Manchester United must learn from their mistakes last season

Manchester United's season ended in disappointment with defeat in the Europa League Final
Manchester United's season ended in disappointment with defeat in the Europa League Final

Despite showing considerable improvement last season with a 2nd placed finish and a place in a final, Manchester United still have room for improvement. There were a number of embarrassing defeats and performances.

The worst was the Europa League final where Manchester United failed to defeat a pretty ordinary Villarreal side.

Make the most of the return of fans and home advantage

Manchester United's home form in the Premier League was pretty shocking last season, winning nine and losing six. Their away record was faultless, remaining undefeated all season. This could be attributed to the fact that no fans were allowed inside grounds for pretty much all season.

Manchester United had some rough results at home, including a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Tottenham and a 2-1 humiliation to minnows Sheffield United.

They also failed to beat a fellow 'big 6' side at home and a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool was particularly painful. Even when they won it was never particularly convincing.

They must make use of the return of home fans and a partisan home crowd to improve their home form. England's performance in the Euros shows the difference that home fans can make. They will have to exploit this as much as possible in order to mount a serious title challenge.

Manchester United need to be more positive in attack

Though the Red Devils at times produced some scintillating attacking performances, a lot of the time an extreme lack of creativity from midfield hindered them.

They only really seemed to produce their best attacking form reactively after going behind. This gave them the impetus to overwhelm teams. Manchester United struggled when the onus was on them to score the first goal. It was a problem against teams that sat back and in tight affairs against the big sides.

However, the signing of Jadon Sancho gives Manchester United another dimension in attack, providing guile, pace and trickery to unlock defenses. Signing Varane should allow Solskjaer to trust his defense more.

He can then drop his conservative tactics, with only one of Fred and McTominay needing to play instead of both of them.

Make a strong start

Last season, Manchester United lost three of their first six games in the league, only collecting seven points. Such a sluggish start cannot be allowed to happen again if they are serious about winning the title.

Man City have a tough opening schedule, including games against Tottenham and Arsenal in the first month. Manchester United have a comparatively easier schedule, not playing a member of last season's top six until October.

Realistically, Manchester United are going to have to be at their best all season if they want to win the Premier League. Man City will be favorites and a resurgent Liverpool and Chelsea will also mount strong challenges.

However, United have shown considerable progress under Solskjaer and should win a trophy next season. However, it might take more than a push for United to win the Premier League in the coming season. They can target the cup competitions to achieve silverware.

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