Man Utd - 20/21 season review

By Dara O'Brien, published on 04/06/21

United’s season – Successful or Not?

Manchester United’s season has been one of joy, anguish, frustration and drama. As a United fan myself, I haven’t been able to relax when watching my team play football for a good ten months now, and while I’ll miss watching my club play what seemed like every other day, I’m looking forward to being able to have a relaxing Sunday afternoon; one without persistent heart palpitations. Today however, I’ll be talking about and reviewing United’s season as a whole, and whether we can count this season as a successful one, or at least a positive one.

First of all, we need to establish how we define the word “success” in football. Whether it means to lift silverware or to simply achieve one’s goals, whatever they might be. If we choose the former, then this season was undoubtedly unsuccessful. Following United’s heart crushing defeat to Villarreal in the final of the UEFA Europa League Final on Wednesday, the team let the last chance of silverware slip through their fingers. The Europa League trophy would have been of huge importance to this United side, who are still gaining experience. Winning a trophy can instil a winning mentality that not many other things can, thus creating a snowball effect of trophies and success.

If we choose the latter definition of the word “success” however, then one could argue that it has been a fairly successful season for United. Ole and the squad no doubt made plenty of progress this season. They achieved their goals of qualifying for Champions League football, shortening the gap between them and the top of the table, and surmounting a serious challenge for the title. In fact, United surmounting a challenge for the title exceeded the goals that the manager set out at the beginning of the season. The club were even able to achieve back to back Champions League qualification in back to back season for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. These are all evidence of the exceptional work that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done since his appointment in in December 2018.

In terms of the games themselves, there have been both positive and negative signs for Ole’s side this season. On one hand, we have seen the squad’s unity and togetherness reach heights of which no other Man United squad has in recent years. This is crucial in being able to achieve long term, sustainable success, something that the club are clearly working towards, and that they mistakenly haven’t in the past. This just goes to show the quality of Solskjaer’s man management, which in my opinion, he is one of the best among all managers in world football at.

There have also been many examples of improvements in particular individuals, the most pronounced of which is English left back Luke Shaw, who was voted as United’s second best player of the season, behind Bruno Fernandes. This also exemplifies Solskjaer’s man management, as he’s managed to coax Luke Shaw back to his full potential, something certain other managers couldn’t achieve. There have also been clear improvements in the likes of Mason Greenwood, whose goal tally may have decreased, but nonetheless, it is clear from watching Greenwood play that his overall play has improved leaps and bounds. Daniel James has also improved the technical side of his game massively. This allows for him to play against low blocks effectively, making himself a much more useful player for the team.

United’s unbeaten away run this season has also been second to… well, one: Arsenal’s of 27 games between April 2003 and September 2004. United need just two more to cement this record as their own; another example of the progress made this season. This has come as a result of many reasons, the most notable being the incredible comebacks made by Ole’s reds. This season, United have picked up an incredible 31 (yes, thirty one!) points from losing positions in the Premier League, having fallen behind 17 times. This means that United have gathered on average 1.82 points out of every game that they fall behind in. This is only 0.22 points fewer than points gathered in games of which they have not fallen behind in.

United were also able to improve on league position, points tally and goals scored. This season, United were able to rack up 8 more points than last season, 7 more goals and finished a place higher in league position, and were able to close the gap between them and the top of the table by a massive 24 points.

These are all positive signs of course, but there have also been many negatives that the team will no doubt be working to rectify this summer. Firstly, United have racked up the third most draws in the Premier League this season. With 11 draws, United sit behind just Brighton and Fulham for games drawn this season. This is obviously not ideal, but I don’t think it is as bad as it is thought to be. Many of these draws came against “top 6” opposition, which was something that frustrated many fans, and left them wondering where United would be if they had converted some of those draws into wins. While this is a valid point, you could also look at this from a different perspective. After all, United still finished second in the league despite these draws.

This is a young Manchester United team, one that is still gaining experience, and they will no doubt cut down on draws in the near future. While the draws themselves are not ideal, it is harsh to say that these draws are anything more than a learning curve.

What has been worrying however, is the amount of goals that United have conceded from set pieces. Set piece defending ultimately even cost United the Europa League trophy, with Gerard Moreno scoring in the first half off of a free kick that was poorly defended by United. This has been a recurring theme all season for the Red Devils, and is something that Ole desperately needs to improve on for next season. All in all, set pieces have cost United dearly this season, and I think it’s fair to say that the appointment of a set piece specialist would not go amiss.

United have also gone trophyless this season, and while it is not something that fans should be getting worried about, it is still something that United definitely would have loved going into the season. However, as I said, this is not something that United fans should be worrying about. A trophy going into this season would have been a bonus. It was not one of the primary goals for the club this season, and while it hurt not to win the trophy which was so desperately craved on that day, it is important not to lose perspective.

United have accomplished most of their primary goals this season, which is crucial for a young team and manager to do to lay the foundation for long term success. The truth is, we’ve seen many examples of this throughout footballing history. Jürgen Klopp didn’t win a trophy with Liverpool until 2018/19, when they won the Champions League, and even the great Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t win a trophy for four years when he took over at United, until he won his first trophy in the 1990 FA Cup final. With proper backing in the summer, United could be well on their way to a trophy next season, especially if they spend their budget correctly, which looks to be more likely with the decision falling in the hands of Ole, Darren Fletcher and John Murtough.

All in all, it’s been a season of great progress for Manchester a United, one that has helped lay the foundations of what will hopefully be a great team for the future. While there have been negatives along with the positives, there is no reason to believe that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will not be able to continue building a team that will, in due course, win plenty of trophies. So for that reason, I think that saying that this season was successful is valid. Even though the club did not win any silverware, the club definitely accomplished its goals, and for that, there is good reason to be optimistic about the future of the team and the club.