There’s a lot of positive vibes buzzing around Old Trafford at the moment, with Manchester United now putting up a big fight to finish in the Premier League’s top four. They’re currently in fifth spot and just a point away from fourth.

But just finishing in the top four isn’t what Man United’s all about. The Red Devils want and always want to be challenging for titles and silverware.

So what do United need to do to get back to being considered title challengers? 

Well first off, the Premier League giants need to hire a permanent manager.

If I’m being honest, I don’t see why Man Utd haven’t already confirmed interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the new full time gaffer. I’m pretty sure a deal will already be in place to make the move from Molde permanent and the Norwegian has had an instant and prolonged impact at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer has bought back an attacking philosophy and the players have bought into Ole’s ways at United. The boss has been in charge of fifteen games since coming back to Manchester and in that time he’s collected twelve wins, two draws and suffered just one defeat.

In the bigger games; United have beaten London trio Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. They also managed to pick up a draw with Jurgen Klopp’s table topping Liverpool side.

The caretakers manager has also managed to get more from star players like Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. The goals are flowing and United’s defence have become a tougher proposition too. Defenders Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw have been terrific during Ole’s short tenure in charge.

So I’d urge the board to bite the bullet and announce Ole Gunnar Solskjaer their new gaffer.

Then there’s the Director of Football position.

United have been discussing this type of role for a while and I still think it’s important to have a proper football administrator at Old Trafford to help both the management team and the club’s board.

It’s another role that should be announced before the summer break.

A reason for this is to tie down the club’s top players.

Last summer and this summer, has seen Man United running around trying to do deals with their talent. With various personnel they’ve had to take the option of another year on player’s contracts and that isn’t always good enough as it just delays problems.

The club were boosted recently with French forward Martial commenting his long-term future at the club. But as the summer approaches players such as Antonio Valencia, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Matteo Darmian and Andreas Pereira all have contracts that run out in June!

I always see it as a sign that things aren’t going well at a club if they have quite a few top team players approaching the end of their deals.

The new manager will want, and probably needs, to strengthen the first team squad.

The centre of defence still needs to to be reinforced and links with Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly don’t seem to be going away (Source – Manchester Evening News).

I also believe that the club will want another central midfielder to help compete for places within a midfield three. Fred hasn’t settled in yet, Scott McTominay is still young and Herrera and Pereira still need to sign new deals.

If club captain Valencia does leave in the 2019, then I’d fully expect to see a new right-back coming to Old Trafford during the off season. In his press conference earlier today, Solskjaer stated he’s unsure if Antonio will stay beyond this term (From The Guardian):

“He is one of the Premier League winners left in the dressing room but at the moment I’m not sure if Man United and Antonio will agree on the next year.”

Ultimately Manchester United need to bottle this feel good factor that Ole’s brought back to the club. They need to get the managerial position filled and then fully back that manager with the tools needed to bring success back to the club.

The players need to feel wanted and need to be convinced that staying at Old Trafford is best for their careers.

Get all that done and you’ll keep the support happy. You will also have a club ready for the new season and one that can challenge for all the important silverware!

Posted on March 1st, 2019 by scott
Filed under: Article