall, but unless they find themselves carving out chance after chance in games, they might struggle to find that winning different which Ronaldo provided so often.

they have gone from 4 matchwinners to 2 in a matter of weeks......even we have 2

[red g]

What they'll need to do is get another player who is as good a matchwinner as possible to what Ronaldo was. Because as a team, they didnt create loads of chances, but Ronaldo was always there to make the difference in a match and win it for them.

They can make the squad stronger overall, but unless they find themselves carving out chance after chance in games, they might struggle to find that winning different which Ronaldo provided so often.

its been probably 5 years since scum had a team ethic.........

and lets face it nani, anderson, etc arent a patch on there golden generation
of Giggs, Scholes, BEckham, Keane etc

teams like that dont come along very often .........

and now its all about who to buy!

[The Birdman]

There is an article in one of today's papers (The Mail I think) saying that Ronaldo scored 23 'game/result changing goals' in the last 2 season and scored 37% of Utd's goals in the same period, that's a massive amount to lose and doesn't take into consideration the amount of goals he created.
Add that to the fact Tevez is probably leaving, Giggs, Neville and Scholes are clearly in the last throws of undenyably great careers, Ferdinand misses more games each passing season and has a back injury which effects the calfs, hamstrings etc.. Van der Sar staying for another year and he is dodgy as **** with a good back up in Foster who is always injured and Kuschank (sp) no more than average.
Anderson and Nani are rubbish, Fletcher, Carrick and Park all decent hard working players but nothing special.

We are the only top 6 team that doesn't require a massive overhall, fingers crossed we steer clear of injuries.

[kris90210]

There is an article in one of today's papers (The Mail I think) saying that Ronaldo scored 23 'game/result changing goals' in the last 2 season and scored 37% of Utd's goals in the same period, that's a massive amount to lose and doesn't take into consideration the amount of goals he created.
Add that to the fact Tevez is probably leaving, Giggs, Neville and Scholes are clearly in the last throws of undenyably great careers, Ferdinand misses more games each passing season and has a back injury which effects the calfs, hamstrings etc.. Van der Sar staying for another year and he is dodgy as **** with a good back up in Foster who is always injured and Kuschank (sp) no more than average.
Anderson and Nani are rubbish, Fletcher, Carrick and Park all decent hard working players but nothing special.

We are the only top 6 team that doesn't require a massive overhall, fingers crossed we steer clear of injuries.

good post

[Elvis]

Anderson and Nani are rubbish, Fletcher, Carrick and Park all decent hard working players but nothing special.

I reckon that Fletcher, Carrick and Park are more than "nothing special". They are the engine room that makes Yernited tick week-in, week-out. I agree that without the genius of Ronaldo they are weakened, but let's face it, they haven't got to beat the best teams in England to win the league - they have to beat the dross of the bottom 13-14 clubs. Players like Fletcher et al seem better at doing that than our more cultured players. They are flat-track bullies. We are more likely to beat Barca - but they are more likely to beat Wigan.

[carheex]

I reckon that Fletcher, Carrick and Park are more than "nothing special". They are the engine room that makes Yernited tick week-in, week-out. I agree that without the genius of Ronaldo they are weakened, but let's face it, they haven't got to beat the best teams in England to win the league - they have to beat the dross of the bottom 13-14 clubs. Players like Fletcher et al seem better at doing that than our more cultured players. They are flat-track bullies. We are more likely to beat Barca - but they are more likely to beat Wigan.

To say they are nothing special is actually a compliment, and you can add hargreaves to that list aswell. They are below average - Utd's midfield is poor.

[ronanm]

If we lose SG and Torres for the season we're f*cked - irrespective of who Utd sell. The glass is half empty here folks.

[BigChief]

I like this thread. Manure have over-performed in the last two seasons despite their impressive runs in both league and CL. One player caused that to happen, the deserved world player of the year. Now he's not with them. They will strengthen but they won't have the world player of the year, or second best player (Messi/Iniesta) or third (Kaka/Xavi/Torres/Gerrard).

When a declining team pushes their luck too far (like we did in 1990 I guess) then karma comes back to bite you in the ass for a very long time. We should know.

[BigChief]

If we lose SG and Torres for the season we're f*cked - irrespective of who Utd sell. The glass is half empty here folks.

We were f*cked most of last season then. And we came second. If they stay fit the whole season then which direction will we be headed? Glass half full, methinks.

[red g]

I like this thread. Manure have over-performed in the last two seasons despite their impressive runs in both league and CL. One player caused that to happen, the deserved world player of the year. Now he's not with them. They will strengthen but they won't have the world player of the year, or second best player (Messi/Iniesta) or third (Kaka/Xavi/Torres/Gerrard).

When a declining team pushes their luck too far (like we did in 1990 I guess) then karma comes back to bite you in the ass for a very long time. We should know.

hopefully lightening will strike twice

[dww]

I like this thread. Manure have over-performed in the last two seasons despite their impressive runs in both league and CL. One player caused that to happen, the deserved world player of the year. Now he's not with them. They will strengthen but they won't have the world player of the year, or second best player (Messi/Iniesta) or third (Kaka/Xavi/Torres/Gerrard).

When a declining team pushes their luck too far (like we did in 1990 I guess) then karma comes back to bite you in the ass for a very long time. We should know.

I think the United team of the season before last were about as good as there has been in the PL. This one just gone they added depth but many key players were not as good and the additions didn't step up. They still have an exceptional core of players.

Given the amount of money they have to spend and the obvious shocks/motivations for change in the CL final and the departure of Ronaldo I think they will readjust successfully. Whether they will do it quickly enough to win the league next season I'm not sure. A lot will depend on whether players like Anderson can refind the good things about the game and whether Fergie fronts up to making a mistake promoting Phelan and gets in a decent assistant.