Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!
Ahead of the title decider (and let's face it - it will be a title decider), wanted to review expectations and the season in general, so it won't be biased depending on the result. Curious what others think.
At the start of the season, and given the new players arriving at Pool, Chelsea and City, I thought if we stayed in the CL positions and also managed a good cup run or two then it would be a great season. I hoped that we'd see many young players bedded, especially after several impressed so much in the summer tour. Cleverley, Smalling, De Gea and Welbeck all looked set to feature heavily in the season, and the throw back to relying on youth was something I was really looking forward to.
I genuinely did not expect us to be up near the title by the end of the year. We still had a dodgy midfield, had just lost Scholes, Hargreaves and clearly something was up with Fletch yet no replacement had come in. City on the other hand had added Dzeko, Nasri and Aguero in the past few months - genuine world class, proven talent. Chelsea had spent >£100m as had Liverpool, so I expected them to both be better squads than ours - though a bit older with less potential. Our defence was going to feature Smalling, Jones and the twins - none of which have great experience yet, and be put in front of a new keeper who himself was young and unproven in the prem. I expected Vidic to be our most important player, and Ferdinand to barely feature. I thought the title was going to be between Chelsea and City - and that Fergie would have to focus on cup runs as we didn't have the quality over the course of the season.
So here we are. There have been some disappointments: a lot of our youth players actually haven't bedded as well as we thought. Smalling, Chicarito, Jones and Anderson have all been mixed all year, very rarely showing that quality that you need to make it at United. Losing Vidic has been huge, probably the singe worst player we could have lost (including Rooney). We had an unlucky draw in the FA Cup (the two hardest away fixtures in a row so early in the competition) and duly went out. We f*cked about in the Carling Cup again, and went out - and for some reason Fergie f*cked about in the Champions League and paid the price there.
But the league has been a monumental surprise. Despite having an out of form captain playing every match all season, a limited central midfield dependent on an un-retired 37 year old we're still in with a shout. So of course, had someone offered me a 3 point lead going into the final showdown of the season I'd of bitten the proverbial hand off. Put it in perspective, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liveprool fans would love to be in this race.
So regardless of the sheer deflation we may be about to feel on Monday (and losing an 8 point lead to CITY is so un-United and un-Fergie I almost want to crawl under my desk and cry) I think most of us would be happy with this situation, back in August. If we end up potless, I don't think we can call the season a failure, and I think we're heading in the right direction. Our squad is young, talented and have shown occasional glimpses that this could be a very, very formidable team with a few additions.
Whatever happens Monday, the future is still bright, and for me this season has shown far more promise that I could have hoped for back in August.
That's ruined my evening. ABU heaven, today won't be a good day.
