Manchester United season preview 2008/2009
It seems barely two minutes since Ryan Giggs' left foot, Edwin van der Sar's right hand, and a steel post contrived to leave John Terry in tears in the Moscow rain - maybe having to endure a 3 month long saga of the will he, won't he saga featuring another lad who was in tears at the Champions League final has left United fans wondering where the summer went.
Combine the Ronaldo "news" with the tentative/non existent forays in the transfer market from Sir Alex Ferguson while Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have all signed players, one may have cause to feel a little trepidation.
Certainly, the incredible feat of a Premier League and Champions League double seems to have gone unnoticed in the football world. What's that, you almost forgot?
However, regardless of the relative lack of plaudits United received for their amazing achievement, the club has never been one to rest on its laurels and Sir Alex will have been planning for this season all summer long. Probably before that.
Assuming Ronaldo stays, as looks likely now, how do we see next season? Well, for a start, Ronaldo is probably out until October, which should rule him out of the Liverpool and Chelsea away days, as well as the European Super Cup. Indeed, even the fixture list was eagerly awaited, only to be met with disbelief - away trips to Portsmouth, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, City, Everton and Spurs all before Christmas, along with the Super Cup and World Club Cup, means the next 4 months will be very.. interesting. The flip side of that is that we obviously have the home games after Christmas - however, the argument that home games against City and Arsenal in the run-in somehow favours United doesn't wash with me.
But, every team ultimately has to play every other team home and away - every season some fans have a grumble about the gremlins in the system, this time it's United's turn.
All that aside, even the most optimistic fan would struggle to believe we could have a season as successful as last straight away - but our club has a tradition of non-comformity, and with the blossoming of players who last season had quite a "settling in" period, there's no reason that United can't repeat their glories.
The loss of Gerard Pique is countered with the return to fitness of Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves recently stated he felt confident his tendonitis problems were behind him, Carlos Tevez has had a full pre-season, as has Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick seems to have finally developed the confidence that was sometimes missing, and Anderson and Nani should improve further still after their remarkable debut seasons. Yes, it may be wishful thinking that Ronaldo could repeat his season, but there's nothing to suggest he won't. The biggest question mark, aside from that whether he goes or stays, is how fast he can recover from his operation, and how quickly he can find his form.
This is a massive season for Wayne Rooney, who has come in for criticsm, and Anderson - if these two players have a good season then most United fans could probably expect a trophy or two again.
Perhaps a full back and a striker are needed, if only for a plan B - we never replaced Solskjaer, Saha doesn't look like he will ever be fit, and reports suggest Manucho has done his metatarsal. Berbatov is the man Fergie wants but Levy is a curious chairman. The biggest anxiety of any United fan is probably the fear of stagnation - no real additions were made in 1999 and though we won the league, we lacked something in Europe. Talk of the likes of Benzema and Messi are deemed unrealistic, but I ask why? United are as big a club as anyone else, and we should be making those moves to try and improve our squad. Zidane.. Batistuta.. Desailly.. all names we couldn't get when we were a PLC. Even talk of an attempt to sign Messi would signal our intentions. The Ronaldo saga means we face the inevitable backlash of clubs claiming we're tapping up every player we put a bid in for - sadly that's the knock on effect of the tabloid media and Sky influencing idiot Britain, hating United for any reason possible, and as irrational as it can get.
Prediction
My expectations and hopes for this season may appear unrealistic - I want us to match Liverpool's 18 league titles record, I want to retain the European Cup, I want us to win the FA Cup after a couple of recent final losses, I want us to win the Super Cup and extend our record as the only English team to be crowned best team in the world by winning the World Club Cup, to add to our Intercontinental Cup. I want, I want, I want. (I'll draw the line by refraining from saying I want Giggs, my all time hero, to score the winning goal in all competitions. I was spoiled last season.)
That's the quadruple, with the European Super Cup thrown in for measure. Do I believe we will? I'm hopeful, I'll certainly stick a few quid on it. We have the talent in abundance and with a little luck and that plan B... My way of answering the question was to ask myself which trophy I would prefer to win next season. We don't have a divine right by any means.. but I wouldn't be a true fan if I didn't want us to win the lot.
Logic would tell you that such a feat is very unlikely, but everyone's allowed a little pie in the sky dream.
After all, it's been Liverpool's year for the last 18.
Manchester United season preview 2008/2009 - Forum Discussion