With the dust has settled on what was an excellent result for United last week against City, there is still a sense of confusion among fans.
Days earlier the team played out a drab 0-0 draw away at Crystal Palace, and then this week a flat performance against Milan ended in a 1-1 draw.
Throughout this season, United have looked both brilliant and awful, and almost everywhere in between. However, despite mixed results recently, the club sits second and looks among the best few teams in the league.
While this is an improvement on previous seasons, this still won’t sit well with many United fans. United have been away from the top of English football for too long, and the coming months present an excellent opportunity to gain ground on City. But what exactly does the club need to do to close the gap?
First team signings
Despite Solskjaer’s recent comments on transfers, it is plain to see that United need at least three quality first team signings iff they want to challenge for the league.
The recent arrival of Ruben Dias to our biggest rivals perfectly illustrated the importance of having a dependable centre-back pairing, and so United must look for a more reliable centre-back partner for Maguire. With Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof proving unreliable, rumoured interest in targets such as Jules Koundé or Nikola Milenkovic is welcome.
Further up the pitch, United still need a natural right winger. Last summer’s Sancho saga threatens to carry on into this summer, although it does look increasingly likely that Sancho will leave Dortmund this season. If he does, it is hard to envisage him anywhere other than at United.
Greenwood and James have done their best to hold down that position, but in reality lack the necessary creativity. His signing should be a priority in the summer.
The final position that may require additions is central midfield. Scott McTominay has become more of a fan favourite this season, and Bruno Fernandes is a guaranteed starter in almost every game. But the problem mainly lies in the future of Paul Pogba. He has been tipped for an exit this summer, and United’s recent performances without him may worry fans. A quality defensive midfield signing is needed, whether or not Pogba stays.
Improve squad depth
Many United fans would have been disheartened to see the two benches on Sunday afternoon. City’s bench contained at least three players who would get in the United first team – Aguero, Foden and Bernardo Silva.
Th result tells another story, but City’s depth is one of the reasons why they are setting the standard. At one point this season United’s own bench contained Cavani, van de Beek, Greenwood and Henderson, all excellent players, but this needs to be a weekly occurrence.
If you look at the last time United had several quality bench players, it was arguably the 2008 Champions League final, where Nani, Giggs, Anderson and Fletcher were all on the bench – Ji-Sung Park didn’t even make the side. This perfectly illustrates the importance of having high quality squad players.
Win a trophy
With four semi-final defeats during Solskjaer’s tenure, United are currently teetering on the edge of winning a trophy. The side have been unlucky, and they may win one by the end of this season, but the importance of winning one, however small, is enormous.
These trophies are often the first step to longer term success, and United fans will wonder whether an FA Cup or Europa League win could be the start of something special under Solskjaer.
At the very least, a trophy would make United into a team of winners and give valuable experience to certain members of the squad. It would also help the squad mentality, potentially giving United a future edge in big games such as semi-finals.
What was noticeable about the team’s last FA Cup and Europa League trophies was the lack of progress and squad investment in the next transfer windows. With the right squad additions, a trophy could be all that’s needed to start the team on a pathway to former glories, and United fans will certainly hope so.
In the FA Cup, City might even stand in our way again, if we get past Leicester. Overcoming them on the way to lifting silverware would mean so much.
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