Manchester United must take ‘next step’ under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to deny City more titles

It is nothing new for a Premier League title race to be decided at Old Trafford. Tuesday was the sixth time in the top flight’s modern era that events on Sir Matt Busby Way have resulted in the coronation of new champions. What might come as a surprise, though, is that Manchester City have now almost ‘won the title at Old Trafford’ as many times as United.

Leicester’s win finally made the near-impossible task of catching City actually and properly impossible for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his players. The same thing happened three years ago against West Bromwich Albion, who unexpectedly handed Pep Guardiola his first Premier League crown while he was enjoying a few holes on a Cheshire golf course.

Two of City’s five titles over the past 10 seasons have therefore come by way of a result at Old Trafford, compared to three of United’s 13 since 1992. Does any of this matter? Not really, but you could tell Solskjaer wanted to make City work in these final weeks and it rankled him slightly that once again a United defeat, rather than a City victory, was decisive.

“Of course it is not a position we want to be in,” he admitted, “but the realistic and sensible answer is that we have pushed them. We’ve pushed them until the last 10 or 12 days of the season. They have been lauded and rightly so as one of the best teams to be in the Premier League.

“They have shown where the bar is,” Solskjaer added. “I want to congratulate Pep and the team, of course. That’s where we’re at. We have got to be big enough to hold our hands up. I don’t mind doing that. We know we want to get there. That’s the next step we have to make. Hopefully we can come together as a team, as a club and we push next season.”

Whether United are capable of closing the current 10-point gap is the obvious question. They remain a puzzling team. This, for example, was their first league defeat since January and only their fifth of the season, the joint-fewest along with City. Only the newly crowned champions have scored more goals and won more games. Compared to last season, results have unquestionably improved.

Have performances improved too? That is open to debate. Sunday’s turnaround at Villa Park was their tenth comeback league win this season, a Premier League record. That well-publicised fact has been taken as evidence of mental fortitude – and perhaps it is – but it is also worth asking why United tend to start so slowly, and whether many of these victories were close-run things.

In fact, half of their wins have come by a single goal. Only Everton and West Ham have won more games by the slenderest of margins. Edging out narrow wins is an excellent habit but leaves you vulnerable to swings of fortune. United’s underlying numbers are not especially better than last season’s. If anything they are slightly worse, albeit still good enough for a top four place.

But as Solskjaer points out, challenging City will involve being better than just a top four side. It will mean taking that “next step”. Edinson Cavani’s extension is positive news, in that respect. His new deal means there is no pressing need to sign a premium striker this summer and though his fitness remains a concern, there should be enough cover in that position between him, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood.

That should allow the recruitment department to address more pressing issues, such as the lack of forward-thinking passing from midfield, particularly when Paul Pogba is played out of position or left out entirely. The attack remains lop-sided, with a heavy focus on playing down the left. The lack of any real creative presence on the right is a huge part of that. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is still developing in possession.

If that all seems like a harsh assessment after a season where Solskjaer has secured runners-up place but consecutive top four finishes for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, it is not meant to be. The improvement cannot be denied. United looked a long way off top four contenders in the first half of last season and even in the first few months of this term. That is no longer the case.

Solskjaer, though, has never once pretended that top four is enough. He knows expectations will be slightly higher next season and that in the long term, second place will not count as success. Whether United will be ready to close the gap on their rivals depends largely on their summer but sooner or later, it will be time to start winning titles at Old Trafford again, rather than placing the crown on the head of their rivals.