Manchester United needs to damper expectations

Manchester United fans are too high

After two straight 4-0 wins in their first two games, a lot of people have reacted very strongly to the start of Manchester United’s season. However, the expectations have gotten out of control for United after just two games.

First, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry said that United reminded him of the team he was on that went undefeated during the 2003-04 season. This was after just the season opening win over West Ham. While United has looked very good so far, it has been against two mid table at best teams. Let’s see United’s form against top teams before making such lofty declarations.

Of course, on Twitter people have gone off about this in both directions:

The first thing that must be mentioned, especially against Swansea, is that United didn’t dominate the game. They were certainly the better team in both games, but you never had the feeling Swansea was out of it until the 80th minute when the floodgates opened.

However, United will not face the meat of their schedule for a while. After they play Leicester City to close out their August slate, September also does not look to be too daunting. On the 9th they play at Stoke then host Everton on the 17th. They go to Southampton on the 23rd then host Crystal Palace on the 30th. Of course, Champions League and League Cup games will populate a busy month for them. The Toffees and Saints are certainly not pushovers but United should be favored over both of them.

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They have a hard stretch from October 14-November 5 which includes trips to Liverpool and Chelsea, with a home game against Tottenham and a game at Huddersfield mixed in. That stretch will test the true strength of this team.

I agree with Neville that Untied should be able to contend for the Premier League title this season. They have the talent to do so. However, to put them on the same level as one of the best teams ever is far too premature.

This United team needs not to worry about history. They don’t have to be the best team ever–contending for the Premier League title is all that reasonably should be expected of this team this year. In a year or two maybe they can contend for European supremacy but not yet.