Expectations is such a vague word and yet we use it all the time when it comes to United. This is the part thats baffling about the club. The expectations ultimately are to be winning things but the basic expectations are that players give their all for the club. Thats the expectation at every club. There is little unique about that at United.
I'm sure a psychologist would love to look at United over the past decade because expectations for trophies has rarely actually been that high. Certainly not for years at this point. The expectation that players work hard and do their best though? That is always there and so often the entire squad falls below that mark. I assume its related to the pressure they feel playing at United because you get less flack for being low key rubbish than you do for being obviously rubbish. Why else are players hiding from passes? Why do they rarely play the lower percentage pass that has massive upsides vs the safe pass back or sideways?
I don't think United fans are arrogant or expect to win things because we used to. We expect to be winning things because we spend so much ******* money on players and we are the biggest club in the country and one of the biggest in the world. Its not that we expect to win by default, its that its embarrassing when you aren't even in the discussion despite spending as much/more than everyone else and being in a dominant market position. Its the expectations that people have of those who have all the tools to be successful but aren't.
On the topic of expecting elite results from average players, I would say that what we have are not average players. They are good players. We see this fleetingly. We have good-ish league results in random years and honestly those years don't necessarily relate to the squads I would say hold the most quality. Our issue is application and mental toughness. There are so many anecdotal quotes from people/players around the club that suggest its been a joke for far too long when it comes to the playing side of things.
I think Amorims expectations are sky high for these players and I think that if we can bring in the right players with the right mentality, the others will fall in line. You need success at big teams to build momentum and belief. If he can do that, he will be fine. Our recruitment for far too long doesn't seem to have cared a jot about player temperament or personality and its just killing us.
