Can United win the league next season?

By Josh Coleman, published on 22/06/21

Last season, Ole and his United side achieved second place. Looking forward, it would be assumed that progress next season would mean winning the Premier League. However, is this possible? In this piece I will be discussing whether this will be possible next season, and how this could be achieved.

Firstly, the deciding factor is how much backing Ole gets to his squad. There are many voids within the squad, as well as positions with limited back up on the bench. Should Ole get fully backed then the league title will most certainly be in reach, this means completing the signing of Jadon Sancho, a backup to Aaron Wan Bissaka at right back, a central defender and a holding midfielder.

The signing of Jadon Sancho would fill the void in the right side of United’s attack. Scoring 16 goals and 20 assists in all competitions last season, Sancho would without a doubt make the United attack a force to be reckoned with. Not only that, but Sancho’s versatility means that the likes of Bruno Fernandes can be rested and he can play that role in behind the forward. This therefore means that Bruno’s ability can be maximised, and his performance would be less affected by fatigue at the latter stages of the competition. Similarly, a backup to AWB at right back also has the same effect, it would also provide him with competition and as it did with Shaw, could take his game to the next level.

The signing of a CB would be an upgrade, despite Victor Lindelof’s impressive performances at the Euro’s, last season he found himself sometimes struggling. At times error-prone and lacking aerial superiority when called upon. Therefore a new high class CB to partner Maguire would clean up United’s defence.

A signing of a holding midfielder could also be a game changer for us. The signing of a high quality DM could dictate the midfield and cover the defence by themself, and would also open up space for more creativity and forward play. This would then allow for the likes of Donny Van de Beek to flourish, as well as Scott McTominay, who's attacking threat is often underlooked with 4 goals this season in the PL. Fred could also benefit, playing alongside Casemiro and Fabinho for Brazil in the Copa America, he has shown to be a fantastic presser and progressive player when covered by a holding midfielder. This would therefore improve the overall quality and usage of the squad, allowing the likes of Donny and others to express themselves.

Another factor that will contribute, is that with a proper pre-season, many of our shortcomings last season may be sorted. Playing at a rate of nearly a game every 3 or 4 days, there has been very little time for Ole to be able to do focused work in training. Therefore should we get this, our overall team will be a much more connected group of players, and even without new signings we would likely see a much better squad than we did last season. A pre-season would also benefit the likes of Van de Beek and Alex Telles massively. With both players not adapting straight away, this would be a huge boost to them both, and we will likely see huge improvements next season. It could be argued however, that all teams are in the same boat. However, with the intensity of matches, and without the squad depth of City, a preseason would likely benefit us significantly more than others.

Despite this, there are reasons as to why winning the league may still be out of reach. Firstly, Liverpool will have key man Van Dijk back next season, and should their forwards find their form again, Liverpool will yet again be a huge threat. Secondly, we may see great movement from City in the transfer window, if they are to build significantly onto an already league winning squad, fighting them to the title may be extremely difficult.

To summarise, it is an incredibly difficult question as to whether United can win the league title next season, and we won't know for sure until the season finally gets going. However, if Ole is to get fully backed this season, then I think we can be serious title contenders in the season coming. However, if an already world class city side is to improve even more, it may well be an incredibly difficult task to beat them to the title, so therefore, my expectation is that we push the title right to the wire at the very least.