Now that the season is finally over, we can turn our hopes to next season. Expectations vary wildly between fans so I thought it is a good time to evaluate ours collectively. I will not be surprised if ETH loses his second game next season and the knives come out for him to be sacked. Patience before a season is easy, patience after a loss is harder. So realistically where do we think we will end up next season? 4th place seems to be a popular answer so let's examine that.

League standing is a measure of competition strength so let me use that as a guide stick.

Manchester City & Liverpool. I hope we can agree these two clubs are on another different level in world football.
Realistically are we going to compete against these 2 next season? I would say no. So Top 2 is out.

Chelsea. Probably the most stable Top club without achieving the heights of City & Liverpool. Until the CL final is played, Chelsea are the current European champions and world champions. They have a solid squad. They have a masterful manager. And their ownerhsip issues are mostly settled. Are we going to match Chelsea after one transfer window this summer with a new manager and new club staff? My answer is no. So third place is out.

Now we get to the 4th place. Competition here are Spurs and Arsenal.
Both these clubs have already better squads than us and club stability. We are far behind both of them. Plus Conte is going to further build out his squad this summer and it will be even stronger. Same with Arteta. So if we expect United to finish fourth, we are saying that in one summer we will not just close the gap between us and Spurs/Arsenal but surpass them. Maybe we can, depending on the investment we put into the squad and if ETH's ideas take off at first try. So unless the club brings in around 6 players to overhaul the squad, I think 4th place itself may be a bit too far. If we do end up 4th, it's a major success on ETH's part.

We haven't touched on the up and coming clubs like West Ham and Leicester.
So personally, I think in ETH's first season we will finish in an Europa spot. 5th or 6th.
That's probably where my expectations for next season lies. If our summer investment far exceeds Spurs & Arsenal, then I may ramp it to 4th place. But I don't see Spurs especially sitting on their thumbs in the summer and doing nothing.

That's quite true. My opinion is that Newcastle will need a couple of seasons to build up their squad before pushing for a CL spot. Even Man City needed a few seasons to get the right club management and players in place before making a push for Top 4.

Newcastle's squad right now is very adept at taking points off most of the teams in the League. I would think if they make the right singings for Howe (I think he will be a victim of his own success. Newcastle will want to replace him with a high profile manager for the next phase), a Europa/Conference spot in Europe could be on the cards next season.

That's why I think Top 4 is a big achievement for us. It means not just beating Arsenal & Spurs, but holding off other clubs like Newcastle.
Given our current state, I'm not sure if we can. It's a lot of ground to cover.

rebuilding season doesnt mean u can take sweet time and finish outside of top 4 next season lol... the important thing is that we are buying what ETH wants, not wrong players haha