Look at it this way....

[Darth Marty]

For me, and ive been unlucky enough to see many good scum teams, the team with Schmeical, a top form Giggs, kanchelskis et al was the best scum team ive ever seen, it pains me to say but it was a pleasure to watch that team play most of the time.

[DannyMan2006]

For me, and ive been unlucky enough to see many good scum teams, the team with Schmeical, a top form Giggs, kanchelskis et al was the best scum team ive ever seen, it pains me to say but it was a pleasure to watch that team play most of the time.

That team and THE Arsenal team were the best too watch in the Prem. But the Manc treble winners and first Chav team were the best in the prem.

[The Birdman]

Does anyone honestly expect Utd to win 13 games 1-0 (or whatever the **** it was again) no they won't, you need a fair degree of luck to win that many games by a single goal margin game after game, while at the other end Ronaldo won't be there to pull them out of the ****, also psychologically if teams are now facing a Utd team without their best player they will be more confident about getting something and actually have a goal instead of ****ting it and giving the game up before they kick off.

[hertsred]

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.

This is their conundrum though. They have to replace an automatic first choice with squad players, when their squad is already too big - which is why Tevez is off. They will still be above 80 points, but they will be weaker.

[Craig_H]

Does anyone honestly expect Utd to win 13 games 1-0 (or whatever the **** it was again) no they won't, you need a fair degree of luck to win that many games by a single goal margin game after game, while at the other end Ronaldo won't be there to pull them out of the ****, also psychologically if teams are now facing a Utd team without their best player they will be more confident about getting something and actually have a goal instead of ****ting it and giving the game up before they kick off.

Same applies to us beating United and Chelsea home & away - do you honestly 'expect' us to do that again?

[Mostar]

Same applies to us beating United and Chelsea home & away - do you honestly 'expect' us to do that again?

It is possible but unlikely.

Imo we have to make sure we get "must-wins" (e.g. Hall, Fulham, West Ham, etc.), which we obviously failed to do last year which ultimately cost us Championship. In regards to other big "3" anything but loss (wins at home could go long way) will do.

[The Birdman]

Same applies to us beating United and Chelsea home & away - do you honestly 'expect' us to do that again?

Why not?? that's 4 individual games over the course of a season, last year we beat the Mancs at home without Gerrard and Torres, far easier (the winning of 4 seperate games) than winning 13 consecutive games 1-0

[dww]

I'm not sure winning 13 games 1-0 is a precondition to a good season. For large parts of last season United were disjointed and less effective than the season before despite additions to the squad. Obviously they have lost a key player but in the past we have seen that loosing a focal player can allow others to shine. The league is likely to get tougher again next season so it is quite possible neither us nor United will need the same points tally to win the league, although equally the divide between haves and have nots increases meaning maybe we will. Either way the heart of my point is that looking at anomalies from last season and asking whether they will be repeated is a totally inappropriate way to judge teams chances next season.

Obviously United have to replace ~30 goals and a lot of fear factor but in the past fergie has shown he can adapt his team to deal with this sort of set back. He has the money to do it but will have to buy well. The default assumption given past record is that United will challenge strongly for the title due to a combination of good players, manager and the fact that other teams are terrified of the other two factors and often don't bother to try to beat them.

For me the biggest plus point is that United haven't looked at the CL final seen a tactical rout and decided to get in a new assistant to help Fergie.

[dww]

For me, and ive been unlucky enough to see many good scum teams, the team with Schmeical, a top form Giggs, kanchelskis et al was the best scum team ive ever seen, it pains me to say but it was a pleasure to watch that team play most of the time.

That team and THE Arsenal team were the best too watch in the Prem. But the Manc treble winners and first Chav team were the best in the prem.

I think the first Chelsea team is a fair shout although I think last season's United was on a par. The Schmeical/Giggs/Kanchelskis team faced much weaker opposition IMO and wasn't as good as is sometimes made out, the treble winners was an excellent unit but won the CL mostly on mentality as several of the other teams looked a lot better than them in the competition. Much like our CL win it seemed more an anomaly than a reflection of excellence and their subsequent failures in the competition bear that out to some degree.

The best Arsenal teams were the best to watch - not sure they were the best overall though.

[jono]

I'm tired of reading united's obituary. Every time a player left in the past be it Cantona, Ince (yes Ince) Schmeichel, Keane, Beckham, etc etc ad infinitum then I thought, along with every other Liverpool supporter that united were done. I'll believe it when I see it.

[Craig_H]

Why not?? that's 4 individual games over the course of a season, last year we beat the Mancs at home without Gerrard and Torres, far easier (the winning of 4 seperate games) than winning 13 consecutive games 1-0

Both are possible, both are pretty much unlikely.