Graham Ruthven explains why Manchester United should be targeting another third place finish, and why that should be considered success if they achieve it.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was always one for leaving things late. There was no moment as dramatic as what happened at the Camp Nou back in 1999 down the final stretch for Manchester United, but the late charge to a top four finish was reflective of their Norwegian manager’s never-say-die outlook.
Such a strong finish was generally unexpected. United had been written off as top challengers around the turn of the year, with the 2-0 home defeat by Burnley in January leaving Solskjaer at risk of losing his job.
But then Bruno Fernandes arrived from Sporting and everything changed.
There can be no diminishing the impact Fernandes has made, but Solskjaer’s United side remain a work-in-progress despite their encouraging third place finish. With the start of the new Premier League season approaching quickly, the Norwegian coach still has a lot of questions to answer and problems to solve.
The impending signing of Donny van de Beek may have solved one such issue.
The final few games of last season saw United’s creative play slow significantly as Solskjaer felt he lacked depth beyond Fernandes and Paul Pogba.Van de Beek will provide real competition for places. And yet there’s a sense United need new signings in other positions more urgently.
Until recently, it appeared Solskjaer had made Jadon Sancho his number one target for the summer. The need for a new right winger is clear and the Borussia Dortmund man is the ideal candidate to fill that position.
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Mason Greenwood played in that role down the final stretch of last season, and there is no denying the teenager’s potency in front of goal. As a creator, though, Greenwood is lacking in comparison to Sancho, who averaged 2.2 key passes per Bundesliga outing last season.
By comparison, Greenwood averaged just 0.5 per Premier League game.
The signing of Sancho would allow Solskjaer to use Greenwood through the centre more often, fulfilling the need for a new striker in the process.
The Dortmund winger might seem like the obvious, even lazy, scouting choice, but that’s because he is exactly what United need, down to his individual profile as a young, homegrown player.
It’s a little tougher to identify the right central defensive target for Solskjaer’s side. Victor Lindelof has spurned too many chances to prove he is the right partner for Harry Maguire, but left-footed centre-backs are hard to come by at the elite level. Nathan Ake was one such option but the Dutchman signed for Manchester City earlier in the window.
Kalidou Koulibaly and Dayot Upamecano, both right-footed, have also been linked with a move to Old Trafford, but Maguire is best on the right side of a defensive pair and would likely have to play on the left were he to be partnered with one of them. There is no obvious target like there is on the right wing.
Compared to Liverpool and City, United are still seriously lacking in both their starting lineup strength and squad depth. What’s more, competition for top four places will be stiffer next season with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham all expected to be stronger after the summer. Chelsea in particular will fancy their chances of leapfrogging United having spent over £200 million on new players.
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Nuance may be required to truly assess the progress of Solskjaer’s side this season. The gap between the best (City and Liverpool) at the top of the Premier League table and the rest was so vast last season that another third place finish could be considered progress for United if it is achieved emphatically and if the gap on the leading two is narrowed somewhat.
Solskjaer deserves a lot of credit for what he achieved at United last season, taking a squad that had been assembled without an overarching vision or strategy over a number of years and turning it into a winning team.
This was by almost every measure an over-achievement and it’s meant that for the first time since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson seven years ago, the Red Devils have given themselves a platform to build on.
What happens from this point, however, will define Solskjaer’s tenure as Manchester United manager. If the Norwegian was at the time of his appointment faced with a four-step process to restore the club as a genuine force, he has only made the first step and each further step from now on will be harder to take.
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