Manchester City have been runaway leaders in the Premier League this season, shattering all kinds of records along the way. It has undermined what has also been an impressive season for their famous neighbours Manchester United, who’ve not only returned to the top four but have been their neighbours closest challengers this season.
City have been so impressive this term that many fans are wondering how anyone will possibly catch Pep Guardiola's side, as he aims to dominate the Premier League like he did the Bundesliga and La Liga before.
The rest of England’s elite are sure to invest heavily and ring in the changes as they hope to close the gap this summer.
With Manchester United arguably the best positioned side to leapfrog their rivals to the title, here are five key battles they’ll want to address before heading in to next season.
1. Step One: Win the FA Cup
Nothing breeds confidence like winning and it’s even better when there’s a major honour to go with it. It may not feel like, but domestically this season has been a huge success for the club. United haven’t competed in a title race since Alex Ferguson departed in 2013, so a second place finish would provide a great platform for the club.
After lifting the League Cup and Europa League last year, another significant addition to the trophy cabinet will reflect a continued mark of progress. Ending the season on a high would give a huge boost to the morale of the squad and lift belief heading into the new campaign.
Add to that the fact they prevented Manchester City from winning the title against them and they could take a psychological edge into the new season. Recovering a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 has proven they can compete with their noisy neighbours over 90 minutes, now they need to do it over 38 games.
2. Step Two: Address the Defence and Balance the Squad
Recent defensive recruits have been somewhat of a disappointment for Manchester United. Victor Lindelof, Matteo Darmian, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo have all struggled for consistent game time this season. It’s left Jose Mourinho chopping and changing his defence throughout the season with United still heavily reliant on their old guard.
In order of appearances the most regular back four in the league this season are Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. Whilst impressive this season, both Valencia and Young are 32, as for the centre half pairing, they aren’t likely to instil fear in likes of Sergio Aguero, Mohamed Salah or Harry Kane.
Mourinho’s infamous for 'parking his bus', but with arguably the weakest backline in the top five, United require a lot of midfield screening to execute his style. If Jose can sign some quality dynamic defenders, who can hold down a first team spot, it will allow his midfield to be more expansive, focusing more on the attacking qualities of players like Juan Mata and Paul Pogba.
3. Step Three: Improve the Standards
Manchester United have plenty of money to invest in their squad as they’ve shown in recent transfer windows spending over £600m since Alex Ferguson’s departure. Pep Guardiola has also invested heavily in the transfer market though and is liable to spend big again this summer after a disappointing Champions League quarter-final exit.
All the star power in the world is no match for a quality performance though and it’s something United have allowed to slip this season. Pogba has been the subject of much criticism for his lacklustre performances in games against non-top six opponents, whilst producing moments of magic in high-profile fixtures like in the aforementioned 3-2 victory over City. He’s been accused of not caring in unglamorous fixtures, with his focus more drawn to his press and his celebrity profile.
Pogba is not the only one under scrutiny though as figures published back in January revealed United have covered the least distance of any side in the league this year. Partially down to the style of play but Nemanja Matic was listed fourth in the individual rankings suggesting others around him aren’t pulling their weight. It’s bred inconsistency in the side and led to silly points dropped that has allowed the gap to increase between the two sides.
4. Step Four: Win the Community Shield
It’s been a far less impressive end to the season for the Citizens who’ve lost five times in all competitions since their unbeaten league run was ended in January. It’s a least served to humanise Pep’s side as it has been proven they can be got at and that could be crucial to next season.
City got off to a fantastic start winning 11 of their first 12 games and scoring 37 goals in the process. After gathering so much head wind, City ploughed ahead straight through until Christmas, by which point they were already runaway leaders. Pep doesn’t like losing at all, as was evident after their shock FA Cup exit to Wigan, patches of arrogance and ill-discipline have almost spoiled a perfect season.
Winning this is less about the accolade and more about the bragging rights and mind games, if United can upset City in the first competitive game of the season. A favourable draw of fixtures that pits City against some of the other top six sides early on could prove pivotal. Each point dropped keeps the defending champs in reach of the chasing pack, and the pressure will be on in a way it hasn’t been all season.
5. Step Five: Abandon the Game Plan and Imitate Liverpool
Ok, calm down United fans, it’s less a slight on Mourinho’s side and more an acknowledgment of what Jurgen Klopp has achieved this season, beating Manchester City three times. If there’s one lesson Mourinho needs to learn from his 3-2 triumph over Pep, it’s to be more adaptive.
Obviously that’s not to say rip up this season’s plan completely as it has delivered much success, but United need to move away from a safe approach. Rarely have we seen United put teams to the sword this season like their two bitter rivals. Against the lesser teams, United should be leaning on them from the start and asserting their ascendancy, those kind of results don’t just breed confidence but they send a message.
Likewise approaching the bigger games in a cautious manner has proven costly for Mourinho this season. They've only picked up one point in the three games away at Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea this season. They were also crucially 2-0 down at the Etihad before switching to a more pragmatic attacking approach. Between Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial, Mourinho has more than enough attacking talent to match Liverpool’s free scoring trio but they have to be looking to take the game to everyone they play.
- 90Min